Free treatments offered at Repair Cafe

BALLARAT Tech School’s second floor resembled a hospital on Saturday.

People requiring care headed first to the emergency department, took a number and waited for triage.

When their number was called, they were directed to doctor’s rooms for diagnosis, surgery, intensive care or palliative care.

Or so it seemed when the Ballarat Repair Café opened for business as owners of items that were kaput, clapped out or just simply broken sought the assistance of the volunteer fixers.

Debbie Weston, textile weaver and jewellery designer, worked on the repair of Jayne O’Brien’s two broken china dogs with the skill of a surgeon for almost an hour.

Ms O’Brien said she’d had the dogs for 50 years and was thrilled the Repair Café was able to help.

“I am very pro recycling and can’t bear the thought of sending things to landfill, this is such a great initiative,” she said.

Ms Weston, who uses repurposed fabrics and yarns on her Glimarka loom, said with her background in jewellery she is used to working on fine detail items.

“I have a model-making husband so I have become a glue aficionado by osmosis,” she said. “I am pleased to be able to use my skills to recycle, repurpose and recover items whenever possible for the ‘patients’.

Loris Nankervis and her partner Tony Quinney took their 25-year-old Yamaha CD player in to be looked at.

“We fear, because of its age, that if it needs a part replaced it maybe obsolete,” Ms Nankervis said.

The CD player was checked over by self-professed jack of all trades Mark Cooper.

He said the device was made by a reputable brand and just too good just to throw away.

“Things like this were built to last 25 years ago, if I can’t fix it there are a couple of other blokes here who are full on electronics fixers who might have an idea,” Mr Cooper said.

Shahan Campbell was still in the waiting room with a magic muffin maker that had run out of energy.

“I’ve had this for nearly 20 years and the element died about six months ago, I just can’t bring myself to throw it out,” she said. “I love the Repair Café concept as I think recycling consumes too much energy.

“I am really hoping I can learn how to fix things like this once I get my muffin maker in front of one of the fixers.”