Repair Cafe Surf Coast returns this Sunday

REPAIR Café Surf Coast is starting 2024 with the return of the Kids Tinkering Zone this Sunday.

The tinkering zone is a popular part of the repair café and is led by an early childhood educator.

It encourages children to come in with their parents and get hands-on, learning about how different items work.

Repair Café’s Kate Long said children love it and come in with their parents especially to do it.

“They literally tinker, they pull things apart and try and put them back together, we provide tools for that, which are a bit easier for them to manage,” she said.

“It’s part of a long-term process of raising awareness and showing them that often things can be fixed rather than thrown away.”

The community-based volunteer group is in its seventh year of operation and is aiming to reduce the number of broken-down items that end up in landfill when they could be repaired.

“The idea is that you have people with varied skills from electrical to sewing repairs, who volunteer to come along and fix broken items, extending their usable lives, saving them from landfill and being thrown out,” Ms Long said.

“People bring in all sorts of things needing repair, ranging from anything electrical such as vacuum cleaners and lamps, to small pieces of furniture, clocks, jewellery, toys, textiles and clothing and garden tools needing sharpening.”

Volunteers complete their repairs for free, but donations are accepted to help cover costs.

On top of helping people repair their items, the team of volunteers also hold workshops, teaching attendees how to fix things themselves.

Last year the Repair Café saved approximately 1.2 tonnes of rubbish from landfill.

The Repair Café takes place at the Airey’s inlet community hall, one Sunday a month, ten months of the year, from 10am to 2pm, with last repairs at 1:30pm.

More information can be found on their Facebook page: Facebook.com/repaircafesurfcoast