(See end of blog post for volunteer roles we're looking to fill!)
With a quiet start to the year, we had 11 people come through for the Repair Café this month, held on Saturday, 27 January from 10AM-12PM. There were a few people who stopped on the sidewalk to see what was going on, and watch Pascal in action. Him sharpening tools on the sidewalk (this time it was a post hole borer) always seems to attract some attention!
Inside Lyn and Anna mended some knitted slippers, cuffs on a jacket, replaced a collar on a beloved t-shirt, fixed up a really cool child’s fabric sensory book that’s been in someone’s family for decades, and mended some holes in a table cloth.
In addition to the post hole borer, Pascal also fixed one of Anō Anō’s tea infusers that had gone off kilter (and was spilling loose tea all over the place)!
During the final Repair Café of last year, Anna had taken a barometer someone had brought in to Jatinder to look at, and he managed to fix it at home, testing its calibration using online weather reporting to make sure it was fixed.
As well, he had previously taken home a decorative wooden dragon that had broken in some places. He put new wiring throughout it and glued the wooden pieces back together the best he could, given the delicate nature of the item. The owner of the dragon happened to be in town today, so was able to pick it up in person and thank Jatinder herself.
We are looking to grow our little Repair Café this year and in addition to getting the word out to those needing their possessions repaired, we are on the lookout to fill some specific volunteer roles! If you are a:
Certified Electrician
Photographer
Baker (no need to be professional!)
or have any kind of repair skills
and you're keen to help out from 2-4 hours per month, then we want to hear from you! Reach out to Shona for more information at repaircafekaitaia@gmail.com or 02041925883.
Our next Repair Café will be on Saturday, 24 February from 10AM-12PM. We hope to see you there!
