Repair Cafe getting under way in Whanganui

Barbara Allan, Frances Taylor, Kathrine Grey and Caroline Grey are three of the keen volunteers who will be at Repair Cafe Whanganui in Gonville on Sunday, March 24. Photo /Jacqui McGowan

The first 15 volunteers have been trained and are ready for the first Repair Cafe Whanganui event on Sunday, March 24. Mending soft textiles is the focus.

“Each repair is ideally a quick fix,” says project lead and host Margi Keys. “The garments or soft toys could need hand- or machine-stitching, darning or patching.

“Any fabric or buttons that need to be added should be supplied by the visitor in each case,” she said.

The two-hour event is expected to draw a crowd, so queue management will be provided. Registration of each visitor is required and all items are weighed before repair. The statistics are uploaded to a website so reports can be generated and analysed.

“It will pay to arrive early, but please be prepared to queue,” says Margi. “You can buy a hot drink and a biscuit while waiting for an available repairer.”

Tasks like replacing zips will not be done because they take too long. A donation is requested for each successful repair, to help pay for the venue.

The doors open at 11am at the Gonville Community Room behind Gonville Library, and the last repair job will be accepted at 12.30pm.

Repair Cafes are pop-up events that connect skilled volunteers with visitors who need a belonging fixed. In New Zealand, they tend to be held monthly in community spaces.

They are neither commercial enterprises nor emulate the British television programme The Repair Shop. A range of local repairers will allow the scope of Repair Cafe Whanganui to grow.