Repair Café Whanganui’s official opening

Maddie Stanley is pleased her daughter’s puppet has been mended at Repair Café Whanganui’s inaugural event last month.

Repair Café Whanganui’s official opening is this Saturday at 11am and everyone is invited. Whether you have something to repair, need a cuppa or just want to have a look, you are welcome, says project lead Margi Keys.

“Our fab team of volunteers are excited to have got this far after four months of preparation. The local set-up is one of more than 50 not-for-profit Repair Cafés (RC) under the umbrella of Repair Café Aotearoa New Zealand (RCANZ) which sits beneath Repair Café International with 3000 different groups, most having at least one event a month,” she said.

The global repair movement is growing and Whanganui is part of it, thanks to Sustainable Whanganui Trust and the energy of the 27 volunteers who have undertaken training in how the local group works.

RCs are pop-up events where people bring their broken and damaged belongings and local volunteer experts assess them and do their best to fix them.

The Whanganui one is a two-hour event at Harrison Street Community Church Hall on the last Saturday of each month.

The following repairs are possible this Saturday: soft tech items (eg clothing and soft toys); leather goods; plastic, metal and wooden items (toys, dining chairs); bikes, costume jewellery, ceramics and musical instruments.

Repairers educate visitors about repairing and may involve them in the job. Repairers can also offer advice about where to take items if they cannot be fixed at the RC.

“There is no admission fee, but a donation for successful repairs and refreshments would be great,” said Keys.

“Repair Cafés have the goal of improving accessibility to repairing and recycling opportunities as a means to reduce waste. They are special events to help us learn, connect and grow,

“I’m thrilled that we already have a solid team of volunteers who will help towards Whanganui having a culture of repair, reuse and repurpose.

“Visitors may bring up to two portable items each, but we can’t fit zips or repair punctures at our RC,” said Keys.