Stratford’s Repair Café held on Saturday 3 December, was declared a success by Stratford District Council (SDC) as over 60 free repairs were completed for people from the community.

Peter McNamara, SDC Waste and Water Education Officer, says the volunteer repairers were the heroes of the day.

“A big thank you to Colin Cowie, Malcolm Izzard, Lee Cloke, Phillipa Rosen, Ray Wales, and Jess McNamara for giving their time and skills to help their community,” says Peter.

“We had volunteers come in early and stay late to finish repairs. Some repairers even finished mending items over the week after the event. They really cared about doing things right.”

The Repair Café handled a wide range of repairs, with electrical, furniture, sewing, mechanical and bike repairs being the most popular. All items were repaired for free, with parts being donated by the volunteer repairers. One bike and three electrical items weren’t able to be mended. They either could not be fixed or needed extensive repairs or parts.

Peter says each piece bought in for repair came with a story.

“We saw wartime toys, a beloved kerosene lamp that belonged to someone’s grandfather, Mum’s favourite dress, and a little weed eater that needed a bit of love to help a lovely lady tackle the garden again,” says Peter.

The feedback from the community on the day was overwhelmingly positive, says Peter. One community member even turned up with a Christmas cake for the volunteers.

Building on the success of this year’s event, the Repair Café will be back in 2023, but this time run by the community. Volunteers, including repairers involved in the recent Café, will take on the organisation of the event, with the venue being supplied by SDC.

When asked what his favourite part of the Repair Café was, Peter says he was able to chip in and fix a little boy’s spiderman scooter.

“Just being able to fix up his scooter and see him ride on off to the pools was the best. I might not be organising next year’s Repair Café, but I’m going to be volunteering!”

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