​What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than supporting community-led sustainability efforts in my area. I joined the crew of the Melbourne Repair Café (Inner West) for a pop-up repair session at the Hobsons Bay City Council’s World Environment Day Community Festival in Williamstown last weekend.
 
Some folk came along prepared with their broken household items, while others were pleased to learn what a Repair Café does.
 
Brain-busting troubleshooting tested the skills of our fixers on an array of broken and tired appliances and tools. There was an eager queue awaiting their turn and all the visitors were good sports about taking their place in a busy line-up. We took on a surprising amount of fixes in the 2-hour session.
 
One terrific piece was a 1970’s era desktop fan, which had been no more than a table ornament for over 30 years, according to its owner. It turned out the switch mechanism was in need of some repair which was swiftly fixed. Then, although a little sluggish after decades unused, the fan came back to life. Hurrah! Another fix, another item saved from landfill, and a treasured family piece with a second life.

Photos by Michelle Fisher

First check to see if there's a repair cafe or fixit initiative in your area already. You can check the map hosted by the International Repair Foundation for registered repair cafes around the world. We keep a map for Victoria where we try to keep track of existing, proposed and potential repair cafes in our State. You can also check with your local community centre or local government offices to see if they are aware of any fix-it or repair intiatives in your area. 

If you're interested in starting a repair cafe, I recommend getting ahold of the starter kit from the International Repair Foundation and registering on their map (joining the network of 1200+ repair cafes across 30+ countries!). Then set about getting volunteer fixers, a venue to hold the first session, get a start date and event to launch, and then various avenues to promote it. Lessons learned include: 

• Stand on the shoulders of those who've travelled the road already - the international repair foundation and the many repair cafes up and running already. Toronto and Pasadena are good ones to check out.
• Start in the new year when folk are looking at making resolutions to get involved or share their skills and time. Or look at launching when there's momentum created around sustainability or reducing waste following an event or program (in Australia, the ABC's "War On Waste" program has been inspiring!).
• Start with what you have - if you have a couple of people who can sew or do bike repairs, start there. You can grow your group of fixers from there, drawing on your local community through Facebook and other avenues.
• Don't limit your communications to Facebook. Use other avenues to reach out to potential helpers and fixers, and to the wider community. Look at promoting your initial information session and your launch through additional online or social media, your local radio or newspaper, your local council or community centre, or a local tech or university institution or school.
• Gather a few others at the start who will help you make it happen so you're not a lone traveller, Talk to your local council or state government - we all share an interest in reducing what goes into landfill.
• Just do it. Don't get paralysed by the what-abouts and but-ifs. 

Okay - let's address one common what-about: What about insurance? After questions around how to get fixers along, this seems to be the next most common question asked when people are looking to set up a repair cafe. The following points are worth noting (mindful that this is not intended to constitute legal advice and you'll need to satisfy yourselves about what measures you adopt to address safety, risk and liability):

• It is generally a good idea to have some form of insurance, and the International Repair Foundation recommends that repair cafes have public liability insurance (which can come from the host organisation or venue).
• You can supplement this by addressing safety and having waivers through, eg, safety briefings and House Rules. (See the templates and information set out in the Restart Project kit and the Mending Workshop manual, as well as those provided if you sign up for the starter kit from the International Repair Foundation.)
• Additional insurance might be accessed or purchased, eg through an auspicing or auxiliary organisation (like a Mens Shed Association). You might also find that there is some legislative protection for volunteers attached to community organisations or incorporated associations.
• Interestingly, most repair cafes around the world don't have insurance. The last (2016) international survey of repair cafes found that only 39% of them had public liability insurance, suggesting that "this may partly explain why it is seen by most as not being a barrier to success."

If you want to find out more about starting up a repair cafe in your community, check out:

• the International Repair Cafe Foundation
• repair cafe global surveys and related reports at the Centre for Sustainability & Design
• Mending Workshop Guide, written by Oberon Carter (Permaculture Tasmania & Zero Waste Tasmania) 
• starter kit from the Restart Project

[This text also appears in the FAQ section of this website and has been reproduced here to assist those with mobile devices who may not be able to view the FAQ drop down boxes.]

Melbourne’s inner west now has its own repair cafe, where people can bring along their broken items from home for volunteer fixers to fix, wherever possible, and where visitors get the chance to learn practical skills and have a go at fixing things themselves – all free of charge!
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The “Melbourne Repair Cafe (Inner West)” launched this past Sunday (21 February) at the Living Future Festival in the Yarraville Gardens. Over a dozen volunteers were on hand to run workshops and talk to festival-goers about what they can expect at future repair sessions. Dean brought his guitar-fixing gear to the launch to repair bridges and broken strings – including a Moroccan banjo (sitir) he was presented with on the day and which he managed to fix! Howard, a mechanical fitter by trade, showed people how they can revitalise rusty tools. Sylvie, sitir owner and local artist, captivated both young and older visitors to talk about what goes into an essentials toolkit. Danny and Karen, from Reusers of Unloved Discarded Excess (RUDE), ran sessions on fixing garden hose connections, replacing three-point electrical cords, and doing basic clothing repairs and alterations. And Mick and John (the “bike whisperers”) were on hand to show cyclists how to fix and maintain their bikes.

The repair cafe concept started in the Netherlands in 2009 and, in 2010, the Repair Cafe Foundation (http://www.repaircafe.org) was set up to help other local groups wanting to start up their own repair cafe. The Melbourne Repair Cafe (Inner West) joins over 900 repair cafes around the world and is one of only four in Australia. The other three are at Albury-Wodonga, Marrickville and Mullumbimby in New South Wales.

The idea is to help put neighbours in touch with each other to discover and share practical skills close to home. Repairs can also save money and resources, and minimise what goes into landfill. Plus, as every kid who takes things apart can tell you, it’s just plain fun to be able to fix stuff!

The first in-cafe repair session will be held at Natasha’s cafe in Seddon on the first Sunday in March (the 6th) from 10am til noon. Rhubarb Wholefoods Cafe is located on the corner of Buckley and Victoria Streets.

​Find out more about the Melbourne Repair Cafe, future repair sessions, and how to become a volunteer fixer by visiting http://www.melbournerepaircafe.org.

*This article also appeared in the print issue of The Westsider newspaper (March 2016, Issue #14).