Got a broken kettle or lawn mower or maybe a shirt in need of a button? You can get it fixed at Durham Town Hall this weekend.
West Grey Library is hosting its first ever repair café inside 158 George Street West this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. People are invited to bring small appliances, toys, clothing, and crockery that is in need of repair. From there, one of eight volunteers who will be on hand will try to fix the item, extending its life and saving it from going to a landfill.
The library has teamed up with Earth Works Grey Bruce, a local group focused on sustainable living and addressing environmental issues.
"We have been trying to start a repair café for a couple of years in this area and having that traction with a local group behind us really made all the difference. We also got the support of Farlow's Home Hardware with the practical nuts and bolts, quite literally," said Library Programming Coordinator Kimm Culkin.
She noted that some of the volunteers are all-around handy people, while others are specialists in specific areas.
"For example, one of our volunteers knows how to fix sewing machines. That is something that in this area we don't have a lot of repairers for anymore. We had one close several years ago and haven't found a new one since," said Culkin.
She advises anyone planning to bring a broken item that is known to require a rare or specialized part to bring that part along as well. Volunteer fixers may also have the owner of a broken item run out to purchase a required part, if needed. Otherwise, the repair café is free to attend and will offer refreshments in addition to repair know-how.
As this is the library's first time holding such an event, Culkin isn't sure how many people to expect. But her hope is that it will be popular enough that another repair café can be held in the spring and then twice a year going forward.
"If we get 20 people for this first café I would be thrilled. It means 20 items don't go to landfill or 20 items that have a longer life or save people some money," said Culkin. "Our landfills face the same pressures as landfills do all over the province, all over the country. So anytime we can keep things out we feel that's a win."