By Pepper Parr
March 31st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The next Repair Cafe will take place on Saturday, April 9th from 10am to 2pm at Port Nelson United Church, 3132 South Drive.
The Repair Cafe has been helping people salvage appliances that stopped working. Rather than throw them out and go looking for another ne – they take them to the Repair Cafe where they are fixed, if it is possible to fix them.
They have been doing this in an on and off sort of way for four years
What it fixed – t=did the owner leave a happy camper. We weren’t told Photo credit: Shelly Cameron
Their first Repair Cafe was held at the Rolling Horse Community Cycle shop on Plains Road E. in the Spring of 2019. We have held seven Repair Cafes since. Later in the year they will be at Burlington Centre
Their plans are to be at Outdoor Markets hosted by the Aldershot BIA in June, July, August. Beyond that, we hope to hold one Repair Cafe per month at various locations around the city, to be more accessible to all corners of the community.
Having a stable source of funding from the City’s Community Development Fund, allowed us to become more organized, and to be able to plan a year ahead. Funding goes towards rent, liability insurance, purchase of parts and tools, and other expenses. The funding ends in December, 2022. Beyond that we will have to rely on individual donations and, perhaps, sponsorship from the community.
They are a 100% volunteer-run. They do not charge for repairs – this being a community service. If they don’t have a specific or unique part on hand, we offer the resident the option of ordering the part themselves and bringing their item to the next Repair Cafe, or, we order the part with the understanding that this cost will be reimbursed by the resident. We fix items on the spot and do not take items home to be repaired. These operational methods are defined by the international network of Repair Cafes, and we are happy to comply.
