A spring Oceanside Repair Café is planned for April 26 in Qualicum Beach.
This popular community event, following a large turnout at the January event, will take place at St. Stephen’s United Church hall, located at 150 Village Way, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to a news release.
The repair café is dedicated to creating a place for people to bring their broken or damaged goods rather than throwing them into the landfill. Local volunteers with a knack for repairing will help them fix items for free.
“It’s spring and a time of renewal,” said Sarah Chezick, one of the organizers of the event. “Time to get that repair done, and to think about how it saves the environment. We have new things happening at our event, as well, such as providing reading material on the subjects of consumption, waste and repair at the café, and new ways of tracking and measuring what is saved from the landfill.”
Organizers are calling upon anyone who has useful or precious items in need of repair to attend. Avoid arriving at the last minute, though, as repairs brought in earlier may be in progress until closing time.
Those working on repairs at the spring event will be skilled in the areas of small appliances, small electronics (that are reparable), tech items such as computers and phones, furniture and woodworking and mending clothes.
Special to this event will be repairing children’s toys, and bicycle repair for spring cruising. Strollers are also welcome.
Organizers encourage people to limit their items for repair to one. If people bring more than one, they may be asked to wait for more help, depending on the turnout.
Also helpful is bringing supplies that may be needed for the repair, such as a zipper or a special part, and batteries. At this event, residents can bring in used pens and batteries, as recycling stations will be set up for these items.
Attendees are invited to watch and learn from repairers, while enjoying free coffee, tea, muffins and cookies on site. Voluntary donations to help fund future repair cafés in the PQB area are appreciated.
