Glen Eira Repair Cafés (GERCs) and Caulfield South Community House are delighted to bring you their Repair Café.

Do you have something in your home that you’re sure can be fixed or repaired, if only you knew how?

Something that has great sentimental value but needs some TLC to restore it to its former glory?
Something you have started to fix but got stuck?
Something you'd love to fix if you had the right tools?

These events link you to local volunteer repair enthusiasts, who will do their best to help you repair your item. If they can’t fix it, they will offer advice.

At the repair café volunteers will have a range of skills to fix small electrical appliances and mechanical devices, textiles and clothing, and jewellery. So you could bring along much loved toys, toasters, bikes, bric a brac, small furniture to favourite ornaments, clocks and clothes and much, much more! Skills will vary, depending on which volunteers are available. If you'd like advice about the item you'd like to bring in please register and leave a message about your item on the registration page.

The event will run from 1-4pm. On arrival you will be asked to complete a form and given an estimated wait time. When a suitable repairer becomes available you can talk to them, and in the meantime you can have a cuppa, connect with people in your local community, and increase your knowledge and skills by observing the repairs taking place.

Repairs will be conducted at tables. Please note we may not be able to accomodate large items. However you can bring photos and seek advice for items that can't be brought in.

We will have a range of repairers with various skills including:

- Small appliances and electronics*

- Small mechanical items

- Ornaments
- Textiles - darning, sewing
- General repair skills and knowledge
- Costume Jewellery
- Simple bike repairs eg adjustments for stretched cables, testing brakes, fix punctured tyres, bent mud guards etc.

*If you have an electronic item in need of repair it may require materials or parts. If you know it's a broken wire or missing lead, please try to obtain a replacement part ahead of the event. If you're not sure what it needs, you can bring it along for advice and either repair the item at home, or take it to a future event. The types of repairs on appliances that we should be able to complete include clogged filters, jammed motors or fans, gluing or screwing broken parts.

Please note we do not accept sewing machine repairs, as these require specialist knowledge - please seek out your nearest sewing machine repairer on Google or similar search engine.

Someone from the team may contact you to discuss your repair before the event. This will help us understand your repair needs and advise you if we will have a suitable repairer and/or if there are any parts or materials you should bring with you.

Please note our volunteers are there to help repair used items. Clothing alterations, such as taking up trousers, taking in clothes or other adjustments will not be accepted.

CAFE CONTACT DETAILS

If you are would like to check if your item is repairable before you book please contact Glen Eira Repair Cafes at gercinsmates@gmail.com. The email inbox is checked at least once a week, so there may be a delay in replying.

HOUSE RULES

By attending the Repair Café, you agree to these house rules.

When registering at arrival we will do our best to match you to the appropriate repairer.

There may be wait times when attending the Repair Café event. We encourage attendees to help themselves to light refreshments and chat to other attendees whilst they wait.

The works carried out in the Repair Café is performed by community volunteers. Repair experts and other volunteers are not professional repairers and will conduct a repair to the best of their ability, within the time and resources available at the Repair Café event. We do not make any representations as to the skills or qualifications of the expert repairers.

Items may be repaired in a ‘DIY’ fashion. Please note the aim of the Repair Café is to help an item be functional for longer, not restored to original condition. If the item is requiring a perfect fix or perfect finish, we recommend seeking a professional repairer and paying for their service.

Attendees offering items for repair do so at their own risk. Neither the organisers of the Repair Café, volunteers, or repair experts are liable for any loss that may result from advice or instructions concerning repairs, for the loss of items handed over for repair, for indirect or consequential loss or for any other kind of loss resulting from work performed in the Repair Café.

Repairers will test the items where appropriate, but the organiser, volunteers and repair experts making repairs offer no guarantee for the repairs carried out with their help and are not liable if objects that are repaired in the Repair Café turn out not to work properly at home.

Repairs are performed for free wherever possible. The Repair Café event does not provide free parts for all items. If a specialist part is required, attendees may be given the option to purchase the part elsewhere and come back to another repair café event to attempt repair. The attendee can choose not to purchase a part for their item.

If an attendee purchases a part for their item based on advice from the Repair Café event, the attendee is choosing to purchase the part with no guarantee the item can be repaired. The organiser is not liable for the cost of the part.

Attendees can carry out the repairs themselves, if possible, with volunteers and repair experts on site to help. Attendees conducting repairs themselves do so at their own risk, the organisation, repair experts and volunteers are not liable for any loss resulting from the work performed by the attendees.

Repair experts and volunteers are entitled to refuse to repair items.

Repair experts and volunteers are entitled to recommend seeking a professional repairer or restoration service.

Repair experts and volunteers are not obliged to reassemble items that cannot be repaired.

To cut down on unnecessary waiting times during busy periods, a maximum of one broken item per person will be examined. An attendee can join the back of the queue if there is a second item for repair.

Parents and guardians are responsible for the supervision, behaviour, and safety of their children while at the Repair Café site. Children may not be left unattended.

Repairers, volunteers, and attendees have a right to feel welcome and safe. Antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated. If someone is making you feel unwelcome or unsafe, please let a member of the event crew know.

All repairs must occur at the venue. If a fix cannot be completed in one session, then the participant is welcome to bring back the item to the next cafe for completion by making a new booking. Volunteer repairers are not permitted to complete fixes off-site.
If you are unable to get to the event you have booked, please cancel your booking on this site and rebook for a future Repair Cafe.

Privacy collection notice

The personal information requested on this form is being collected by Glen Eira Repair Cafe (GERC) and Caulfield South Community House, for the sole purpose of the Repair Café.

We collect this information in order contact you about your participation at the Repair Café. We will only share your information with your permission, or where required by law.

Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.