Repair Cafe Stafford

08/05/2026

Some jobs are not so easy - but the extra effort pays dividends! Take this repair that we did at the April workshop. This job actually started in February when the community member brought in her stable table. It had a foam cushion underneath the solid top and the cover for the cushion had perished. Because of timing and the number of people with sewing repairs, there wasn't capacity to do the job justice at that workshop so we agreed with the owner for them to come back - and they did, with lovely fabric and all of the bits and pieces that were needed for the repair.

Now, we have fabulous volunteers and this time it was Sharon who stepped up and did an amazing job. Yes, the cushion was covered. But the quality of workmanship was very high, even with the constraints of time and resources. But it was done in such a way that it wouldn't need to be repaired again and the full functionality (it was removable) was maintained. Now the community member has an item that is as attractive as it is functional and practical.

Have you got something for us to fix on 6 June? Stay tuned for more details about our next workshop!

17/04/2026

We'd just like to say, straight off the bat, we have a beautiful community 💗! We had one of our busiest workshops ever over Easter where we mended over 65 items extending their usefulness and delaying their entry into landfill 🎉!

There was about a 50:50 mix of regulars who have been to our workshops before and new friends who came along for the first time and we all overloaded on chocolate muffins, brownies and cookies while enjoying the conversation and general chill vibe that comes from a Repair Cafe Stafford workshop 😉!

I wouldn't usually say that our volunteers are competitive, but let's just say there will be some grumbling but no surprise when they find out that our blade sharpening wiz, Damian, was the most popular this time 🥇. But our sewists were busy bees only just behind, followed by a joint third place between our electronics and furniture repariers!

So huge thanks to everyone who came along and, if you missed out (or haven't written it in your calendar yet!) make sure to keep 6 June free and come along to the next one!

You can see what we got up to in our latest reel and stay tuned for the stories behind the items over the coming weeks!

27/03/2026

🥳Bookings are now live for our 4 April Repair Cafe Stafford event!

If you would like to book a specific time, use the link below (https://www.trybooking.com/DKREQ). But
remember bookings aren't necessary! We love it when you just turn up!

🐰If your Easter plans have changed because of the petrol prices, why not bring down something that has been a bit wonky, or broken or needing a bit of a fix up! We are always happy to see new faces, or long lost friends 😆!

Repair Cafe Stafford is held on the 1st Saturday of every second month. Why Repair Cafe Stafford? Have you ever been frustrated at having to...

20/03/2026

🤩Not too long now until our next Repair Café Stafford workshop – 4 April (yes, Easter Saturday 🐰!). But there is still time for some more stories, especially this little piece of pure ingenuity 💯!

Now, before we go into the story 📖, it is important to know that at Repair Café Stafford, we don’t have a store of extra pieces of wood or fabric to make repairs 🛠️. Sometimes our volunteers might have something on hand, but usually they need to think well outside the box . This is where the Little Stafford Playgroup craft cupboard can sometimes come in handy 🤫!

Now, back to the doll. She might not look her age, but this doll is over 60 years old 👀! When she was given the doll as a little girl, the owner loved the open/close eyes and spend hours dressing and caring for it 💞. But eventually the owner's taste in toys changed and the doll was put in a box. Recently she was brought out again to entertain a new generation of children, but the owner was dismayed to see that the doll's open/close eyes no longer moved, and the iris and pupil had fallen inside the head 😱. Worried about the risk the damage posed to little fingers, but unwilling to throw the toy away (partly for sentimental reasons but also because the toy was in such good condition otherwise), the owner didn’t know where to go for help 🤷‍♀️. And then Fate stepped in in the form of an ad on the radio about the Repair Café movement 🔮. She researched locations and came in to see us at the February workshop ✅.

That’s a lovely back story, but the real magic was about to take place. So our volunteer Damian stepped up to see what could be done 🦸‍♂️. Now, a lot can (and has) been said about Damian 😜😇, and he is a firm favourite with many of the regulars that come along to our workshops. Always ready with a joke and a smile 😁, but he is a very handy person to know 👨‍🔧. But this repair was true genius, skill and patience.

So first he painstakingly dismantled the eyes 👁️ to understand the mechanics behind it and realised that it could be salvaged as long as there was a replacement part that could be used for the iris. And then he went hunting 🕵️‍♂️. It turns out that a particular size and shape wooden bead from the playgroup craft cupboard was the perfect match and he only need one to do both eyes! So he cleaned up the existing parts, shaved and shaped the bead 🤺 and carefully put everything back together. It worked perfectly and without very close inspection, no one would know!

We have some very clever clogs on our volunteer team! Awesome job 🥇!

06/03/2026

😱 Hold on to your hats, folks, because as of tomorrow it’s only 4 weeks until the next Repair Café Stafford workshop 🤩🥳! Saturday, 4 April is when we will be back and if you would like book a specific time slot, you will be able to do that from 20 March on our TryBooking.com website.

🤔 In the meantime, though, did you know that you shouldn’t us Aquadhere to join surfaces that are likely to get wet? That’s why when he was repairing a timber chopping board that was brought in to be repaired, our furniture repairer Alan used Araldite. As an added handy tip, apparently glue that takes longer to cure (dry) creates a stronger bond, so he recommends going for the 24 hour set glue if you want it to last.

And ensuring the repair would last was essential for the chopping board’s owner. It was a Christmas gift from her twin nephews when they started earning money and she used it every day - preactical and sentimental at the same time! And now, after a repair of small timber dowels, the right glue, and strong bracing, it is good as new, and back in the kitchen for many more years of use.

27/02/2026

Do cats or toy trains have more lives?

🚂Fun Fact - Did you know that the first mass market model train was made in 1891? With such a long history of delighting children and adults alike, we couldn't let the tradition slide when we were faced with our own tiny train challenge (say that quickly 5 times 😁)!

Things have moved on a bit from the 1800s, and when the modern marvel we were presented with was working fully, when a train was coming up to the tower, a sensor made gates close to prevent cars from crossing the track and allowing trains to pass through. The tower also lit up and there was even a red button that dings! Some dastardly deed damaged the train set piece, causing conjestion at the track and no end of logistical issues. Fortunately we had our own resident expert on the job.

Train-Non-Controller Jon unscrewed the base to diagnose the issue and test the connections with a multimeter. After a quick solder the unit was back in operation - lights, sensors and all! The whole time he was investigating and making the fixes, Jon was fielding a whole host of questions and doing a great job of explaining circuits and mechanics to his very interested audience!

Now, you might be asking where does the question about lives come into things? Well, this special set had already been saved from landfill when it was purchased second hand for our little community member, and this fixedsaced it a second time. So it seems this toy is on its third life. Now that it is fixed it should last for quite a while longer!

20/02/2026

So, first story on the board from our February workshop is about a timber box. And ot of all the household items that have been brought in to be repaired at Repair Cafe Stafford, I really wish this one could talk!

Firstly, this box reminded me that when things were expected to last, they put time and effort into making the mundane beautiful! The foundations of this box are basic, but the carving done so they could inlay mother-of-pearl makes it outstanding! The contrast between the basic wood and soft shell makes handling it an sensory experience. But I digress...

So, this box was purchased in Tianjin, China 18-20 years ago at a market. Exactly what its history is we have no idea (which is why I would love for it to be able to speak!), but it is estimated to be about 100 years old. As beautiful as this box is, it has been well used, not put up for display and it had a bent hinge and cracked lid.

As sometimes happens, this box was brought in to an earlier workshop but we didn't have the right materials to make the repair. Our volunteers discussed with the owner what was required and they spent some dedicated effort finding exactly the right parts.

With all of the stars aligned (and the correct parts purchased), Alan and Steve were able to repair the box when the owner brought it back in, so it is both functional and beautiful once again. Alan also passed on some infomration about how best to restore the timber surface.

09/02/2026

Normally when I post about Repair Cafe Stafford the focus is on the story behind the items that come in to be fixed (and you will be finding out the stories from this workshop over the coming weeks). This time, though, I am going to brag about the amazing team of volunteers that put their skills and ingenuity to the task every workshop.

At our latest workshop I saw Alan and Steve repair a wooden chopping board and carved timber plant stand respectively, so seamlessly that you can't see the repair. I overheard Jon patiently explaining electric circuits to a 4 year old as he soldered wires on a timber train station. I worried about Bill wearing off about half of his fingers as he sharpened blade after blade. I saw Mark using his exacting standards to ensure a blind was perfectly horizontal as he gave it a new lease on life. I saw the gratitude of people as Shidan and Mahsa skilfully restored clothes that give people such confidence and store memories. I watched Roy working tirelessly (and successfully) on a tiny toy car that many would have given up on. I saw relief in the face of an owner as Oliver and Peter demonstrated that their much needed laptop could work after having its battery removed. I laughed with Elke as she delicately repaired by hand a pyjama bag from someone's childhood.

For the uninitiated, we don't have a stock of wood or fabric or other spare parts to make the repairs and fixes, so our repairers use what is at hand and this is important to note about the standout repair this month. The full story will be coming out sometime before the next workshop but Damian, completely rebuilding a set of eyes for a doll out of a wooden bead, was a miracle worker!

But not all our repair cafe heroes make fixes. Some of them (named Ellis and Maddie) bring around coffee and cake, seeing to the comfort of people waiting and watching their items getting fixed. Some of them (aka John and Elke) warmly welcome new comers and familiar faces. All morning Theo determinedly brought order out of the chaos that comes from having people who have booked a specific time as well as people who come along prepared to wait their turn. I watch the connections between Sharon and the visitors today as she carefully made notes about the stories behind the items so we can share them with the whole community. And today it was Monica making sure people's visit was a positive experience right to the very end.

I don't get to see all the items and how they are repaired first hand, so these are just some of the things I saw today. And if you have been to a Repair Cafe Stafford workshop, you will know this is repeated every time. And we didn't have all of our volunteers at this workshop so we have more volunteers that show as much skill and dedication.

I wish everyone in the community was able to experience the level of ingenuity and care that goes into each and every repair, conversation at registration, farewell at the feedback desk, and offer of hospitality. Not just because the initiative is a great one, but because then they get to be a part of the magic that happens at every workshop.

04/02/2026

Only 2 more sleeps until our next workshop! Let's up the excitement with one more story from December...

If you have read any of our stories from past workshops you will know that sometimes we get some really interesting and unusual things - but then interesting and unusual are really relative!

At the last workshop we had a community member bring in a tombak. For the uninitiated, a tombak is the main percussive instrument used in Persian music. It is shaped like a big goblet with a narrow base which goes under the arm and a larger cup that has a drumskin stretched over the top, and people play using their hands and fingertips.

This particular instrument was brought over to Australia from Iran because our community member wanted it for his 4 year old son to learn, and he couldn't find one to buy in Australia.

Because of the narrow base, it tips easily and the last time it fell over part of the base fell off. Marvelous Mark was able to use his re-attaching skills on this little Humpty Dumpty issue, proving he is way better than all the kings horses and all the kings men! And the owner and his dad walked away to the beat of their own (fully fixed) drum 😁!

30/01/2026

Not long now! Only one week to go for our first Repair Cafe Stafford workshop for 2026! I will be posting and sharing the link to the booking site Like kids anticipating Christmas morning, our volunteers are eagerly anticipating all of the broken items that will come their way! Speaking of Christmas, we have one more brilliant (!) story about an item that came to us in December...

On the sliding scale of enjoying Christmas, these community members fall into the 'beyond enthusiastic' category. But, even though decorations don't get to come out very frequently, they face lots of wear and tear and they break down. Some are easily replaced, but not this bad boy - um, I mean solar light!

He lives at the bottom of the owner's stairs during Christmas, and is pretty close to being the owner's favourite decoration. She said, "He's a nice looking boy. I would not have ever not got him fixed". Which we believe translates to I couldn't let him go to landfill.

The theory was that his on/off switch was half broken because its internal light was working only intermittently. Our volunteer Alan from the electronics stall thought he could soldier on with solder but it turns out It turns out that it was due to dirty contacts. A quick spray with solvent and he was bright as a button!

30/01/2026

Hold on to your hats people! Bookings for the first Repair Cafe Stafford workshop are now live!! Don't forget you don't need to book, but if you do want a specific time, click on the linke here - https://www.trybooking.com/DJEBB we'd love to see you on Saturday, 7 February any time from 9.30am - 12pm (we finish at 12.30 but our last intake is 12pm).

Repair Cafe Stafford is held on the 1st Saturday of every second month. Why Repair Cafe Stafford? Have you ever been frustrated at having to...