By Tom Cowie
When Carolyn de Castro Basto found a couple of pineapple-shaped art deco lamps discarded on a nature strip, she was dispirited to find out that one of them didn’t work.
But rather than dropping a pineapple – the $50 kind – or more on getting it fixed – or throwing it out – she took the lamp into a repair cafe at Hampton Community Centre on Saturday afternoon.
Carolyn de Castro Basto from Hampton gets her art deco lamp fixed by Robin Burrows.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Within 20 minutes, DIY repairer Robin Burrows had it shining like it was brand new for free as part of a Bayside Council initiative aimed at stopping things from going into landfill.
“It’s fantastic,” said de Castro Basto. “It’s the first time I’ve heard about it. I wouldn’t be able to take these into a shop or an electrician. I’m very happy.”
Inside the community hall, repair experts and volunteers sat at tables with their tools as residents brought in their broken down things to see if they could be repaired.
There was a sewing machine, a video projector, a handheld clothes steamer and a massage gun being closely looked at through focused bespectacled eyes.
Linda Weiss from Beaumaris gets her sandwich press fixed by David Williams.Credit: Chris Hopkins
The event was the last of eight Roving Repair days run by Bayside Council, with the likelihood that it will run again in the future due to popular demand.
Each event had a different theme, from electronics to bikes to woodwork. Council estimates that the initiative has stopped 100 kilograms worth of items from going into landfill.
“For councils, it’s ‘roads, rates and rubbish’, well this is another way of dealing with the rubbish,” Bayside Mayor Fiona Stitfold said.
“What we should be trying to do is avoid rubbish altogether. So this is a perfect creative way of thinking about how we can reuse and repurpose.”
As well as the positive impact on the environment, Stitfold said the repair events fostered community connections as people chatted over a cuppa while their items were being fixed.
“There’s that pride, the skill and the creativity,” said Stitfold.
“It’s not just about their skills in being able to fix all of these things, but there’s all this social connection, as well.”
Danny Ellis was a linotype mechanic at The Age in the 1970s and 1980s before working fixing photocopiers and driving trains until his retirement in 2018.
Karen and Danny Ellis from Mend It, Australia.Credit: Rachael Dexter
These days, he and his wife Karen are busy running Mend It, Australia, which helps organise volunteer repair events around Victoria.
“I’ve always been interested in using my hands and I’ll tackle anything – bar coffee machines,” he said. “They’re so compact, there’s so many bits and pieces in there that can go wrong.”
Ellis said his favourite part of fixing things at community events like this are the people on the other side of the table.
“It’s the acknowledgement we get,” he said.
“I had a woman in tears because I fixed her overlocker, and they’re the things that really warm you. I enjoy that more than the actual repair. People just appreciate you so much.”