Our 8th Repair Café 

Recently, Friends of the Farm Māngere Bridge held their eighth Repair Café. The Māngere Bridge Library was busy on Saturday morning, with the usual Justice of the Peace in attendance, plus the pre-school music session, and with an additional treat of two lambs visiting. The lambs (Gordon Ramsay and Nadia Lamb) came in to see the children and were happy to be patted and admired. 

Local electricians Mark and Joel Swords from Mark Swords Electrical repaired a range of items, including sandwich makers, fan heaters, CD players, blenders, irons, and hairdryers.  

Several electrical items could not be opened up for investigation or repair, which led to a discussion about the Right to Repair legislation currently before Parliament.  In April 2024 the Consumer Guarantees Act (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Members’ Ballot and is currently being considered by Parliament.  It is intended to strengthen our Consumer Guarantees Act by making it mandatory for products to be repairable and requiring the supply of repair information, tools and parts.  New Zealand has the unwanted distinction of being amongst the highest per capita e-waste rates sent to landfills.  It is the only OECD country out of 38 nations that does not have laws to force manufacturers to offer repair services and information.  This sits at odds with our resourceful, do-it-yourself, #8wire mentality.  Repair Cafes are important in raising consumer awareness and keeping items out of landfills. 

At our eighth Repair Café we saved 271kg from landfill and prevented 2453 kg of CO2 emissions.  That’s equivalent to growing 41 tree seedlings for ten years!

Local bike expert Luke Haitoua from Duke Cycles serviced a variety of bikes while handyman Alan Worman mended toys, pots, Xmas decorations, clothes horse, glasses , coffee tables, etc  “Items made of wood are usually fixable” said Alan. This time he was joined by a new volunteer Rob who has family in the area and dropped in to see what Repair Cafes were all about.   IT/Cell phone and laptop experts Trent and Josh worked on laptops, mobile phones, an Apple mouse, a radio, and even a hearing aid.   Librarian Irene Tufuga used her book-mending skills on several books that were more than 90 years old.  These family treasures will now be enjoyed by future generations.   The seamsters, Kathrina, Cheryl, Paula and Joaquin mended trousers, sleeping bag zips, cushion covers, dresses, hats, and jackets.  Local Yvonne darned jerseys and tights and mended some quite large holes in woollen socks.  

Some skilled volunteers have been at every Repair Café held over the last two years.   

Keeping the volunteers refreshed and managing the queues were more volunteers, Sarah, Jennie, Paul, Kathy, Jiwon, and Eugene.  Māngere  Bridge local Café Phnom Penh generously provided each volunteer with a free hot or cold drink so there was a steady stream of yummy beverages. 

 All the volunteers were provided with a tasty lunch, which is funded by Friends of the Farm and by the koha (donations) made by locals.   

Visitors to the Library and the Repair Café were all offered tea, coffee and homemade cookies.  While people waited for their item to be repaired they enjoyed a hot drink and chatted to others.  “It’s amazing the people you meet at these events,” mused one local.  “I’ve lived here for 20 years and still meeting new people and making new community connections.” 

Friends of the Farm aims to promote a caring, connected, waste-wise community in Māngere  Bridge. The Repair Café saw this aim realized, with many connections being made as repairers chatted to locals and the care and goodwill demonstrated in all interactions on the day. 

More reading…