Millicent Spencer
Mernda’s repair cafe has been recognised with a top award from Neighbourhood Houses Victoria.
The Mernda Community House won the Climate Action award for their repair cafe initiative which invites the community to bring in broken goods for volunteers to repair.
The cafe opened in April and has been operating on a monthly basis.
Whittlesea council chair administrator Lydia Wilson said that the award provided well-deserved recognition for the first repair café within the municipality.
“Since it opened, the Mernda Repair cafe has provided our community with a fantastic way to not only fix and salvage some of their most precious items, but also encourages people to think about their waste and alternatives to simply throwing things in the bin,” Ms Wilson said.
“We are so grateful for the time and effort the staff at Mernda Community House and Whittlesea Community Connections put in to running the monthly repair cafes, but also to the wonderful team of skilled volunteers — without them, this service would not be available.”
Mernda Community House co-ordinator Paras Christou said she was thrilled for the repair cafe to have received this award.
“Our aim for the repair cafe is to reduce waste through empowering individuals to repair items, but to also learn to repair and upcycle items themselves,” Ms Christou said.
“We proud to be able to support our community to live more sustainably and deliver information and educational workshops in addition to the repairs.
“The cafe has also provided a space where people can come to connect and engage with others while they have their items repaired or take part in a workshop.”
A range of items such as bikes, small electrical items, clothing and jewellery can be repaired by the volunteers at the cafe.
The repair cafe is located at Mernda Community House, 2 Heals Road, Mernda. The next session is this Saturday, December 10 from 10am – 2pm.
