Welcome to October at A Taste of Richmond Community Learning Centre.
This month we would like to introduce three of our volunteers, all of whom are involved with our Repair, Mend and Make free sessions, held on the last Sunday of the month at Burnley Backyard in Tudor Street, Richmond. The aim of this program is to promote sustainability and minimize waste by having volunteers help people to fix such household items as clothing, appliances and furniture.
If you attend one of our sessions, you will more than likely be greeted by Brigitte who will have opened up and made the space ready for the volunteers and attendees. She will then match you and your item to a suitable fixer. She is enjoying the experience of meeting new people at Repair, Mend and Make having re-located to Richmond about eighteen months ago. Brigitte describes her participation as providing ‘a package deal’ of a sense of belonging to a group with shared values and the satisfaction of seeing people learning to repair loved items.
Tim, who previously worked in the field of technical research at CSIRO, has been with this program since its inception in November 2017. His skills allow him to fix a range of items and if you have an electrical appliance in need of repair, Brigitte will have no hesitation in directing you to Tim. Being a relatively new Richmond resident, Tim is also relishing the companionship the program provides, and being someone who has always liked repairing and building things, he enjoys passing on these skills to others.
If you have clothes you would like to mend, then you will be steered in the direction of Helen who like Tim, has been with the program from the start. She is a retired school teacher who taught clothing and textile design at senior levels so you would be in very capable hands! Helen enjoys helping people to learn how to mend their clothes or homewares themselves and can assist with trouble-shooting problematic sewing machines. She has been a Richmond resident for twelve years.
A big RCLC thank you to all the terrific volunteers involved with the Repair Corner as well as to our people in focus, Brigitte, Helen and Tim. If you would like to become a volunteer fixer for Repair, Mend and Make or are interested in attending a session, you can find out more on our website on our Facebook page or by calling the Centre on 9428 9901.
Our next repair session will be held on Sunday, 28th of October from 10am to 12pm, details here.