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City of North Battleford Environmental Manager Tammy MacCormack discussed the need for volunteers for the Repair Café during council Tuesday. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)
Show of hands

City hoping volunteers with a skill sign-up for Repair Café

Oct 16, 2019 | 4:49 PM

Last call for the Repair Café.

North Battleford City Hall is encouraging anyone who wants to volunteer their skills or talents to help at the upcoming Repair Café to speak up now.

The event takes place Saturday, Oct. 26 at the North Battleford Library from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To volunteer, people need to contact the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council (SWRC) online or via their Facebook page to register.

The way the process works, people can bring their items to the pop up café event where volunteers will attempt to repair the product free of charge.

The event is being hosted by the SWRC and the North Battleford Library.

City council heard at Tuesday’s meeting that so far not many people in the Battlefords have stepped up to volunteer their services.

“My hope is that people will read the information coming out of tonight’s meeting, and those who are so inclined will volunteer,” Mayor Ryan Bater said. “You need not be an expert. People should not be intimidated.”

He said if anyone has an interest in helping, whether it be fixing electronic items, sewing or repairing toys for example, they should come out.

“Your services will be valuable for this, and it gives an opportunity for people to either get items repaired or repurposed,” the mayor added.

People who volunteer to repair items will need to be able to bring their tools with them as well.

Bater described the idea as a great initiative.

Some of the items people can bring to the event to be fixed include toasters, hair dryers, clothing, shoes with soles that need to be re-glued, and small furniture pieces such as a chair or table.

“It’s the first time we have ever done this,” Bater said. “So, It’s something new. My hope is that we will get some volunteers, and we will get people showing up with their items.”

The aim of the event is to find ways to renew items that would otherwise end up in the landfill.

“Sometimes things don’t need to be discarded if it just takes a little bit of a tweak or a little bit of a repair,” the mayor said. “Hopefully, this is a success.”

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

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