At the healthAbility Repair Café we will try and repair any items that are broken or need some TLC, such as:

• Clothes
• Funiture
• Toys
• Bicycles

We cannot repair large items like fridges and lawnmowers. We will try to repair any household item that one person can easily carry. Repair items are restricted to one item per person.

Examples include:

• A push bike that needs its brakes adjusted or renewed or the gears realigned
• Clothing that needs a patch or a hem restitched
• A small electrical appliance like a toaster or hair dryer
• A plastic toy that needs gluing
• Broken wooden furniture that need gluing or screw fixing
• Tools that need sharpening like a chisel, wood plane, knife or scissors
• Items that need specialist cleaning so as not to damage them (like a clock or watch)

As our list of specialist repairers may vary from month to month, we encourage you to check our Facebook group in advance to ensure a suitably qualified repairer is available for a particular café. Please refer to our healthAbility Repair Café Facebook page for information on the next scheduled Repair Café.

Some items that require specialised tools, repair equipment or parts may not be repairable at the Repair Café. The repairer may suggest you take your item to a specialist company or they may offer to fix it away from the Repair Café and provide you with a quote. If you know your item requires a particular part, please bring that part with you as this increases the chance of your item being repaired.

Please note, our repairers will always try their very best to repair your item, however some items may not be repairable under the scope of the Repair Café. Items that cannot be repaired must be taken home and disposed of correctly. Our Repair Café does not have the capacity to take discarded items (broken or working).

Repairs are conducted free of charge. Our repairers volunteer their time and, in many cases, freely provide materials, parts and consumables. This is only possible through the generous support of healthAbility, the local community and Repair Café family.

To help support your healthAbility Repair Café, we do ask for donations to help cover some expenses, like repair materials and consumables. Baked goods, coffee and tea will also be available for a donation. All donations are greatly appreciated, as your help supports us to provide this valuable repair service.

The healthAbility Repair Café is located at:

Strathdon House - 449-465 Springvale Road, Forest Hill, VIC, 3131.

Find out more about the Strathdon House and Orchard Precinct.

The healthAbility Repair Café operates on the second Saturday of each month, excluding January.

The Repair Café will be open from 10am until 2pm. Our last repairs will start around 1.30pm to allow us to finish up at 2pm and pack up the space.

Please refer to our Facebook group for any changes to these times and/or cancellations due to extreme weather events.

If you or someone you know is skilled in repairs and interested in volunteering as a repairer, please contact Stewart Blair, Manager Repair Café at Stewart.Blair@healthability.org.au.

You're also welcome to come along to a Repair Café session to chat about becoming a volunteer. To view the position description and advertisement please visit our Volunteers and Student Placement page.