We have amazing people in the Repair Cafe Wales Family
As part of a series on getting to know our volunteers, we’ve set a series of questions and our amazing volunteers have answered them ‘virtually’ for us.
Next up in the series is the organiser of the Llanelli Repair Cafe, Layla:
Q. What is your name, which repair café location do you volunteer at and what’s your role / skill?
Layla Lucas, Organiser of Repair Café Llanelli which is a female only customer repair café.
Q. Why did you decide to volunteer with Repair Cafe Wales?
Initially I had an idea of setting up some form of skill swap where people can learn skills by watching others, and during my research I learnt about repair cafes, this was pre Covid. A few months ago I saw an online talk on setting up a repair café advertised by a local organisation and took part. This inspired me to look at setting up my own.
Q. What do you like best about the repair café?
Seeing people’s faces when we fix an item they thought was not fixable.
Q. What is your favourite part of volunteering?
Meeting new people and doing something good for the environment.
Q. What has been the most challenging item to repair?
So far we have only had one Repair Café session, but I was contacted to ask if we could fix a chainsaw! I asked our electrician volunteer in advance, and he was happy to have a look at it. He was able to identify the fault, and then recommend the part required to fix it.
Q. What do you think the repair café does for the community?
It helps spread awareness that items can be repaired, and will hopefully become a big part of the community experience for people.
Q. Have you gained any skills from the experience?
Yes, I’ve learnt how to set up a Facebook page for Repair Café Llanelli. I’m also hoping to pick up some basic repair skills over the next few months too.
Q. How does the repair café make you feel?
It makes me feel like I’m doing something positive for the community.
Would you recommend volunteering for Repair Cafe Wales?
Most definitely! It is such a positive experience for all who take part. My volunteers also have access to free training and qualifications through the venue we use, along with Tempo Time Credits for their time, so there are extra perks.
