We have some pretty amazing people in the Repair Cafe Wales Family
As part of a new initiative we will be running 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.
First off in the series is Tim Bunce from Llantwit Major
Q: What is your name, which repair café location do you volunteer at and what’s your role / skill?
A: I’m Tim Bunce, I’ve been a volunteer at the Llantwit Major cafe since inception in Oct 2018 and helped in its creation. I tinker with electrical, IT items, clocks, ornaments and general repair, in a flexible way depending on what comes through the door.
Q: Why did you decide to volunteer with Repair Cafe Wales?
A: I volunteered because we felt, as a group, that this offered a good outreach opportunity which matched our skill base. In my case, I had a number of years experience with IT hardware that could be put to good use.
Q: What do you like best about the repair café?
A: I like the sense of camaraderie we all have at the cafe as we see what each session challenges us with.
Q: What is your favourite part of volunteering?
A: The favourite part of volunteering, for me, is to see happy
customers taking their possessions back in a better state than when brought in. We’ve heard customers quite loudly talking about the hundreds of pounds they’ve saved as they leave, and we get such a sense of achievement from that.
Q: What has been the most challenging item to repair?
A: An 8mm movie projector was the greatest challenge, made particularly more difficult by the owner not being able to find the power lead. I don’t have any experience of using such a device yet alone repair, but this is a learning experience for all of us!
Q: What do you think the repair café does for the community?
A: The Repair Cafe offers the community a chance to learn or develop some repair skills and an opportunity to save money on the unnecessary purchase of new replacement items (if we’re lucky!). We also offer an opportunity for a free natter on a Saturday morning!
Q: Have you gained any skills from the experience?
A: I’ve learnt PAT testing, but half the items brought in for repair are a learning opportunity for both us and the customers.
Q: How does the repair café make you feel?
A: Strangely, it feels like I’m following in the footsteps of my Dad, who in his later years used to sit outside his garage at his workbench, ready to repair whatever his neighbours brought by!
Q: Would you recommend volunteering for Repair Cafe Wales? Why?
A: Of course we’d recommend this to others, to offer their skills for the benefit of the community.
