The Orillia Repair Café

—by Annalise Stenekes

Everywhere you look, it seems that people are struggling in our communities. From food insecurity to homelessness to social isolation – many people feel like there are no solutions. Or that the solutions are too difficult to implement.

It is so easy to shrug our shoulders and give up.

I’ve come to believe that the best way to mitigate this is by encouraging and supporting “bite size” local initiatives, like the Orillia Repair Café.  This informal, grassroots initiative is one ingredient in the recipe for creating and maintaining a vibrant, healthy, and sustainable community.

This unique “pop up” event brings people together to repair or mend items rather than discarding them.  Every year, millions of household items—from electronics to clothing—end up in landfills, often for minor, repairable faults. Repair Cafés offer an alternative by encouraging people to give those items some TLC rather than throwing them away.

The impact extends far beyond that immediate goal of “fixing broken things”.  There are many additional benefits such as reducing waste, saving money, encouraging mindful consumption, reviving “lost” skills, and strengthening community bonds.

Developing the Orillia Repair Café was not a linear process!

For me, the seed was planted when I was part of Orillia’s “Transition Town” community starting in 2010.  This group focused on increasing community self-sufficiency  to reduce the potential effects of peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability. Several project groups focused on different key issues (i.e. local food, alternative energy production). 

At the time, there were two project groups that caught my interest. The first was “alternative economies” which explored opportunities to create trading systems that are not based on traditional currency.  The second was “reskilling” which focused on preserving skills that are at risk of disappearing. 

Participating in these two groups led to the creation of the Lake Country Time Trade. Launched in 2015, LCTT is an informal network of community members who use their talents and skills to help others in the network.  They earn “hours” that they can bank and, when they are ready, they can then use their banked “hours” to get help from someone else in the network. Basically, it is like bartering but instead of exchanging items with one other person, you get to trade with a circular network of people where everyone has something to share! 

The concepts of reskilling and bartering/trading naturally led to the idea of hosting a pop-up event where people could showcase their skills. The Repair Café concept, which began in Amsterdam in 2009, was starting to gain traction globally around the same time.  This provided the framework we needed, and it was a natural fit to invite Time Trade members in Orillia to help fix items in need of mending a couple of times a year.

Our first Repair Cafe event took place in 2018, followed by three more before the pandemic put things on hold. In 2024, we started up again and are hoping to continue with two events per year.

Although the Transition Town model faded away in Orillia, its spirit lives on in Sustainable Orillia which formed in 2019 and is focused on improving the wellness of our community through environmentally sustainable practices. Sustainable Orillia partners with the Orillia Repair Café volunteers to host the event every Spring and Fall.

The Repair Café contributes to a vibrant, healthy and more sustainable community. Supporting and participating is a simple yet impactful way to make a difference for both people and the planet.

Mark your calendar for Saturday April 5 (11 am to 3 pm at St. James’ Anglican Church) and reach out to orilliarepaircafe@gmail.com to stay informed about future events!