Ashburton Library and Keep Learning Mid Canterbury are teaming up to offer Ashburton’s first Fix It Fair on Saturday 1 February.

Pop along to the library between 10am and 1pm and you’ll find volunteers from local community groups able to fix your items or help you make a plan for where to get the item fixed.

Library Manager Jill Watson said the Fix It Fair was a free event, and people could pop into the library at any time during the event with their broken items, like a shirt with a missing button or a necklace with a broken clasp.

“We’ll have people there with the knowledge to fix things or offer advice, or help you fix them yourself, and there’ll be no cost.

“There are several aims of this event, the first being to reduce things that are thrown away into landfill. Fixing something that is broken saves money and the earth’s resources.

“The fair is also a great way for people to connect to community groups, share their knowledge and learn repair skills.”

Who’s going to be there?

CanBead will be on hand with all the tools needed to fix jewellery. They can help with things like fixing clasps and shortening.

Digital Waitaha will be there to fix gaps in your knowledge when it comes to working out how to use your phone, tablet or other digital device. They can't fix faulty devices but often problems are with the user not the device itself, so come along and get support and answers to your questions.

Menzshed members can help assess your items and show you what types of things they can fix down at the Menzshed, where they have all the equipment to fix almost anything! Please bring photos of your items, rather than the items themselves.

Mid Canterbury TimeBank members and other community volunteers will be available to offer simple repairs to household items - bring it with you and try your luck. They can also mend or alter your clothing so you can get more wear out of it, including fixing missing buttons, tears, holes, hemming. There’ll also be help to troubleshoot your garden woes.