THE Swan Repair Café has secured a permanent headquarters at the historical Midland Railway Workshops, marking a major milestone for the local waste-reduction initiative.

After years of operating through pop-up events and shared spaces, the volunteer-run repair hub has established a fixed base at the former Boiler House building.

The move, made possible through the generosity of the Machinery Preservation Club of WA, saw the space gifted to the group providing much needed stability for its operations.

Swan Repair Café administrator Evie Whitlock said the new home is a vital step in ensuring the group can continue to serve the public effectively.

“As much as we thoroughly enjoyed travelling around as a team, we found the biggest thing people needed was consistency,” she said.

“The fact that we’ve now got a forever home, so the community knows where we are and when we are every single month is fantastic.

“We were also transporting all our equipment, supplies, and everything else we needed to each location.

“Being able to have a home we can store stuff has made things so much easier for our volunteers.”

The café brings together skilled volunteers who help residents repair broken household items, including textiles, toys, electronics and furniture, keeping usable goods out of landfill and passing on practical skills.

The group’s goal is to combat the growing waste produced by the population by teaching residents how to repair items and keep them in circulation.

“We are becoming more of a throwaway society; when something is broken, I can just throw it away and buy something really quite cheap,” Ms Whitlock said.

“People are losing important skills that are transferable; you can learn how to repair one thing and those skills can be used to do other things in life as well.”

While current volunteers specialise in textiles, mechanical gears, and tech troubleshooting, the group is calling out for new members to join the team.

“We’d love people to come and join and be a part of the Swan Repair Café; any skills are welcome, even if people just want to come down and be part of the community,” Ms Whitlock said.

“In particular, we are calling out for sparkies or people who can do electronic fixes… we get a lot of people asking , ‘can you fix a toaster?’ or ‘can you fix a kettle?’ but we just don’t have anybody to sign off on those repairs.”

Interested residents can volunteer by contacting the group at swanrepaircafe@gmail.com or via their Facebook page ahead of their 2026 launch next month.