Sunbury repair cafe is helping to restore treasured pieces of jewellery through the help of a local volunteer.
Local jewellery repairer Pat Dunn volunteers her time at the cafe every month to repair and remodel jewellery to help stem the ‘throw away’ mentality of today’s society.
Ms Dunn said she is passionate about jewellery and was able to fine tune her repair skills in COVID-19 lockdowns.
“I’m one of these people who have always had a love of jewellery,” Ms Dunn said.
“When COVID-19 hit I had tons of beads and spare jewellery parts … so I started watching YouTube videos on jewellery, and jewellery repairing.
“I was making and fixing jewellery and watching hundreds of hours of videos … there’s a wealth of knowledge out there.”
Ms Dunn said she decided to volunteer with the repair cafe after lockdown ended and she has found it very rewarding.
“People come in with broken family jewellery … [and] it’s really minor fixes that … can bring it back to life,” she said.
“To bring some skills that other people don’t have … it’s very rewarding … [especially in todays]’… throw away society, we’re trying to correct that.”
Ms Dunn said she also receives help from a local jeweller, Rachael McCarthy, to confirm her jewellery evaluations for residents.
Details: rb.gy/cp1k5
Zoe Moffatt
