Step away from the bin – and head to The Fixery, the Northern Beaches’ incredible free service giving broken items a second life.
A broken toy left on a bedside table. A toaster that gave up mid-routine. A chair with a wobble that worsens every time someone sits down. These are the everyday frustrations that usually end one way: in a bin bag, headed for landfill.
Most of us don’t even think of getting them fixed, not out of laziness, but because we imagine they’re past saving. At Cromer, there’s a different ending taking shape inside a community hall.
The Fixery launched in May 2024 at Cromer Community Centre, and from the very first session, appointment spots were snapped up faster than anyone anticipated. It has remained one of the most in-demand community opportunities on the Northern Beaches since.
The Cromer Crew Can Fix Almost Anything!
Held on Fisher Road North on the first Saturday of every month (except January), from 10.30 am to 1 pm, The Fixery is a free repair service run by skilled volunteers with expertise in electricals, sewing, and woodwork. This clever concept is delivered by The Sydney Library of Things in partnership with Northern Beaches Council.
It’s a simple but wonderful concept – arrive with something broken, leave with it working again. Staffed by very clever and dedicated volunteers it means all of this is at no cost to the broken item’s owner.
The range of what gets tackled is wide: small electrical appliances like toasters, lamps, and coffee machines; clothing repairs including hems, seams, and elastic; furniture; knife sharpening; and, when available, costume jewellery.
Items need to be clean, portable, and carried in by the person who needs them fixed.
The demand for an appointment is so high that there is a growing waitlist. Each session runs to a 30-minute timeslot per item, and anything needing parts simply means booking back in the following month.
Where Skilled Hands Meet Treasured Things
The volunteers aren’t just hobbyists having a go, either. Carol Skyring, President and Co-Founder of The Sydney Library of Things, has spent a lifetime as an educator and sustainability advocate, living off the grid in rural Queensland for six years before channelling that same passion into projects like her local community garden and The Sydney Library of Things.
She is clear on the calibre of people showing up to help.
“All volunteers have expertise in their area,” she says. “The gadget repair team is all current or retired electricians or electrical engineers, and we’ve had one of them trained and certified as a test and tagger.”
The success rate sits at around 85 per cent, which, given the eclectic mix of items that arrive each month, is remarkable. Past sessions have welcomed a dodgy grandfather clock, erratic heaters, antique tables and chairs, an electric toy car, blunt knives, sticky garden tools, woolly jumpers in need of mending, and the brakes on a gentleman’s mobility walker.
That last one stuck with Mayor Sue Heins. She champions sustainability as a core part of the Council’s agenda, but what brings her the most joy is the immediate, real-time effect The Fixery has on the people who walk through the door.
“An elderly gentleman arrived with his walker, having serious issues with the brakes, which could put him in a precarious situation,” she recalls. “The team was so caring of him and immediately set to work. The issue was found, and they fixed the problem, with the gentleman walking out with a confident, happy step.”
It’s the kind of moment that’s hard to put a price on. Which is fitting, because nobody does.
The Joy of Fixing What Others Would Throw Away
Some of the most memorable repairs are less about function and more about feeling. Mayor Heins lights up, recalling a small wooden Pinocchio keyring that arrived for repair. Sentimental, seemingly unfixable, and deeply loved.
“I remember the joy that a woman had from getting her small, broken wooden Pinocchio keyring repaired,” she says. “It was an item she suspected could never be fixed.”
Then there was the vintage wooden tray. The damage was beyond a quick fix, so the volunteer tracked down special wood and tools and asked the owner to come back the following month. She did, and what she collected was her heirloom, repaired almost invisibly. When she tried to press money into the volunteer’s hands, he refused and suggested she donate to her favourite charity instead. She did, right there and then.
Carol Skyring has seen the same quiet emotion with larger pieces.
“We’ve had a couple of people bring in very old pieces of wooden furniture that belonged to their grandparents, that they wanted to give to their grandchildren. It’s been very emotional for them to have it fixed.”
A Clever Initiative Built to Last
The personal moments are memorable, but the bigger picture is just as compelling. Driven by strong community interest in repair and reuse, this circular economy initiative looks set to become a permanent fixture on the Northern Beaches.
The Fixery sits alongside a packed calendar of Council-run sustainability programs, from composting and worm farming workshops to chemical clean-out days, polystyrene drop-offs, car boot sales, and even sessions on how to switch to an EV. It is a community-wide push to reduce what ends up in landfill, and The Fixery sits at the heart of it.
Mayor Sue Heins puts it plainly: “We are passionate about sustainability and want to help our community live more sustainably. We continue to explore ways to help the community throw less out and recycle more, with the positive outcome being less landfill and items we cannot fix ourselves working again, all free of charge for locals.”
Before the next broken thing makes it to the bin, it might be worth setting it aside. Spots fill fast, but a place in the queue and a repair that surprises you could be closer than expected.
Find the full events calendar, including upcoming Fixery bookings, at https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/whats-on/fixery
The Fixery
Important information:
The Fixery is held the first Saturday of the month. Bookings are essential via the website link below – and you must be a resident of Northern Beaches.
Please note: All items must be clean. We can’t sharpen saws or serrated knives or weld and we don’t repair underwear, bicycles, electronics or watches. We can repair one item per time slot.
📍 Cromer Community Centre, 150 Fisher Road North, Cromer
🕒 Usually on selected Saturdays from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm (bookings are recommended).
🌐 https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/whats-on/fixery
Operated by The Sydney Library of Things in partnership with Northern Beaches Council
Story by Evie Scully
