A Burnham-On-Sea pensioner says he is “overwhelmed” after a treasured antique mechanical desk calendar was repaired by a volunteer at the town’s Repair Cafe.
Robert Collier, 87, who lives in Burnham, has spent years trying to find somone to repair the unique antique.
“I’ve had it for 50 years and prior to that it was owned by an Aunt in WW2 – I think it unfortunately got damaged and stopped working during a move to Burnham from Plymouth many years ago,” Robert told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“I’d tried to get it repaired several times in Weston and Gloucester with no success – it’s the last item on my bucket list of so I was delighted when Hugh from the Burnham-On-Sea Repair Cafe offered to have a go.
Hugh Champion, one of the volunteers at the Burnham-On-Sea Repair Cafe, spent several days on the delicate repairs.
“The machine had to be taken apart, and then carefully reassembled – it was a lovely challenge to take on,” says Hugh.
“I was delighted to present it back to Roger this week after completing the job. He was clearly very delighted!”
Robert added: “It’s marvellous – I’m hugely grateful. I never thought I would see it fully functioning again! It is special to me and I have a cleared a place on my mantel place to display it once again. I thank the Repair Cafe for what they’re doing.”
The Burnham-On-Sea Repair Cafe is usually held every first Thursday of the month at the Waffle Hub in Burnham’s College Street, but won’t be held this week due to the PCC elections.
The Highbridge repair cafe is held every third Saturday of the month at The Purple Spoon cafe at the YMCA in Highbridge from 10:00am – 1:00pm. The Town Council encouraged residents to use the free Burnham and Highbridge repair cafes, both of which launched last year.
