An event that was first of its kind in Swift Current was held over the weekend at the Palliser Pavilion.

The first-ever Repair Cafe was held on Saturday and gave residents a chance to bring in an item to be repaired by one of the experts that had set up shop.

Experts for house plants, toys, small appliances, computers, electronics, small engines, bicycles, jewelry, woodworking, and clothing were all featured at the event and all helped residents repair over 100 items.

Shann Gowen, the organizer for the event, said she started this event as a way to get people to not waste products.

"I really believe that we have a problem in our society right now of using things and throwing them away instead of repairing them," she said. "We keep making new stuff and filling landfills with items that are hardly even broken and I don't think that is the right thing to do, I think it's not sustainable."

Gowen said that overall the event went really well.

"For our first one, it was a grand success. We broke any of my expectations of what it would look like," she said. "I think everyone worked really well together and we will certainly make some changes to our next one.  There really isn't a lot of repair stores left. There isn't a lot of places that you take certain things and get them repaired and this is just a great way for neighbours to help other neighbours."

Repair cafes originally started in Amsterdam and have now spread to Saskatchewan.

Gown added that she is looking to expand experts in book and ceramic repair, and add more experts to the clothing, electronics, and small appliances in the future. Gowen hopes to do the event once again in spring.