A short post this week, with a few reminders.

• We have Crunch on Thursday at 12.30pm. $15 for a delicious lunch and a creative activity.

• Come along on Friday at 10.30am for morning tea and have a chat with Clare about our multi-use garden. It should be interesting. This Garden Tour is part of Urban Agriculture month.

• Next week we have Preserves Group at 1pm on Tuesday and Movie Club on in the evening. We’ll let you know the movie and the time later this week.

• We’ll be getting ready for the Makers Market on Saturday 23 November from 11am-2pm which also coincides with the start of the Alphington Open Studios weekends. We are once again really looking forward to hosting local artists here at ACC and the market is always a great local community event. We hope you can make it.

Also, next week we’ll be participating in the 4 yearly Community Survey that is run by our peak body Neighbourhood Houses Victoria (NHVic). We’ll have QR codes around our site and will ask everyone who comes along to take two minutes to participate and complete the survey. The survey really helps us build a picture of the value of our house in terms of community need for our services and why and how people engage with us … and it is fundamental to securing our ongoing funding as a sector - so we’d be really grateful if you participated. Keep an eye out for the QR codes if you are here!

Lots on (still) as we roll into the end of the year … see you soon.

Leanne

We’re excited to be part of Project Stationery this year.

This project, in its second year, is encouraging schools to reduce their stationery waste by offering a collection framework for (public and private, primary and secondary) schools and a redistribution service for the collected stationery.

Such a great service to families … no more drawers of minimally used plastic folders, pencils, notebooks etc. cluttering up houses and eventually ending up in the bin!

If your school cares about and actions environmental sustainability and would be able to organise a stationery collection drive at the end of the year, they can now register with Project Stationery.

Visit project_stationery on instagram and follow the link to join up.

Such a great idea! It was fabulous to see it rollout last year … and hopefully it will be even better this year.

We’re thrilled to be able to help all the amazing volunteers involved this summer.

We had a great turnout for the AGM, a mix of staff, committee members, volunteers and community members.

We ate dinner together and then reviewed the year through a presentation that featured Kalimna’s beautiful photos. Every year I am amazed at all the things we get done!

Thanks to our Committee of Governance last year - Heather Campbell (Chair), Jane Wilkinson (Deputy Chair), Lorena Felicitti (Treasurer), Wendy Pryor (Secretary), Ina Leung, Michelle Fidler and Anne Crehan for your guidance and support.

We are very sad to say goodbye to both Michelle and Anne this year. Anne has been on the Committee since at least 2007 and Michelle says she has emails going back to at least 2012. They have made an amazing community contribution over that time, and for staff they have been always supportive, enthusiastic, forward thinking and kind.

We will miss them but know we will keep in contact through all the other amazing community things they are involved with - CWA, Alphington Bowls Club, AFCA etc.

I’d also like to thank Wendy for her contribution over the last few years. She is also retiring from the Committee - but I wave to her multiple times a week as she walks by and she is part of The Ukes (our ukulele group) - so I know we will keep connected!

Thanks again everyone for a fabulous year. We look forward to building on the foundations put in place this year - through our renovations- in the coming years.

Leanne

Vote. It is a bit tricky this postal voting biz. Particularly fitting the ballot paper into the envelope I found (but maybe that’s just me. It was really tight though … and I had to stick my whole hand in first to make a little air pocket so that I could then put the voting slip in … ).

Anyway … remember … not only do you have to complete the paperwork before 25 October … but you also need to ACTUALLY SEND IT. This is a reminder to me as much as you. It is always the last step on these sorts of processes that catches me out (a bit like returning library books …).

And, you may be surprised to find the post boxes that used to be in the neighbourhood (such as the one just on the corner outside ACC) have now disappeared … 21st century and all I guess. There is still one on Grange Road near Becca Foodstore, one up the top of Perry Street (near Separation Street) and obviously you can still pop past the Post Office on Station Street or Heidelberg Road … or the Plaza!

Good luck to all the candidates who I have seen out door knocking and connecting locally. It is a real commitment to run for public office and I am personally full of admiration for anyone willing to put themselves out there like this - whatever level of government.

So happy voting! And … don’t forget to do it … vote that is.

We are excited to once again be part of the Alphington Open Studios Weekends - coming up in late November. Numerous local artists are opening up their home studios, and there will also be artists here at ACC and at the Parklands (in the office/management area at the end of Separation Street). Put a place holder in your diaries to take a trip around the neighbourhood!

This year the event is supported by our wonderful friends at the Clifton Hill/North Fitzroy Community Bank on Queens Parade. Bendigo Banks really do have a fabulous community model for banking that gives back up to 80% of their profits to the community.

If you have kids at schools, you play sport with a local club … or come along to places just like ACC, you will have benefited from them for sure!

Alphington Open Studios is a fabulous way to support local artists and also learn more about art processes - from painting to pottery to 3D sculpture. You can find out more about the artist involved at www.alphingtonstudios.com.