Hi, we are really looking forward to saying hello to everyone as we resume our action packed Friday program. It has been great to get some phone calls and emails from our regulars already.

This year we will be running a similar program to last year - but with a few tweaks to the timing of things, so please note …

Community Gardening/SHEd

From 10am, come along and join Clare and Corrado outside as they work to improve our lovely grounds. Over the year you will have the opportunity to learn about growing and maintaining an urban orchard and vegetable garden, composting and pruning and how to save seeds, grow seedlings … all the things! And depending on interest, there is also the opportunity to work collectively on small scale projects in our community shed.

If you have passed by recently you will see that our raised garden beds will be looking for some love after a month of wild growing (the tomatoes definitely need staking!). And as always I am sure Clare has lots of creative plans for the year ... This is a great opportunity to meet local people. No need to enrol, just come along with your hat and gloves and join in.

Community Craft

From 10.30am we’ll be running our inside craft group - suitable for knitters and crocheters etc. We are always delighted to welcome new people of all abilities and skill levels to join in. Bring your own materials along if you’d like to work on your own project, or you can use our donated stash if you’d like to make things that we can sell to support the program. Again, no need to book, just come along and join in.

Community Lunch

At 12pm you can join us for a light lunch. We’ll come together to enjoy foods such as pasta bakes, soup, toasties etc. with a cup of tea or coffee and dessert, including fruit. This program is supported by our lovely friends at the Alphington CWA who donate amazing sweet and savoury home cooked dishes. Yum!

AAA Art in the Shed

For anyone needing to access all abilities programs, you can join Clare, Corrado and Hazel from 1-2pm for some arty fun. This program is tailored to the interests of participants. It costs $5 weekly, and you must book in for the term on our website. Please note that places are limited.

We were delighted to welcome back many of our playgroup friends from last year today.

Our Wednesday playgroup runs from 10am-12pm and is suitable for parents, carers and grandparents to attend - with their littlest darlings (of course)!

We set up activities each week, have tea and coffee available (or the cafe is just next door … and you can borrow a mug from us to minimise waste) and we have staff on hand to facilitate introductions if you feel a little shy the first time you come along!

Our playgroup is primarily run outside in our front garden, but we also set up a space inside with toys if you prefer an indoor experience.

No need to book in, just bring your snacks and a hat and come along! All welcome.

We were once again delighted to be part Alphington Open Studios this year.

And personally it was just lovely to come to work and be surrounded by fabulous art!

I hope you made it along here and to the studios open across the neighbourhood.

Thanks Katie Roberts.

Thanks Sharon West.

Thanks Maxine O’Brien.

Hi,

Kalimna here. I just wanted to say a big thank you to the many supporters and volunteers that brought the Christmas Makers Market together.

This year we were supported by Nelson Alexander with local billboards, Brenta Meats with great sausages to sell, the Ivanhoe Rotary Club volunteers wrangled the BBQ and the Alphington Open Studios artists shared their wonderful works inside.

We would also like to thank our own volunteers like Marie-Louise, Elaine, Monika and Anne who looked after our new kiosk and the craft and preserves sales. And Cheryl and Richard who helped out with kids activities.

There were stalls raising funds for various charities and causes this year - which we love supporting. These included Friends of Baucau coffee sales, CWA craft, fundraising for Ivanhoe Grammar’s Cambodia community service trip and Manu’s fundraising to support children in India.

And lastly thank you to all the stall holders - we hope you enjoyed the day.

There were lots of shoppers and the market provided many great Christmas gifts to the people that visited from our community.

It is fabulous to be able to support locals to shop locally.

Soup, slices and biscuits. We had a lovely lunch on Friday of delicious minestrone soup and my personal favourite, lemon slice. Yum! Thanks so much Alphington CWA friends for catering. Our community friends really appreciate your efforts.

We generally have around 14 or so people here each Friday at 11.30am for an early meal.

If you too are interested in coming along, you are very welcome. You can join us from 10am for gardening and/or craft, or just come for lunch at 11.30am.