Last week we had our last session of Crunch for the term. It has been such a fabulous new program, and it has engaged a different cohort of locals - it is always nice to make new friends! Crunch will be back next term for another 6 weeks, starting Thursday 24 October.

Speaking of art, did you go to Art for All this weekend? I went along and saw so many people I knew - what a great event hey? We are so lucky to have so many fabulous parents in our community who run community events like Art for All and the Alphington PS Fete.

On Friday we were joined for lunch by our local State MP, Kat Theophanous. She came past to check out the renovations that were primarily funded by two State Government grants (with a bit of our own savings in there to top it up). She was very impressed with all the changes we made, and we also had a great chat about neighbourhood house funding, and how the State Government could continue to support us into the future.

This week Julie Johnston who runs the North East Neighbourhood House Network is taking some of our colleagues on a bus tour of all the Darebin neighbourhood houses … so we will be looking forward to them popping in on Wednesday for morning tea. I will be showing off all the changes we have made recently and talking about the programs we run here to meet our local community need, and also talking about the way we try to present ourselves in the community to build community engagement and establish a sense of place.

Speaking of which, have you seen the new ‘vases’ on the fence - a little celebration of spring for you to enjoy next time you pass by.

Coming up this week our Lemon Cleaner DIY mini-workshop on Thursday morning at 11am. $10. Clare will show you how to make your own environmentally friendly lemon based cleaner … and explore some other ideas for keeping your house fresh and environmentally friendly using things from the home garden. It will be low key and lovely! Find out more and book in here.

Also, click on the links below to find out more about our VCE Exam Help sessions that will run on Saturday afternoons in October. We are also offering a Meet The Candidates session or the upcoming Darebin Council elections.

Also, check out the learn to bowl opportunity sent through from Anne and the Alphington Bowls Club. Coming up this weekend.

Finally … our next Alphington Arts session is coming up next week - on Thursday 19 September at 7.30pm. We are going to be doing life drawing with a model this time - so it should be super fun! If you are interested in joining in you still can here. We have this session, and two more coming up next term.

I hope you have a great week and look forward to seeing you soon!

Leanne

A reminder for anyone with Year 12 students that we are hosting a series of ‘practise exam’ opportunities at ACC on Saturday afternoons in October. It will be a great chance for students to get used to study conditions and set aside some time to practise any exam they choose.

The cost is $15. Book in here.

We think this is a fabulous new initiative and would love your help to spread the word.

Last week we had a Committee of Governance Meeting. Our AGM is coming up on Monday 28 October at 6.30pm and we are hoping to find one or two new committee members. If you have a passion for spreading kindness, helping build community connections and looking out for the most vulnerable in the neighbourhood we’d love you to think about joining up and supporting our lovely organisation. Give me a call or email to chat further.

It is a very non-onerous commitment. Our organisation runs like a well-oiled machine now … and the role of the Committee is not day to day. It provides strategic oversight, meeting about 8 times a year on the last Monday of the month (not in school holidays) - to endorse professionally prepared quarterly finance reports and to double check that the day to day management and programs we offer are addressing the organisational priorities set out in our strategic plan. It also provides an important compliance role for our not-for-profit incorporated association relating to risk management etc.

Our next big undertaking is a review our Constitution and to look at applying for Deductible Gift Recipient status. If you have experience to share around this whole process we would love you to put your hand up!

And on to other things.

You’ll notice if you pass by and look carefully that I painted the pot by the front door orange on Tuesday - to add a bit or razzle dazzle to all our lives! We also put a sign up next to our Marking Time project on the wall under the office window. Just to explain to anyone passing by that those marks represent the 6 lockdowns and 262 days we all experienced … it feels a long time ago now doesn’t it? Thank goodness.

It is coming up to to Adult Learners Week and, as neighbourhood houses in general offer quite a lot of learning opportunities for adult learners, Darebin Libraries have invited all the houses in Darebin to do something at their local library. We love doing things in partnership with the Library (hello book clubs) … and we will be having a display in the Fairfield Library windows for the month of September. So … next time you are walking through the Fairfield community building take a look. Kalimna has printed a whole heap of her photos that capture so beautifully all the learning opportunities we offer here … and we’ve got our program up and brochures out etc. Fun! Thanks so much Fiona (from the Libraries) for organising this opportunity.

Council elections are coming up … and we’re looking at holding a meet and greet so that our community gets a chance to have friendly conversations with the Darebin candidates in the South East Ward (that’s us). We’re doing this is partnership with AFCA (Alphington Fairfield Civic Association) and we’re more the host site than the key organisers, but there is a tentative date of Thursday 19 September on the cards.

If you are interested in coming along you can email us here and we’ll keep you up to date with the plan as it evolves.

Ok, that’s it I think. Oh yes, this is the last week of Crunch for this term - come along if you are keen. Also, our Wednesday Playgroup is busy and friendly … and everyone is welcome. 10am -12pm. Also … our Tuesday Active Adult exercise class is building. If you are interested in joining in too please call or email. We can adjust the payment for the weeks still to come. It works out at $15 a week, and Jess who runs it is lovely! 11am - the perfect time to keep fit!

Also, see the post below about the DIY Lemon Cleaner Workshop. We’d love to see you!

Have a great week.

Leanne

We’ve had an abundance of lemon 🍋 donations (thanks everyone) - and Clare is keen to share how to make your own cleaner with them. It’ll make your house smell delightful! And … is very effective.

So, we are going to run a pop-up workshop on Thursday 12 September from 11am for an hour. The cost is $10. You can book in using the link below.

BYO passata size jar (or 2 or 3 or 4) - you might have some you could share? Clare will take you through the steps. We’ll make you a fancy coffee!

It’ll be lovely.

Register here if you are keen to come along.

Well it has all been art, art, art this weekend, with our Winter Arts Exhibition running Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.

With 40+ artists work on display, and over 120 works in the show there was a super range of art to enjoy.

We had lots of people come along to enjoy the art accompanied by drinks and nibbles in our lovely new spaces on Friday evening … and works sold - which made the artists happy, I am sure! Then a steady stream of visitors over the weekend. It is great to be able to partner with local artists and support their practice. It is also a thrill for us to be able to provide unique opportunities for our community. There were lots of people who came along who we don’t normally see at ACC - and that is fabulous!

Thanks to all the artists who participated in the show and to everyone who came along.

We are looking forward to touching base with everyone this week as they collect their works and congratulating those who bought a piece as they also drop by to collect them. A reminder that our office is open 9am-3.30pm Monday to Friday.

And … time doesn’t stop! This week we have our:

• Preserves Group on Tuesday afternoon from 1-3pm. It will be super to top up our preserves that we have for sale after a busy weekend of sales at the Winter Arts Exhibition.

• Movie Club on Tuesday evening - we’ll be Iris and the Men at 6pm at Westgarth Cinema if you are interested in coming along please let us know.

• Life Journaling workshop series starting this coming weekend, from 10am-12pm. It runs for 4 weeks with journalist Carmela Ferraro here to help you write your autobiography! How fun! It should be really super. Book in ASAP if you are interested here. We will need minimum numbers for it to go ahead.

Looking forward to seeing you at ACC soon.

Leanne