Sorry for the pause in our news last week … we were flat out getting organised here at ACC and I barely sat at my desk early in the week … and then I went to a conference on Thursday and Friday with all the other neighbourhood house managers from the north-east Melbourne region, which was great. But I wasn’t in the office.

And … sometimes when I haven’t got to the newsletter I do it on Sunday night … but … I went to the Northcote Rise festival on High Street and … see the photo below! … I got distracted.

What a great event though! Nothing better than dancing to a Latin themed oversized jukebox in the middle of a closed off street with neighbourhood friends on a Sunday afternoon right?

We’re so lucky to have such great things on locally! Did you go too?

Local counsellor John Byrne is holding a weekly men’s group at ACC on Tuesday evenings.

If you are a man interested in talking with other men about self care, including things like community and connections, boundaries and loyalty, intuition and improvement and mentoring and empowering others, please come along.

You can contact John on 0439 899 352.

It was super lovely to welcome our colleague Kathy Vrettas from Yarra City Council to our community morning on Friday. And we were delighted that she brought along Cr Edward Crosslands who is the new Yarra Mayor.

The Yarra neighbourhood houses have such a great relationship with Council, and we are always thrilled when staff and councillors come along so we can show off all the exciting things we have been up to - and that deliver on our shared strategic objectives to create great services for our local community.

And … to mark the occasion … I FINALLY took a photo of some of our crafting friends who come along on Fridays with GenU. They have been coming for at least 6 months now, and we really look forward to them attending each week. Such nice people!

If you are interested in craft or gardening - with a good dose of socialising thrown in - our community mornings might be just right for you too! Come along from 10am. All welcome. Lunch is at 12pm.

This year we have extended our Toy Library hours.

You can now collect and return toys on either

• Tuesday afternoon from 1-3pm, or

• Wednesday morning from 10am-12pm (coinciding with our Wednesday Playgroup session).

Please note, you will still need to go online to reserve the toys you want to borrow before 10am Tuesdays, as our lovely friend and volunteer Sarah comes in around 10.30am to fill the orders for the week.

Joining a local toy library and borrowing toys is good for your hip pocket AND good for the planet! And good for your sanity if your home already has too much stuff! Keen? You can find out more join up here!

It has been wonderful to be part of the Yarra repair workshops this last 6 months … and we have one final one coming up. Clothing Repair will run on Saturday 17th of February from 1-3pm.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.

Join professional mender Mary-Ellen Jordan to learn simple sewing skills that just use a needle and thread, and some more advanced skills such as decorative stitching and patching for funky visible repairs.

 This workshop will cover:

• Types of needles and thread and their uses

• Basic hand sewing stitches

• How to hand stitch up a seam that has come undone

• How to hand stitch up a hem that has come undone

• How to sew on a button

• How to make a patch and stitch it onto your garment

• Some fancier stitches to boost your visible mending game

• Ideas and tricks for visible mending

Bring along a garment that you’d like to repair, or just come along and use the available materials to learn the techniques for future use.

Mary-Ellen Jordan is a professional mender who almost always uses simple hand stitching techniques in her work. She specialises in visible mending, putting a contemporary twist on traditional mending techniques by using them to fix a problem and add a touch of colour, pattern or texture to the garment. You can see some examples on Mary-Ellen’s facebook and instagram accounts @thetinyinstitute.