Hi everyone,

In exciting (but necessarily low-key) news, we are going to be a Low Sensory Voting Site for the Northcote electorate. If you or someone you know would benefit from a quiet, low-sensory space for voting (lights low, all our pictures down, no noisy stuff happening outside etc.) then you are welcome to come here. This voting opportunity will happen 10 days before the actual election … on Tuesday 17 November from 9am-5pm. You can find out all the details from the VEC here.

Also, our Christmas Makers’ Market is next Saturday 21 November from 11am-2pm and we’re gearing up. Come on down to shop locally for your Christmas gifts and bring the kids along for Christmas crafty activities and a sausage in bread! It will also be the first weekend of Alphington Open Studios, which is a great annual celebration of our local artists. Pick up the brochure here in our foyer (or outside on the side of the street libraries) and check out the artists at ACC before following the trail around the neighbourhood to visit all the other local artists involved, in their studios or at the Parklands. AOS is supported by a grant from the North Fitzroy/Clifton Hill Community Bank (what an ace bank).

In the meantime, if you’d like to celebrate Diwali you can join us for Community Lunch this Friday at 12pm for an Indian feast and/or you can pop in at 12.30pm for a coffee/tea and some dancing! Should be both yummy and lots of fun.

Check out our website here at this link to find out more information about what’s on at ACC and to book in to all the things online!

Cheers Leanne

Darebin Intercultural Centre is putting on a weaving event on Wednesday 2 December in support of the 16 Days Against Gender-based Violence Campaign. Register here at this link to join in and show your support!

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Cup Day is upon us and we’re taking a mini- break on Monday and Tuesday.

If you have children, grandchildren or family in the throes of VCE exams it might not be that relaxing at home (like me) … but for the majority … it’s like the transition weekend to the Christmas season right? And summer … how exciting.

It’s certainly the case at ACC. We’ll be launching into organising the Christmas Makers Market as soon as we’re back.

The Market is on Saturday 21 November from 11am-2pm - come along and get your Christmas gifts sorted before December starts (then you’ll feel so organised and generally amazing!). Also, if you could help on the BBQ for a bit we’d be ever so happy. In particular we need some assistance from 12.30-2pm. You can sign up here.

We’re also starting planning for next year and after some ideas from you. Check out the post below for more info.

See you from Wednesday onwards.

Cheers Leanne

Do you love trivia? We hope to put together a table for the Friends of Baucau trivia night fundraiser coming up on Wednesday 18 November.

Tickets cost $60 or $45 for concession - but all the money goes to supporting on-the-ground community organisations in Timor-Leste.

If you want to join in please email us here. We’ll then coordinate booking seats at an ACC table.

Alternatively you might have a group of trivia buff friends and put together your own table - and then here’s the link to book directly.

We are currently starting to get organised for next year, and we are open to adding some new programs to our schedule. If anyone has an idea for a great program or workshop that you would like to set up, or know of something great that we could possibly offer, please email us at info@alphington.org.au.

We love having volunteers come along and run activities like John’s Heart-Centred Breathwork and Men’s Breakfasts, and Rosie’s Community Yoga….. Or teachers who want to hire out the space for classes like Clare’s Artful Painting and Drawing, and Yoyo’s Violin Lessons …

In particular we have rooms available on weekday afternoons between 4pm-7pm and would be very interested in having some after-school programs or more music and/or tutoring type activities on offer. We could also fit in more counsellors or self-help type groups that might be interested in using our smaller spaces in the evenings. We are open to any ideas!

We look forward to hearing from you. Please note that we’ll be finalising our program for Semester 1, 2027 at the end of November, so all ideas need to be with us in the next couple of weeks.