Hi everyone,

It was nice to have some rain last week. Clare has been working on our front garden and it’s looking great! How lucky we are to have so many awesome community volunteers.

Footy starts on Thursday…. if you haven’t already, join our community tipping competition! You can sign up at this link.

And of course we are very excited to be preparing for the Alphington Show. Please contact us at info@alphington.org.au if you would like to be a participant in the arts and crafts competition. And read on for some tips on what our judges are looking for in each category.

Crunch is back this week from 12.30-2pm on Thursday. Don’t forget to book in online if you would like to attend. Wednesday and Thursday evening book clubs will also be running along with our normal weekly programs, including playgroups, line dancing, choir and more! Check out our bookings site here for more info about getting involved.

ALSO this weekend will be the labour day long weekend so please note we won’t be open next Monday the 9th of March.

Cheers,

Leanne

Hi everyone,

The day of action for neighbourhood houses last week was a big success! Click here to see the photos of follow the link below.

This week we will have the first Embracing Life and Death session on Thursday afternoon. Read on for more information about what it is all about and how to book in. We also have our second session of Garden to Plate on Thursday morning so book in online at this link if you haven’t already.

And our annual Alphington Show is officially less than a month away! On Saturday the 21st of March come along to enjoy community arts and crafts, our Makers Market, a CWA Devonshire tea and the Alphington Dog Show. We can’t wait!

Cheers Leanne

Last week we joined more than 200 neighbourhood houses across Victoria outside Parliament to ask for fairer wages from the State Government. We saw a fantastic turnout of staff, volunteers and community members and had the opportunity to speak to a number of supportive MPs. Thanks to everyone who came along, here are some photos from the day! A big thanks to Kalimna for taking such great photos.

Lots of good things coming up this week.

Preserves Group - Join Kalimna in the kitchen on Tuesday for Preserves Group. From 1pm we’ll be cooking up some tomato chutney and some summer fruit jam. In between chopping and stirring we’ll stop for an afternoon tea break - coffee and a sweet treat, so it’s not all hard work. From 1pm. Also …. if you have small clean jars to donate we’d love some more! We’re cooking up in preparation for sales at the Alphington Show (coming up on Saturday 21 March - a date for you diaries).

Day of Action - on Wednesday our office will close for a couple of hours around lunchtime as we head into the city to campaign for better funding for neighbourhood houses on the steps of Parliament. If you’d like to support this we’d love your company. Just email us here and we’ll let you know the details (we’re catching the train in!).

CRUNCH - Join Lee and Leanne for lunch and a creative arts activity at ACC on Thursday from 12.30pm. Only $10 this year. Book in on our website here.

and/or ….

Alphington Arts - on Thursday evening at 7.30pm for more arty fun! A lovely opportunity to meet other creative folk in the ‘hood, chat and create. This time we will be doing collage, inspired by Gustav Klimt. You can start your work with a photo of someone you love (bring your image along) or choose a random person from a magazine. We’ll be using mixed media - ink, paint, markers and paper to build our works. Thanks Lee for organising this session. You can book in here.

Community Lunch - we have the Deputy Mayor from Yarra Council joining us on Friday, along with some of our Council colleagues. It is always great to have Councillors and staff come along and see our space in action! All welcome (of course).

Hope to see you soon!

Cheers Leanne

Hi everyone,

It was great to see even more of our ACC community last week all back for another year. Book clubs starting, AAA Arts back on Friday afternoons and our Men’s Breakfast had at least 10 people booked in which is super! Thanks John for organising this.

This week the first sessions of Garden to Plate, AAA Bowls, and Sound Healing with Crystal Bowls will also be running. Feels like we are well and truly back in business…….

AND … it is also time to start getting ready for the Alphington Show! HOORAY!!!!! You should start thinking about what you’re planning to enter right now, because this year there’s going to be some tough competition!? In addition to the usual cooking categories (bread, jams, presrves, cakes etc.) we have a new one this year - covering everyone who makes kombucha and kimchi and the like …. (upon request). How fun! Also, don’t forget the Dog Show …. time to start training up those fur babies!

There’s a lot coming up and a lot of posts in our news this week - see all the links below. And in the meantime here is our very official program listed for the week:

• 2nd Monday of the Month Book Club, tonight!

• 2nd Tuesday of the Month Book Club (we’re still recruiting for this new Book Club - so please get in touch - we hope to start it up next month!).

• Toy Library open Tuesday, 1-3pm.

• AAA Bowls at Alphington Bowls Club (email us at info@alphington.org.au to join), Line Dancing at Alphington Scout Hall, and Alphington Playgroup here at the centre (book in online here) all on Wednesday morning from 10am-12pm.

• U3A Armchair Theatre, Wednesday 1-3pm.

• Our new Alphington Playgroup on Thursday morning 10am-12pm.

• Garden to Plate, Thursday 11.30am-1pm (more info and book in online here).

• Sound Healing with Crystal Bowls, Thursday 7-8pm (contact Keiko at her website here).

• Community Morning on Friday from 10am, and stick around for Community Lunch at 12-1pm.

• AAA Arts, Friday 1-2pm (email us at info@alphington.org.au).

Cheers,

Leanne