Hi everyone, just confirming that ACC will be physically closed for the next 6 weeks. We’re super keen to play our part in driving Covid-19 numbers down - and accordingly will be limiting our own movement and contact with others.

We will be answering calls and emails, writing posts and working behind the scenes, but our staff will not be engaged in any face-to-face activities and we will all be working from home.

Please note we will continue to sell face masks on our website. $10 each. The link is here if you need to buy some. Kalimna will package them up and deliver them to your door with contactless delivery (you can expect them to arrive on a Wednesday or Friday) if you live within 5km-ish of us.

We’ll continue our ‘Honestly’ project so look out for this weekly letter from a neighbour - find out what they’ve been up to and what they’ve been thinking about lately. 30 copies of the same letter are posted on the Alphington milk bar window each week - usually on a Friday. Take one home to read. They are super interesting!

Unfortunately our ‘Blind date with a book’ project will be on temporary hold … but will be back on the other side!

And we’ll be working on some new ideas as well, including our new ‘Craftberry Jam’ project … great name hey? We’ll keep you updated as it progresses.

Finally … I know I’ve said it before, but it’s really true. If you need help at this time please don’t hesitate to let us know. We’re here. We have access to food relief and can connect you in to a vast array of services … and in addition we have a number of volunteers who are very happy to call anyone who needs a regular chat, to drop off some food on their daily walk or to pick up a prescription etc.

Oh, and finally, finally … remember the wise words of Burt Bacharach (on a completely unrelated topic … but none-the-less), ‘Make it easy on yourself’. Sung best (in my humble opinion) by The Blackeyed Susans. You can listen here.

12 things to get you through Iso 2.1. You pick up this poster from the bin outside ACC if you pass by whilst doing your 1 hour of exercise!

From little things big things grow …

So … with our new ramp came some new plants.

They arrived last week and they’ve now been planted. We chose to plant herbs, so that they become a community resource once they’re established. When they’ve grown you’re most welcome to pop past and cut some for your pasta sauce or roast! There’s lots of thyme and oregano across the front. Mint behind the ramp at the back. A patch of sage and tarragon under the blackboard sign. And some rosemary under the windows.

And then some nice smelly things like lavender and lemony geraniums - to cheer us up as we walk into work each day!

A little patch of Vietnamese mint near the book library!

We were recently the recipient of a placemaking grant from Darebin Council and I am personally pretty excited about this because it brings together my first professional job (urban planning) with my current role (community development).

Placemaking is both a process and a philosophy of urban design that capitalises on a local community's assets and potential. Placemaking involves deliberate interventions that enhance the urban experience at the pedestrian scale - to create public spaces that promote health, happiness, and well-being.

Exactly the sorts of lofty things we’re all seeking in these unsettling times right?

To understand what placemaking means in reality you could think about some of the physical changes we’ve made around ACC in the last few years … and how those changes impact on your perception of the space, your sense of belonging to it, and by extension to the organisation itself.

This new Council funded placemaking project that we’re embarking upon is a small scale portable venture - but not a solo undertaking. It is a collaboration with Darebin Libraries and also with Fairfield Bookshop.

And this week we (read Lee) got stuck into turning our idea into reality. By the end of next week phase one should be complete, and we hope to be ready to launch ‘it’ on the street … that street being Station Street in the first instance.

So keep your eyes peeled! We’ll keep you updated on the progress and we’ll provide more details soon.

Plywood, books and sticky notes … what will it all become?

Selling masks, wearing masks … giving away our posters! Practising smiling with my eyes.

Good morning. Leanne here.

What a week! I have been living and breathing all things masks, organising people to make more of them, selling them, testing different styles and whether I can ACTUALLY TALK in them without them falling down… trying to buy elastic!!*

It’s a whole new world isn’t it … the first day I wore one I felt quite claustrophobic, but each day I have been building up my tolerance and by Wednesday I wore one for quite a few hours without noticing too much - and walked the kilometre too and from work with one on without worrying about it.

And … at one point I actually forgot that I was wearing a mask … and I attempted to drink my coffee through it. Luckily I remembered at the last minute. Because it would have been a classic ‘Funniest Home Videos’ moment.

At ACC we have made (with the help of Alphington CWA and members of our Community Craft group) and distributed over 180 masks in the last few days. There are still some people who have contacted us whose orders we haven’t yet been able to fill - but rest assured we are attempting to help everyone out! We’ll be in contact as soon as we have stock available.

If you are having trouble accessing a mask at this stage don’t worry too much, remember you can wear a scarf over your face.

My husband, who is very sad not to be going skiing this year, has got out his synthetic skiing neckwarmer-tube-scarf-thing, and is pulling that up over his mouth and nose (I think he’s imagining that he’s on the lifts in the icy wind and snow at Falls instead of in the IGA on Station Street!)

So just be creative!

Or … there’s the no sew option using a sock that’s popped up in various forms in my Facebook feed. I tried it with one of the kids old socks - it was super easy to make. Only one layer, so probably not a great long term option, but an adequate and simple gap filler. I showed my gorgeous children what I had done and they were horrified that I was wearing one of their old school socks on my face. My middle child told me to ‘take a look in the mirror Mum and rethink your decision’ - I laughed and laughed! It was pretty gross. Perhaps I need to get out the Napisan more often …

* If you have any spare elastic lurking in the back of your cupboard that you don’t need please let us know … we can put it to good good use!

Jill modelling the CWA masks - thanks Jill!

Our Community Shed has not just had an external makeover, but it has also had an internal makeover in the last couple of weeks. Getting things away so that surfaces can be cleaned down after use has been motivation to find a home for every last nut, bolt and screw.

We’re super pleased with the outcome. We look forward to resuming our Women in the Shed program on Tuesdays (with 2 sessions, one running from 9.30am-12.30pm and the second running from 1-4pm) and our Men in the Shed program, running from 12-3pm on Thursdays when we can.