We hope you and your family and those you love the most get the chance to get together this year (and if not that you can catch up with local friends) to share the joy of the Christmas season.

We wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy and hopeful new year.

We’re looking forward to seeing you back at ACC after Australia Day. Our programming recommences onsite in the first week of February.

It really has been lovely to reconnect with so many of you recently! And a big thanks to the helpful community friends who have offered to water our garden through January!

I thought we’d leave you with a classy Christmas video or two - hopefully our staff finds these as entertaining as I do … If you are suitably impressed and want to make your own just download the elfyourself app!

The first one is here!

Merry Xmas from ACC - Part 1

If that wasn’t enough the second one is here (I had to make 2 to fit everyone in … you can only put 5 people in per video!)

Merry Xmas from ACC - Part 2

Our new brochure is out. We’ve created a trimmed down version for semester 1 2021. You can read it here. It is jam packed with old favourites like playgroups and choir and new ideas including a range of short courses, workshops and events you can book in to.

• Women in the Shed is back on Monday (for beginners), Tuesday and Thursday for 6 weeks in Term 1 and 2.

• Our free Access All Abilities Bowls program run with Alphington Bowls Club is back for 6 weeks in term 1 and 2.

• Our new Drawing in the Shed short course will also run for 6 weeks in Term 1 and 2. Run by local artist Louisa, this is a low-cost opportunity for all members of the community to develop the observation and co-ordination skills necessary to make creative drawings in any style. It will cover contour drawing, creating creative compositions, drawing with perspective and more.

• In 2019 we had Gordon come along and run a sewing machine maintenance workshop. It was a fantastic morning and so we’ve rebooked him this year. On Saturday 1 May he will run a sewing machine maintenance workshop and then on Saturday 17 June he will run an overlocker maintenance workshop.

• Local Manu is keen to share her Indian cooking skills with us … starting with a chai tea making workshop (Sunday 9 May). $20. Book here.

• Our History Walk is back! Join local Anne and other history buffs for a stroll around South Alphington on Sunday 16 May from 2pm.

• And finally … Home maintenance 101. It’s a maintenance kind of year it seems … and on the weekend of 19 & 20 June we’re offering a two day workshop (only $50 with Learn Local funding) all about building home maintenance skills. How to unblock a drain, how to stop a cistern running, how to fix a hose leak, how to hang pictures and fix cracks in plaster. How to fix windows that stick … (depending how old your house is the list goes on and on right?).

Book in online today.

Darebin Council have developed an interactive map that shows places where you can connect with nature, shop, travel sustainably and grow and source food.

Our seed library is on the map. And the self help bike repair station at Darebin Parklands is in there too.

Here is the link so you can check out what else is listed and hopefully discover some new handy local resources.

Local Manu is keen to share her skills and knowledge and we imagine that there are quite a few people in our community who would be very interested in learning how to make chai tea from scratch.

In this workshop Manu will introduce participants to all the spices and demonstrate a basic brew. She’ll then explain how you can vary the flavour, and participants will work in small groups to make some variations on the basic recipe.

Then everyone will be able to taste the different teas and find their favourite!

You’ll come away with a recipe, an understanding of possible variations and a starter kit so you can make your own chai tea at home.

The workshop costs $20 and will run on Sunday 9 May from 2pm.

Interested? You can book in here.

Interested in joining a local book group and getting to know a diverse cross-section of people in the local community? We have some vacancies in our popular book clubs on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings for next year.

At ACC our book clubs meet once a month and there are some great reads on offer this coming year, including Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton and The Yield by Tara June Winch. Each group chooses its own titles for the year from a selection offered by Darebin Libraries.

Book clubs cost $60 to join.

Click here to find out more and join up today.