Here are the photos as promised from our recent Yarra Neighbourhood House Network volunteer lunch.

Thanks to everyone who came along. We hope you had a great day!

Leanne here. When I went to Timor-Leste 🇹🇱 for work a couple of years ago one of the museums in Dili was an old Portuguese prison that was used by the Indonesians to hold dissidents. It had an exhibition called Chega!, named after the truth telling report that investigated and outlined the atrocities and deaths from the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste.

It was confronting - but very interesting to see how truth telling enables communities to move forward and onward with a shared understanding of the past that is openly acknowledged.

So I have been super interested in the glimpses that we have seen here in Victoria in our everyday media of the Yoorrook Justice Commission that has been set up under/alongside the First Peoples’ Assembly as part of our State’s commitment to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart (voice, truth, treaty).

Did you see the acknowledgements and apology of Shane Patton talking on behalf of the Victoria Police a month or so ago? And the accompanying apology by Daniel Andrews as Premier?

Here are two links you can read if you missed them:

• A news report from the ABC on Shane Patton at the Yoorrook Justice Commission

• A news report from the Shepparton News (because it won’t have a paywall and outlines the apology that Daniel Andrews made with some context).

The ongoing disproportionate structural discrimination that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face in Victoria today is also quite confronting isn’t it?

We were very excited to see that the State Government election commitment of $100,000 to support all the programs we run here at ACC, as announced by our local member Kat Theophanous, was in the budget this week! Hooray.

We always have a long wishlist of projects and programs that are just awaiting funding … and so we’re thrilled that we’ll be able to get cracking with them. Thanks Kat.

It’s National Volunteer Week, and the Yarra Neighbourhood House Network held a lovely shared event at Fitzroy Learning Network on Saturday to thank a range of volunteers across our network and enable them to come together and meet each other. Even in our own house, sometimes our volunteers don’t cross paths, so it is lovely to have an occasion to catch up.

We were thrilled that 10 volunteers from ACC could come along, from our committee members to knitters and jam makers to people who help each week to run our AAA Arts program and gardening group etc. etc. We really couldn’t run all the things we do without wonderful support from people like Shirley who runs line dancing, Phil who offers computer support, Sarah who sets up the toy library, all the people who put their hand up to coordinate the book clubs, ukulele, choir etc, And then there are the cooks and crafters and makers … people who help out at our events, and our lovely committee. Also the wonderful partners at the Alphington Bowls Club, who help out regularly with our AAA Bowls program and the CWA ladies who are cooking our morning teas for us … The list goes on (and I hope I haven’t missed you in this quick summary).

Here is a lovely photo of Clare at the event! And some of the great food …

These photos were taken by Tony who runs Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre, but Kalimna took lots of photos too, so I will share them next week.

Have you seen Bim and Tig? They are our new little friends out the front - retired salt and pepper shakers from Queensland who are living in a bird cage and like to eat bottle tops and plastic. Your kids might like to stop past and say hello next time they are passing by! They love a natter.

Lee is always full of fun ideas - and our latest playstation out the front uses recycled materials and is particularly creative and wacky!