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Today is RU OK day. And it really couldn’t have come at a more timely time.

At ACC we’re focusing on the positives of living a contracted neighbourhood life, celebrating the daily things and little joys in these strange times. We’re hoping that our efforts are making a bit a difference to your life. And in addition we’re hoping that you are coping okay with all the other things.

So today we’re taking this opportunity to let you know that we are sincerely here and willing to listen and help as much as we can if you are feeling down or overwhelmed.

Call us if you need a one-off chat. If you need ongoing support we can facilitate a regular catch-up. We can connect you to fresh food services if you are struggling with bills and to pre-prepared food if you are struggling to get around to eating healthy meals.

If you are feeling completely or even mildly overwhelmed financially, we can help you navigate a raft of support and services.

We can also connect you to neighbours willing to shop for you, pick up prescriptions, or even bake you something to cheer you up (the offer is out there friends - community bakers with a good heart are LOOKING to share their talents … so don’t be shy to put your hand up for this one). And of course we can deliver you a mask if you need one.

Throughout this pandemic we’ve been talking to people regularly and responding to individual needs through little things like helping people access jam jars for pickling, helping people de-clutter through our op shop, helping out with IT questions, providing one-on-one zoom tutorials to get people digitally connected … and this week we’ve even taken delivery of some polyester stuffing that needed a good home. Nothing is too big or too small.

So, today we ask you again, R U OK? And if the answer is no … please get in contact and let us know how we can support you.

We’d really like to thank Alphington CWA for donating a stack of masks to Gurwidj Neighbourhood House in Thornbury.

Julie, who runs the North East Neighbourhood House Network (which provides fantastic professional support to all the neighbourhood houses in the corridor from Fitzroy through to Diamond Creek) was speaking with Cindy from Gurwidj, and offered to round up some free masks for her to give out to those in her community who were in need.

Alphington CWA (and Jan in particular), stepped up to help out.

Julie is now also looking to provide free masks for health workers at the Northern Hospital … there is a need for personal masks for staff to wear as they head home. Carlton Learning Centre (another neighbourhood house friend just down the road) is also keen for some masks to distribute into the Carlton flats.

So if anyone loves sewing or is feeling a bit flat and would like to do something for others … here’s a worthy cause! Just let me know. We have a simple pattern that we can share, or you can make your own favourite style, as long as the masks are effective (ie. have 3 layers).

Thanks once again Alphington CWA. What a great group of humans you are! And … aren’t we so lucky to live in such a sharing and caring neighbourhoodly community!

Note: if you still need to BUY a mask, we have them for sale on our website. Only $10. For some reason the shopping cart isn’t working on phones at the minute - I will investigate! but in the mean time - just log in on a computer if you want to make a purchase here. We’ll deliver them to your door!

Over the last couple of years I have run some photography related workshops at ACC and I am looking forward to sharing more photography tips in person when we return to face-to-face learning. We had a travel photography workshop planned this year, which seems a bit of a distant idea at the moment … both in terms of meeting up and getting on a plane! But we live in hope. And I am sure we will be able to travel within Australia, if not beyond, soon enough.

In the meantime … maybe you have already been on a holiday with the family, or taken the trip you always dreamed of and want to know what to do with your photos now.

Making the most of your photos is a creative task you can get excited about doing while in lockdown.

To start you off, I recommend that you think about:

1. Sorting your photos. It is a bit boring, but also really the thing you need to do! You could sort them into volumes and categories (eg. holiday locations or your children’s names) or keep it more random and sort by year, like the photo albums of my childhood. The pages from my parents albums were a treasure trove when I was young. Random photos of family, my first bike, a birthday celebration, the family pet. For some reason my parents always took photos of the garden and their cars too! I think it is the details I love looking back on. I remember our kitchen, our front door and our ginger cat. But seeing the photos of them brings things back to me I had forgotten. It is one of the great things about photography.

1. Printing your photos. This is key. Once the photos are stored in our computers I feel they are rarely seen. To help me to get around to printing photos I have a photo wall in my kitchen that I keep adding to. I also regularly make a photo book of all my favourite photos (I’ll write a post about this soon).

But, if this all sounds a bit process-y you could also think about the photos you could take in this time of isolation.

I am starting a portrait series at my house. I don’t know if my models (ie. my family) are going to be that keen. I will try, but if they squirm and lose patience I plan to look through my archives and do something with old photos as well.

Another idea is to document your own isolation experience. A journal of sorts, to remember how you passed the time, and what this experience looked like through your eyes.

If you start a new project, documenting your family, your home or your experience (and the same advice goes for holidays when they resume) my number one tip is to:

1. Look to take photos of the details.

In a room in your home it may be the way the light looks in the afternoon, or your favourite mug on the kitchen bench. If you are photographing people it might be the way your little one has tied their hair that day. From behind you can see it is all messy and sweet. Or just the way they snuggle into cuddling another member of the family.

If you travel it might be taking a photo of your ticket (train or plane), the accommodation you stay in, the taxi you take somewhere! Try to avoid cliches. Don’t photograph your own feet, instead look for the beauty in what is everyday about the place where you are, the unique about where you are.

When you start looking, no doubt you will see many things that are different and interesting, so also remember to get a little closer to photograph the details of them.

Good luck!

This week our letter comes from a tennis playing grandma. Find out what she has been doing and how she’s been coping in her letter to you, her fellow lockdowners. 30 copies of the letter are out to collect - if your daily walk takes you past the Alphington milk bar you should grab one from the window to take home and read.

Want to read the rest … pop past the Wingrove Street milk bar opposite Alphington Station.

Progress today. Books for week one are wrapped … and labelled!