Did you know there are more than 500 neighbourhood houses around Victoria? And in response to the pandemic they are all doing different things, their own special mix of community engagement and support, responding directly to the needs of their local neighbourhood … utilising the skills within their staff and community, and the historical strengths of their own houses. Some are building up food relief efforts, some are keeping in touch through phone calls, some are building online communications, some are focussing on place-based neighbourhood activities and projects and some are running online activities.

And … the great thing about activities online is that anyone can join in from anywhere …

So today here’s just a few ideas of some online activities running from other houses across Victoria for the next week or two that might tickle your fancy:

Arrabri Community House

2-30 September

Find out more and book in here

Chelsea Heights Community Centre

Friday 3 September at 10am

A FREE teaser 30 min session with our ever popular fitness instructor Shelley. Who says working out needs to be boring? Step away from the treadmill! Get fit with these fun ways to exercise with Shelley our personal trainer. Equipment no worries, use something from home. Cans for dumbbells! Book here.

Belvedere Community Centre

Monday 6 September, 3-4pm

Come and join us online with the whole family for a fun afternoon of art and craft.

A challenge will be set and you will be emailed with what things you will need to have collected prior to the event (think things from around the house, nature, etc)

We can't wait for a fun afternoon with other families as we craft and laugh together.

Book here

Iramoo Community Centre

Tuesday 7 September, 10am

Learn about creating an Edible Garden with Craig Castree (from Edible Gardens)! Join Craig who is a qualified horticulturist with over 45 years experience, as he shares his passion in edible gardening. Also learn how to use your existing garden to grow your own food. This is a FREE Workshop.

Please email admin@iramoocc.com.au to book in and receive your ZOOM link.

Wednesday 8 September, 10am

Join Madhubani for an online art class where she demonstrates how to create your own watercoloured flowers. This is a FREE Workshop.

To book in and get your ZOOM LINK please email admin@iramoocc.com.au.

belvedere community centre

Saturday 18 September, 6-7pm
Why should kids have all the fun?? Calling all adults...... Come and join us for a fun social catchup on Zoom and enjoy some Trivia Questions. There will be prizes to be won! Book here.

Make your own adventure in Darebin Parklands!

Lee has made a beautiful black and white map of the Parklands with all the walking trails and main features on it …and on the back of the map there is a place to write 12 things.

Take your kids on a trek through the wilds of our amazing collective backyard and make your own Parklands trail. Mark all the nesting boxes, find all the old fruit trees, highlight your favourite places to play - make some notes and share the adventure with another local family …

Or perhaps you could write a 12 part story … Or devise a treasure hunt … With a little creative thinking the world is your oyster!

Collect your copy from the bin outside our front door, grab a pen, some textas or pencils from home, and head off on your next family walk to make your own adventure in our lovely neighbourhood.

Thanks to everyone who has taken a block home to decorate. Thanks to those who have dropped them back already.

They are looking pretty lovely. It is super to see houses and people, and pets all included. Along with fabulous community messages. We’re looking forward to seeing all the other ones that come in. And getting the ‘set’ out for play.

This week I was contacted by Amanda, an Alphington Primary School (APS) mum, asking if her children could put a lizard up on our fence. As part of a school project. And of course I said yes.

And then I got to thinking about what the lizard was for and why they were putting it up … and I rang her back and asked if her children would like to write a little post and tell us all about the project.

And here it is. Thanks so much Abigail and Joshua.

And, on a broader note, aren’t we just SO fortunate to have such caring and excellent local teachers and schools that so creatively give our children a framework, language and strategies to discuss and action positive mental health in these times.

When life contracts to the neighbourhood, community connections really do rock! And now, thanks to Abigail and Joshua, we can all look out for the APS lizards on our walks and know that we’re surrounded by kids and families thinking about our whole community, and that we’re not alone.

Here’s what they wrote …

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Alphington Primary School is a great place to learn and play. It is full of people who work very hard to make it an awesome environment for everyone.

Because of lockdown, we haven’t been able to come together like we usually would. Even though we catch up every day through Google Classroom, it has been a bit lonely sometimes. To show that we are still strongly connected, our wellbeing team came up with an idea.  The idea was to colour in some lizards (the school animal logo),  and put them in places that are visible in the community. This is to show that our community is united, even though we are not all at school. When we see an APS lizard out and about, it makes us feel happy to know that we are still there for each other, and that we are not alone. After lockdown is over, our lizard friends will help us to remember that we got through another lockdown together.

Thank you to Alphington Community Centre for allowing us to display one of our lizards. It’s a place that many families from our school pass by. We hope that they feel connected to us and others in our school community when they see it. 

 By Abigail and Joshua

Alphington Primary School Students

Thanks Yarra City Arts for financially supporting and helping promote the Alphington Neighbourhood Gallery. Here’s a link to their latest enews post about Gabe Freeman, the artist currently on our fence.

Also … you might like to sign up to receive their news in your inbox … to keep up to date with what’s going on and coming up. Yarra City Arts do a fabulous job supporting a wide variety of artists, arts projects and events, and art spaces across Yarra each year.