Hi,

Kalimna here. I just wanted to say a big thank you to the many supporters and volunteers that brought the Christmas Makers Market together.

This year we were supported by Nelson Alexander with local billboards, Brenta Meats with great sausages to sell, the Ivanhoe Rotary Club volunteers wrangled the BBQ and the Alphington Open Studios artists shared their wonderful works inside.

We would also like to thank our own volunteers like Marie-Louise, Elaine, Monika and Anne who looked after our new kiosk and the craft and preserves sales. And Cheryl and Richard who helped out with kids activities.

There were stalls raising funds for various charities and causes this year - which we love supporting. These included Friends of Baucau coffee sales, CWA craft, fundraising for Ivanhoe Grammar’s Cambodia community service trip and Manu’s fundraising to support children in India.

And lastly thank you to all the stall holders - we hope you enjoyed the day.

There were lots of shoppers and the market provided many great Christmas gifts to the people that visited from our community.

It is fabulous to be able to support locals to shop locally.

Soup, slices and biscuits. We had a lovely lunch on Friday of delicious minestrone soup and my personal favourite, lemon slice. Yum! Thanks so much Alphington CWA friends for catering. Our community friends really appreciate your efforts.

We generally have around 14 or so people here each Friday at 11.30am for an early meal.

If you too are interested in coming along, you are very welcome. You can join us from 10am for gardening and/or craft, or just come for lunch at 11.30am.

I think I forgot to mention that we (with all the other houses in Yarra) launched our Yarra Neighbourhood House Network Climate Action and Resilience Plan a week or so ago.

With fantastic support for Council staff we developed both an individual plan for our house and a shared plan for all of Yarra’s houses.

You can click on the links above to check them out.

It really is super to be taking this type of positive action, and amazing to be working collegiately with Council to think about how neighbourhood houses can make a difference as the impacts of climate change become more obvious. Having the plans also helps us prioritise grant opportunities as they come along, and share our agenda and now clearly articulated capability in this space, more clearly.

I also had the privilege of attending a VCOSS (Victorian Council of Social Services) ‘heatwave scenario planning’ workshop with about 40 other key social services representatives across greater Melbourne in the school holidays.

So it has been a really interesting and immersive month of climate change activity here at ACC.

Cycling is a favourite pass time of many in our neighbourhood. We have so many great bike paths and loads of great places to head to with the family by bike.

Book yourself and your kids into this workshop to maintain your bikes and have the peace of mind that your kids also know how to take care of their chain should it slip off.

Here is the link to book your spot.

Our bike repair workshop runs here at the Alphington Community Centre (2 Kelvin Rd) at 10am on Saturday 28th October.

Our popular Women in the Shed course recommences next week - and there are a couple of spots left in the Intermediate class.

if you are keen to repair items around your house or make something from scratch, this is a great opportunity to access our tools and Maylei’s knowledge - whilst hanging out with other lovely people.

You can book in here.