Great to have a new vet in the area ... and they’ve kindly approached us to offer some prizes for our Alphington Dog Show in March! How lovely. Here is some information about their open day coming up:

Build your own video game from scratch!

Creative Bytes is offering a free 10-week online coding course for families with children aged 8-12 in Clifton Hill, North Fitzroy, and surrounding suburbs. The program is proudly supported by Community Bank Clifton Hill–North Fitzroy and is designed to give children an accessible introduction to coding in a fun and engaging way.

Through this self-paced course, children learn to create their own video game using Scratch, a beginner-friendly, block-based programming platform used widely in schools. No prior coding experience is required, and the course is suitable for complete beginners.

Creative Bytes is a registered Australian charity that delivers coding and STEM programs through schools, libraries, and community organisations. Their programs focus on building digital skills, confidence, and creativity in children, while supporting educators and communities to deliver technology learning locally.

The course is completed entirely online at home and can be started at any time after registration. Families can work through the lessons at their own pace, and participation in the program is completely free.

Hi everyone,

It was great to see even more of our ACC community last week all back for another year. Book clubs starting, AAA Arts back on Friday afternoons and our Men’s Breakfast had at least 10 people booked in which is super! Thanks John for organising this.

This week the first sessions of Garden to Plate, AAA Bowls, and Sound Healing with Crystal Bowls will also be running. Feels like we are well and truly back in business…….

AND … it is also time to start getting ready for the Alphington Show! HOORAY!!!!! You should start thinking about what you’re planning to enter right now, because this year there’s going to be some tough competition!? In addition to the usual cooking categories (bread, jams, presrves, cakes etc.) we have a new one this year - covering everyone who makes kombucha and kimchi and the like …. (upon request). How fun! Also, don’t forget the Dog Show …. time to start training up those fur babies!

There’s a lot coming up and a lot of posts in our news this week - see all the links below. And in the meantime here is our very official program listed for the week:

• 2nd Monday of the Month Book Club, tonight!

• 2nd Tuesday of the Month Book Club (we’re still recruiting for this new Book Club - so please get in touch - we hope to start it up next month!).

• Toy Library open Tuesday, 1-3pm.

• AAA Bowls at Alphington Bowls Club (email us at info@alphington.org.au to join), Line Dancing at Alphington Scout Hall, and Alphington Playgroup here at the centre (book in online here) all on Wednesday morning from 10am-12pm.

• U3A Armchair Theatre, Wednesday 1-3pm.

• Our new Alphington Playgroup on Thursday morning 10am-12pm.

• Garden to Plate, Thursday 11.30am-1pm (more info and book in online here).

• Sound Healing with Crystal Bowls, Thursday 7-8pm (contact Keiko at her website here).

• Community Morning on Friday from 10am, and stick around for Community Lunch at 12-1pm.

• AAA Arts, Friday 1-2pm (email us at info@alphington.org.au).

Cheers,

Leanne

This semester in addition to our Wednesday playgroup we are introducing a new playgroup that will be running on Thursdays! Both will run from 10am-12pm, and you can book in online here. We also have Toy Library running at the same time, and you can book toys to borrow out beforehand at this link and collect them during playgroup.

Hi everyone,

The last few weeks have been great fun as we’ve been winding down for the year. AAA Bowls finished with a barbecue on Wednesday, and all of our AAA Arts participants took home folios of their fantastic creations on Friday. And we had a great day on our Thriftseekers Op ShopAdventure on Thursday checking out all the op shops on High Street in Preston.

We’re also very proud to have been part of another successful Alphington Open Studios. We had some really amazing artists this year and it was great to see so many people come through the doors despite the weather (which was a bit bleak at times).

Now it’s just about time for Christmas, and we’re looking forward to our big Christmas Lunch this Friday. It will be on from 12-2pm. This year we’re going to have some great musical performances and a visit from a very jolly VIP. We would love for anyone that’s been part of our Alphington community this year to come along! Please email or call to RSVP if you aren’t a Community Lunch regular so we can plan our food!

Alphington Christmas Carols will be on Sunday the 21st of December at 7pm over at Alphington Bowls Club. We’ll be singing all the classics and hope it will be a night of both Christmas and community spirit! Bring a gold coin donation - it will go to a worthy cause.

Project Stationery will be setting up shop here from next Sunday and will be sorting and redistributing stationery over the whole summer period. This is a great use of our space while we are closed over the school holidays.

Wishing everyone a very happy holidays, look out for our new brochure. Coming soon!

Cheers Leanne