This week I am going to start with a brief diversion into my own life.

So … over the last couple of years I have been meeting up with my old uni mates to go see plays at the Melbourne Theatre Company. About 8 times a year we go into the city and see plays that explore the big things like feelings and power and thoughts - fabulous things (mostly)! I have been in awe of the sets and stories - the package - that is presented each time. Some people are so clever!

And this last Friday I was meant to see the “The Black Woman of Gippsland” by Andrea James, which I am sure in no coincidence, is now running through National Reconciliation Week. Unfortunately for me I came down with dreadful sciatica, and so whilst I was crying at home and pumping my body full of a cocktail of prescribed steroids, opioids and anti-inflammatories (hooray they worked and by Sunday I was once again able to stand up and walk) my husband, brother-in-law (with my ticket in hand) and mates got the chance to see this play … which they loved. It explores a colonial-era myth about a white woman supposedly shipwrecked in Gippsland and taken in by the Gunaikurnai people. Here is a review.

And this builds on another play I saw and loved last year (it was also on earlier this year, a repeat because it was so popular), "37" by Nathan Maynard which tells the story of a down-on-their-luck country football team whose prospects are boosted by the arrival of two Indigenous players and explores themes of racism, identity, and community within the context of Australian Rules football, drawing inspiration from the experiences of Indigenous players like Adam Goodes. Here is link to a review in The Guardian.

Every time I see things like this they make me stop and think, and reconsider my perspective and my understanding of things, and the complexity … and they really make me acknowledge how much I just don’t know.

Reconciliation is all of our business (as Clare pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago when we were working in the garden on a Friday and she was reminding me to write something in the newsletter for this week). And so this week (such a bummer that I missed the play) I am committing to learning something else new, and maybe you’d like to too. You could maybe read a book or watch a TV show, or go to the play (there’s still tickets available for the MTC show on until 31 May) or listen to a podcast or two …

If you are interested in our local history (like me) you might like to find out more about what happened here in Victoria - I am always blown away by the story of Coranderrk Station/Mission up near Healesville. And just how few of Melbourne’s Aboriginal community survived the colonisation of Victoria to end up there. And how successful it was. And why it was eventually shut down. To find out via TV you can watch series 1, episode 3 of First Australians (SBS) here. Or if you are into podcasts you might like to listen to this one from 2008 from Radio National, Last Refuge: Remembering Coranderrk Aboriginal Station (that’s what I am going to do).

Or of course you can ‘do your own research’ … and if this is your cup of tea maybe start by checking out deadlystory.com website here - an amazing resource with so many links to so many things. Worth a deep dive! Check out the history of Fitzroy and then the link to a walking tour app you can download, for example.

Anyway, good luck! … and back to normal programming …

This week at ACC we have all the usual things … and nothing out of the ordinary.

We (as always) look forward to seeing you!

Cheers Leanne

We’ll be recovering from last week I think!

Thursday night we had Alphington Arts … check out the post below to admire what we produced.

On Friday we worked on the new wicking beds - which will be fabulous. They are now in place and filled up with layers of pond liner, scoria, geotech (a fabric barrier) and vegetable soil mix. And they are level (we hope) - always the hardest part right? Yes. Lots of heavy shovelling to get to this point.

But also … then … we got our annual delivery of fogo compost from Yarra City Council - only 2 cubic meters at this stage (we might get some more in a few weeks) - but similarly requiring quite a lot of shovelling and wheelbarrowing etc.

I know that I slept like a baby after a day of such physical activity - and I suspect there were a few others who did too!

But then … we all bounced straight into our shared National Volunteer Week event on Saturday morning. See the post below for photos and more general thank yous etc.

OKay, enough looking backwards, onto this week … we have:

• Preserves Group - Tuesday 1pm-3pm (free all welcome). Also if you have small jars and/or excess fruit/vegies in your garden PLEASE feel free to donate them - we will lovingly turn them into pickles and jams etc. Or we can even use them for our lunches …

• Overlocker Maintenance - Saturday 10am-12pm. There are definitely still some places available, if you are keen just book in on our website. Booked in already? Don’t forget to bring your machine along on Saturday!

And then … there’s all the usual things, including Garden to Plate on Monday, Crunch on Thursday and Community Lunch on Friday. Book in and come along if you are keen. The more the merrier! Also this week we will have two Masters of Social Work students starting with us - which should be terrific. We’ll be looking forward to getting to know them and start thinking about some meaningful projects they can do whilst they are here. Make sure you introduce yourself if you come across them!

We hope to see you this week.

Cheers Leanne

Speaking of arty things, which we are often doing, the Alphington Open Studios artists are currently hosting a group exhibition at Yarra Sculpture Gallery in Abbotsford. Glimpse offers a brief but compelling insight into the diverse practices and creative processes of this dynamic collective—a preview of the rich and varied work emerging from the Alphington Studios community.

It looks great and you should go! The Sculpture Gallery is just in behind Collingwood Town Hall - so there is both easy parking and great train options to get there.

The exhibition is on for May and runs from Thursday to Sunday from 11am-4pm.

A great activity to do on an autumnal day!

We had a lovely time on Thursday evening here at ACC getting creative with ink, watercolours and tape.

We each produced a little series of art works that matched in style.

If you are interested in art and enjoy a good chat with other arty locals then why not join in Alphington Arts. It runs twice term on a Thursday evening at 7.30pm. Each month is led by someone in the group - exploring either an art form they are experienced in, or one they are keen to try for the first time (like this week). It is very exploratory and relaxing. And lovely

Thanks to all the volunteers at ACC - our committee members, people who run classes - like Shirley and Rosie, people who volunteer to lead book groups, lead arts activities, help in the toy library, cook for our lunches, those that volunteer to teach the beginners uke group, people who cook preserves, those that help out on Fridays … those that help at events … and more!

Neighbourhood houses flourish through community generosity, kindness and goodwill.

It was fabulous to get together on Saturday with the other houses across Yarra to thank a range of our collective volunteers, and share the love with Yarra City Council staff and councillors.

Great to have a super turnout from ACC. Thanks to everyone who came along - and to everyone who volunteers at ACC along the way.