We were delighted to welcome back many of our playgroup friends from last year today.

Our Wednesday playgroup runs from 10am-12pm and is suitable for parents, carers and grandparents to attend - with their littlest darlings (of course)!

We set up activities each week, have tea and coffee available (or the cafe is just next door … and you can borrow a mug from us to minimise waste) and we have staff on hand to facilitate introductions if you feel a little shy the first time you come along!

Our playgroup is primarily run outside in our front garden, but we also set up a space inside with toys if you prefer an indoor experience.

No need to book in, just bring your snacks and a hat and come along! All welcome.

I finally went past at night … our solar light installation is starting to look good!

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.

With rain and sunshine and warm weather our garden is looking fabulous at the minute. Some beautiful pale blue ixia bulbs have popped up in our front garden. Clare tells me they are from a donation in the seed library - so thanks for sharing neighbourhood friends!

We’ve started growing spring seedlings, and over the holidays Clare took our tomato seedlings home (along with some basil seedlings I think she said) to keep an eye on them, and they are now starting to look strong and healthy … so we should have some ready to give away in our seed library soon - keep an eye out if you haven’t got around to raising your own this year.

Last week Lee and Elena added some more hand-crafted bling to the very front corner. We’re trying to protect that garden bed as it gets established.

More generally all our programs are back up and running this week. AAA Arts recommenced last week, and our AAA Bowls along with our two Women in the Shed courses are starting mid week.

We have our AGM coming up very soon - let us know if you’d like to attend - and then two repair weekend workshops - clothes mending and bike repairs … these are part of the sustainability workshop series we’ve been running this semester with other houses in Yarra.

There’s always lots on at ACC. And we hope to see you here soon.