What’s happening at the hubs
Yarra Junction Community Hub – Monthly Blog Update (July 2021)
Just when we thought we were out of all the madness that June provided with Lockdown 4.0 and the storms that wreaked havoc on our town, Lockdown 5.0 was thrust upon us in July – but that didn’t stop our Yarra Junction Community Hub from having a great month!
The month started with our School Holiday Program, where we saw local school kids come and enjoy various activities including Jewellery Painting, Acrylic Fluid Art Classes, and the Lego Lock-In Creative Workshop.
Jewellery Painting consisted of kids painting various pieces with bright and sparkly nail polish that could then be made into necklaces, earrings, or even hair clips. It was so great to see them all show off their fancy bling when they were finished; they looked and felt fabulous! Next up we had the Acrylic Fluid Art, which turned the kids into talented artists. Using canvas and a special acrylic pouring medium, participants created works of art that left them so incredibly proud to show off their artistic creations, with one girl even capturing the beach by using blue and yellow paints – it was hard to believe that under 13yo’s produced such beautiful masterpieces! Lastly, we had the Lego Lock-In workshop, where our qualified youth worker and placement students helped like-minded kids in creating Lego masterpieces and build engineering challenges, with lunch and snacks provided – super fun and mentally challenging workshop for all!
Throughout the second week of the holidays, we celebrated NAIDOC weeks Heal Country!, where one of our Hub rooms were completely transformed into a gallery display that featured informative, cultural posters and original Indigenous First Nations Artwork. We also set up interactive activities around the room that included living native plants that could be touched and researched to see how Indigenous people’s use/d them, colouring-in activities and competition, worksheets, historical location map scouting activities, translation sheets, and a published Indigenous book about our local area that was also available for sale. We also hosted an Indigenous morning tea on the Thursday where the colouring competition winner was announced, and community members could indulge in homemade goodies including wattle seed damper, lemon myrtle biscuits, lemon shortbread, and dairy-free/gluten-free shortbread. The entire week was a great success with over 50 community members participating in the events, two pieces of artwork were sold, and all of the published books were also sold within a couple of hours. We can’t wait for NAIDOC week 2022!
Lastly, you may have noticed our maintenance crew in the hub this month. We are working on something very exciting for you all and we should be due to share it with our community early next month. Want a clue? How about, dressed for success! Keep an eye on our hub for more information or better yet, pop in and say hi and take a look for yourself.
As we wrap up for the month we reflect back on the community spirit and true nature of what it is to be in a rural town, seeing locals enjoy every moment that they can despite the hardships around, and in coming together and helping each other through the difficulties that are faced with Lockdowns and storm cleanups. Nothing can dampen the spirits of the locals, and we are looking forward to hosting more activities for everyone to enjoy!
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