In recognition of Dementia Action Week, you’re invited to a free Dementia Awareness Community Seminar at Manningham Uniting Church and Community Centre.

This session will provide valuable insights and resources for people living with dementia, their carers, and the broader community. 

Together, we’ll foster greater understanding and support meaningful social connections.

During the session we will hear from Anita Koochew from Eastern Community Legal Centre, Dr Kate Lawler (Physiotherapist) – Physiotherapy for People Living with Dementia and Professor Paul Yates.

Afternoon tea will be provided.

Dementia is the second cause of death in Australia.

Come and hear experts talk about research, clinic and the App.

Free parking is available for the duration of the seminar and there is a bus stop in front of the Manningham Civic Centre.

For more information, you can contact the organisers through the booking website

This online program provides an overview of dementia and how to proceed after a diagnosis. The program runs over seven sessions and covers coping with change, relationships and communication, planning for the future and staying healthy.

You will gain knowledge in:

• dementia and related issues such as planning for the future
• strategies for living positively with dementia including support
• the management, reduction and/or prevention of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Suitable for people living with dementia and their family carers and family members. This program is not suitable for professionals employed in the health or aged care sectors.

Dementia Australia's facilitators have specialist dementia knowledge, skills and experience. This program is delivered interactively - you will be encouraged to share your experiences alongside other participants, giving you an opportunity to develop new support networks.

If you register to attend this program you will be contacted by Dementia Australia staff to ensure that the program will meet your needs and that you meet the eligibility requirements.

Join Elizabeth Baxter, Dementia Services Specialist, for an online session to learn about changes you can expect with dementia. 

She will explain how to plan for the changes, and what to do to support the person you care for stay safe, connected and active when living with dementia.

The Red Gum Café located in the Manningham Uniting Church and Community Centre, has now been accredited by Dementia Australia as being Dementia Friendly. 

The Red Gum Café has been established as an accessible and safe environment for people living with dementia, and their carers and families, with staff having successfully undertaken training to help people living with dementia to enjoy social and community connections. 

The café is open Tuesday to Friday, 9.00am to 3.30pm, and on Saturdays from 9.00am to 2.00pm.

A support group for carers assisting people living with dementia currently meets in the café on the first Friday of every month, at 1.30pm.

Please note: The Friday group is established and no new participants will be added. New additional meeting days and times will be arranged for those wanting to attend and connect. 

Please contact the Church Hub to express your interest to join a new group.

Wondering what to do in the school holidays? Fed up playing the same old thing?

Come along to Bulleen Library and swap your pre-loved games. We will also have some simple traditional games for you to stop and try.

Join The Men’s Table for an evening of food and laughter in celebration of Men's Health Week.

What can you expect from the evening?

• Food (included in the ticket price)
• Laughter
• Camaraderie
• Connection
• Did we mention food and laughter?
• And hear what is happening in your community to prioritise men’s health, not just in Men’s Health Week but all year round. 

Hear from The Men’s Table, a men’s peer support group that meets at The Grand Hotel over dinner once a month to share openly about their lives, their challenges, their highs and lows with a group of like-minded men.

No membership fee, just the cost of your meal each month.

This event is proudly supported by Manningham City Council and Aquarena Aquatic and Leisure Centre.

About the Men's Table

The Men’s Table creates a unique environment for men to share openly about their lives with other men.

The Men’s Table creates a sense of belonging, community, peer support and camaraderie that is lacking for many men, even for some who already have a group of mates.

The Men’s Table began in 2011 with 12 men who have met once a month for dinner and has since become a national charity and grown to 59 tables across Australia.

This evening will give you an insight into what it is like to be part of a Men’s Table and how it benefits the community as a whole. We’ll also provide details on how to join a Men’s Table for those men interested in joining.

Looking to celebrate the end of another great Seniors Festival? 

Carol is going to get you moving and grooving in her online dance party exercise class. This event will have you laughing as you step back in time to the days of disco and boot scootin'! 

This class is aimed at anyone who wants to improve their health and boost energy levels from the comfort of their own home. A good internet connection is required and you will be sent a Zoom link once registered.

Are you interested in connecting with others to talk about climate safety and climate action?

Reducing our climate impact and preparing for extreme weather caused by climate change is easier than you think! 

Drop in for a free cuppa at your local cafe and chat with CFA, SES and Council about topics like:

• ways to take climate action in our local communities
• how to build environmentally-friendly practices into our everyday lives
• how to be prepared for severe weather like floods, storms and bushfires.

People of all age and abilities are welcome. There will be great resources to take home, including information for people with disability and additional needs.

This session is being run in partnership with Nillumbik Council.

Warrandyte Tennis Club and Happy Little Learners present: Learning the fun way - free two week trial.

Come along for a free two week trial of our all new Learning the Fun Way - through music, movement and play program.

Sessions are designed for children 6 months to 7 years. Children are supported by their parents/carers to learn a huge range of age-appropriate skills and understandings in a creative, fun and interactive way.

Separate classes will be offered, specifically catering for children with ASD, ADHD or learning difficulties.

Where applicable, please include a description of your NDIS goals or ILP goals, to ensure we can cater towards your specific needs.

Class timetable

Mondays: 

• Kinder kids (4 year olds) - 9.45am to 10.30am
• Babies (6 months to walking) - 10.45am to 11.15am
• ASD / ADHD (3 to 5 year olds) - 11.30am to 12.45pm plus 30 minutes 'stay and play' 12.45am to 1.30pm

Wednesdays:

• Kinder kids (4 year olds) 9.45am to 10.30am
• Toddlers (walking to 3 year olds) 10.45am to 11.15am
• ASD / ADHD (5 to 7 year olds) 4.00pm to 4.45pm plus 30 minutes 'stay and play' 4.45pm to 5.30pm

Join renowned educational group Sustainable Gardening Australia as they discuss how the garden can be a place of climate action.

You'll also learn how to implement changes to reduce your contribution to climate change and help build personal and community climate resilience.

The session will also discuss how to climate proof your garden using organic waste, microclimates and water smart gardening.

The seminar begins at 6.30pm, or join us from 6.15pm for our monthly food swap, where you can bring and trade homegrown produce, cuttings, seeds, gardening magazines, jars, ferments and more!

About Home Harvest: Home Harvest is a free, complete home gardening program that runs monthly from February to December. It aims to educate and inspire residents to grow their own organic, nutritious and delicious produce at home. The series hosts seminars, question and answer time, on-site activities and food swaps! 

Registrations are essential. 

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Want to improve your cardio fitness? Want to build leg strength while you're sitting down? Carol has a great seated cardio class for you, so you can work on your coordination and heart health all from your kitchen chair.

This class is aimed at anyone who wants to improve their health and boost energy levels.

 Internet connection is required and you will be sent a Zoom link once registered.

Beyond the Table: The Dinner Party Reimagined  is a reimagining of a traditional dinner party, with a nod to 1970s nostalgia and celebrating one of the key gathering spaces in our homes, the humble dining table.

The installation is on display at Manningham Art Gallery as part of Melbourne Design Week, Australia's premier design festival featuring events across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Emerging Manningham artist Isobel Goodman responds to and selects works from Manningham Council’s ‘Potters Cottage Collection,’ a grouping of vessels created by the Potters Cottage co-operative. The co-operative was founded in Warrandyte in 1958 to advocate for and sell handmade functional Australian pottery.

Goodman hand builds her signature papier mâché and plaster sculptures – organic and abstracted forms to reference a dinner party table setting – vases, cutlery, plates, and candlesticks that play off and create a contemporary juxtaposition against the Potters Cottage vessels from the 1970s. 

Surrounding the central dining table presentation is a display of paintings from local Manningham artist Jade Piltz. These works depict bright, layered and abstract domestic objects that encapsulate the exhibition’s celebration of communal gathering and ritual. 

During Melbourne Design Week (15-25 May) visitors can take home a flower to celebrate this exhibition. 

Artist Bios: 
Isobel Goodman was recently awarded a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Melbourne. Her practice focuses on sculptural exploration and the body’s navigation of space and environment through the perspective of APD (Auditory Processing Disorder). She invites audiences to examine their relationship between the physical self and how we navigate the world around us.

Jade Piltz is a Warrandyte painter and ceramist. She is fascinated by our innate search for belonging, our desire for meaning and relationships to change and transition. Using mark making, she explores the ways our interactions with surrounding spaces and objects, narrate and inform our lives.

This Exhibition was supported by Gabriela Mello, owner and director of Warrandyte Pottery, through artist mentorship and technical and conceptual support and curated by Lucy Beattie Hughes, Manningham Council’s Creative Industries Officer.

Jade Piltz, Alone, Together (detail), 2024,  acrylic on canvas, 168 x 122cm. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo by: Emily Brookfield.
 

 
Melbourne Design Week is Australia’s largest and leading annual design festival and takes place from 15 to 25 May 2025.

The 2025 program spans 11 days of 350+ events, exhibitions, talks, and installations throughout metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Melbourne Design Week is a vital platform for emerging and established creative practitioners, offering the Australian design community and audiences the opportunity to engage with a diverse program of talks, tours, exhibitions, installations, and workshops. Melbourne Design Week is an initiative of the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and is curated and delivered by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

Visit designweek.melbourne to view the full program.