Come and see this photo exhibition and learn about how Warrandyte Stone has been used in the town's walls, memorials, houses, and buildings.

Don't miss the accompanying Foundation Stone Talk by the master stonemason, James Charlwood.

Foundation Stone Talk with James Charlwood

The talk will be at 2:00 pm on Sunday, 15 May in the Federation Room at the Grand Hotel Warrandyte.
If you would like to attend, please contact the Warrandyte Historical Society to reserve your place.

The Warrandyte Historical Society are running this event.

This unique, fun 6-week dance program is designed to engage the mind and body to improve and enhance mind-body health.

This is an adult/open program for all genders. Participants are encouraged to attend all 6 sessions. 

Multicultural dance for wellbeing is based on the principles of neuroplasticity and the proven benefits of dance.

This 6-week program incorporates breathing techniques to calm the mind, and an exercise routine to develop strength, flexibility, and fitness of the body. It also includes creative dance and music from different cultures to create a space to express yourself, as well as providing opportunities to make new social connections.

No previous dance experience is required.

Instructor: Anjali Sengupta

This group is for teenage girls, non-binary and gender diverse people to connect with others and develop confidence communicating their feelings and needs.

Participants will be supported to explore:

• experience of emotions in the body
• responses to conflict, including fight, flight and freeze responses
• communication of feelings and needs
• strengths and developing self-confidence
• needs for connection

This group is facilitated by skilled counsellors with the use of creative methods within an inclusive, strengths-based and trauma-informed approach.

Participants are required to participate in all 4 sessions. The maximum number of participants is 8.

Please note: this group is not suitable for those who are experiencing mental health issues that require more specialised professional support.

 

Manningham Art Gallery presents two exhibitions of tactile, abstract works that recontextualise commonly encountered materials, celebrating the everyday and unpredictable process driven experimentation. 

Anni Hagberg’s Trace Encounters employs foraging practices, ceramic processes, and experimental installation to explore uncertainty as a contemporary human condition.

Rejecting linear understandings of progress, foraging practices embody a sense of agnostic curiosity. Opportunistically engaging materials, which present themselves within the environment through the process of being discarded by one and found by another, foraging encourages lively interaction with the environment.

Rhys Cousins work homes in on otherwise ordinary and ignored surfaces that one might expect to encounter on any given day. It acknowledges life as complex sensory jigsaw, but deliberately strips away the smells, sounds, language, and colour of that puzzle to explore only touch and the external physical qualities of the myriad materials that make up the urban places we live.

Examining the importance of touch as a physical and emotional experience - helping us to make sense of the world, the work also highlights how texture is made as much through presence as absence, with the solid bumps and ridges in a surface playing as great a role in creating its overall texture as its voids, crevices, nooks, and cracks.

Cousins and Hagberg’s works are activated across Gallery 1 and 2. 

Installation View, Manningham Art Gallery, March 2022. Photo by Charlie Kinross. 

Living and Learning @ Ajani has joined the Australia wide chatty café scheme.

We are hosting a table in our café every Tuesday morning 10am to 12pm starting May 24.

We welcome people to come along for a chat while enjoying a hot or cold beverage and a muffin for only $3.50.

Our chatty café volunteer will ensure the conversations are interesting and stimulating.

It is a great way to meet new people in a warm friendly environment.

This is a free guided nature walk, exploring a variety of bushland settings in Manningham. It is paced to allow participants to enjoy and appreciate the natural beauty of the area.

This nature walk is rated moderate and incorporates moderately steep and slippery sections.

The walk will cover approximately 3km and go for around 2.5 hours.

The meeting point for the nature walk will be provided at the time of registration.

Please note: nature walks will be cancelled on days of total fire ban or extreme weather warning.

Calling all people from multicultural backgrounds in Manningham and surrounds!

Come and learn more about the importance of looking after your mental health and wellbeing, and the support that is available in your local community.

Our next Strength Through Connection event is a forum on Mental Health and Multicultural Communities as part of national Mental Health Week.

This event will feature:

• specialists in multicultural mental health
• a panel of experts
• local mental health and wellbeing service providers
• plus the launch of Manningham Council's mental health services webpage by Mayor Michelle Kleinert

Mental health is a key component of overall health and well-being. 1 in 5 (21.4 per cent) Australians aged 16 to 85 have experienced a mental disorder in the past 12 months.

Many people may not be aware of what poor mental health means, how to support someone or how they can get help. The individual needs, backgrounds and identities of people can impact how, or even whether, they will seek support.

We will have a broad range of speakers who will provide information about:

• types of mental health issues
• stories of lived experience
• what treatments are available
• how can you support someone
• how to get help
• hope for recovery

We look forward to seeing you there!

Bollywood Dance for Wellbeing is designed to engage the mind and body to improve and enhance mind-body health, focusing on breath, strength, flexibility and fitness. The program is based on the principles of neuroplasticity and the proven benefits of dance.

The sessions incorporate breathing techniques to calm the mind, and an exercise routine to develop strength, flexibility and fitness of the body.

It also includes creative dance and music from Bollywood dance to create a space to express yourself, as well as providing opportunities to make new social connections.

It is preferred that participants attend all sessions.

This program will involve progression over the 9 sessions, building on dance movements from the previous weeks to create and perform a final dance routine in the last session.

Who is it for? This is an adult/open program. All genders welcome - no previous experience is required.

What to wear? Clothes that allow you to move around easy and comfortable shoes.

What to bring? A water bottle.

Queensland Fruit Fly is now widespread in Manningham and is threatening fruit production in our local neighbourhoods.

Learn what damage Queensland Fruit Fly can cause and how we can be prepared for the upcoming Queensland Fruit Fly season.

This event will be held by the Doncaster Garden Club. The club meets monthly with speakers who talk about all things gardening in the Doncaster area.

They are a relaxed and friendly group and welcome new members.   

Learn how to identify our local eucalypt trees and find out how understanding where they grow can help you to read the landscape.

If all the trees and bush look a bit the same to you, this short walk and talk could change the way you see the world!

Join experienced local naturalist and ecologist Alan Noy to guide you through the process.

Learn the unique art of Chinese brush painting with our experienced teachers.

In this class you will learn:

• basic brush strokes
• brush loading techniques
• the use of Chinese ink and colours on rice paper.

Activities will include a series of practical exercises before completing small paintings on three main themes – flowers, birds, fish and landscapes.

The class is suitable for beginners and continuing students. No experience required. All adults aged 55 years and over are welcome to attend.

Please note: students need to supply their own materials.

This is a great opportunity to meet new friends and improve your health and wellbeing while connecting with others in your community.

To reserve your place in the class, call Bo on 0437 956 639.

We look forward to seeing you at our class.

The class is run by CASS Care, a non-profit organisation, providing aged care services in Sydney and Melbourne.

Gardens are the natural habitat for all types of insects – the good, the bad and the ugly. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) aims to manage pests using a mixture of physical, cultural, and biological control methods with low impact chemical being used as a last resort.

This session will cover:

• an introduction to Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• being a detective – identifying the culprits
• beneficial insects versus pests
• using barriers and cultural strategies
• when to consider garden chemicals
• an introduction to companion plants to help control garden pests and diseases
• common garden pests and control options

The Clothing Exchange believes that looking good shouldn’t cost the earth.

Swapping is a clever and thrifty way to update your wardrobe without hitting the shops. It saves you pennies and the planet too!

Eligibility
To participate you must drop clothes off. For each item you drop off you will receive a token which can then be used to select another item. A maximum of eight items per person will be accepted.

Please note: the clothes drop off starts at 12.00pm and the clothes swap exchange starts at 1.00pm.

What we accept

We will only accept items that are:

• clean, folded or pressed
• good quality with a long potential lifespan
• free of faults or with minor faults that are easy to repair (for example, a missing button)

The best items to swap are good quality garments that you once loved but are no longer your favourites or perhaps no longer fit you perfectly. This way, you’re giving them a second life with someone new who will treasure them.

Whatever you swap, please make sure you are emotionally detached from the item, as once it has been swapped you cannot change your mind.

What we don't accept

We will not accept:

• anything pilled, smelly or too far from perfect
• undergarments
• swimwear
• tracksuits

Please note: we have quality screening processes at our events.

Any items left over after the event finishes are donated to a local charity.

Mind Calm will be facilitated by group therapists and is suitable for those who are new to meditation and people who wish to explore or extend their current practice.

• Discover what mind stilling methods work for you. 
• Experience mindfulness.
• Learn breathing techniques.
• Practice different types of meditation.

This event has a series of four sessions.

Getting there

Located on Doncaster Road between Westfield and the Manningham Council Civic Centre, MC2 is conveniently accessible by public transport.

There are ample parking spaces on site including 4-hour parking underneath the building.  Access to level 1 via the lift or via stairs in the front foyer.

Experience the thrill of our brand new ninja warrior course. Swing, climb, and conquer exciting obstacles at Ruffey Lake Park.

The ninja warrior course provides an exciting opportunity to test your physical prowess whilst having fun!

Join us for a come and try session with the team from A Space, as they explain how to use the new facilities. There will be coaches on hand to offer help and instructions, and to guide you through the obstacles. 

Competitions will run throughout the session, with prizes available.

So come on down and challenge yourself, have fun, and unleash your inner warrior!

Read more about this fantastic new facility.

Learn about our local wattles on this iconic walk through Warrandyte’s once thriving goldfields, now a haven for wildlife and wildflowers.

This is a circular walk that starts and finishes at the same location. A difficult 5.5km circuit with some very steep and slippery sections.

Wear solid walking shoes, weather appropriate clothing, a hat and sunscreen.

Participants must provide a mobile number.

Location will be given upon registration.

This event is part our Manningham Spring Outdoors Series, where we offer a range of fun outdoor activities across Manningham.

You can also check what’s happening across other Councils by visiting the Spring Outdoors website.

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Join award winning visual artist Bridget Hillebrand and Charlotte Sterrett from Yarra Riverkeeper Association as they share their knowledge and passion to promote river connection and care.

Bridget will reveal insights into the creation of her immersive, site-specific installation ‘River’ and Charlotte will discuss ways in which we can all help achieve a healthy, protected and loved Birrarung (Yarra River).

Registration for this event is not required.

Photo by Charlie Kinross. 

Explore a range of mindfulness and meditation techniques at Doncare's Mind Calm series. 

Mind Calm will be facilitated by group therapists and is suitable for those who are new to meditation and people who wish to explore or extend their current practice.

Over four sessions, participants will learn:

• what mind stilling methods work for you
• experience mindfulness
• learn breathing techniques
• practice different types of meditation.

Getting there

Located on Doncaster Road between Westfield and the Manningham Council Civic Centre, MC2 is conveniently accessible by public transport.

There are ample parking spaces on site including 4-hour parking underneath the building.  Access to level 1 via the lift or via stairs in the front foyer.

Join award winning visual artist Bridget Hillebrand and Sonja Ross from BirdLife Melbourne as they share their knowledge and passion for the ecology of the Birraung (Yarra River).

Bridget will reveal insights into the creation of her immersive, site specific installation ‘River’. Sonja will discuss some of the ways we can best support the habitat and needs of Australia’s native birds.

Spaces are limited, please register via Eventbrite.

Send your kids along to our school holiday drama workshop with professional actor and artist Sorab. 

The workshop is for younger children aged between 8 to 12 years. They will be introduced to the principles of performing and self-expression through fun theatre games and activities.

Workshops take place in our beautiful Doncaster Playhouse.

Bookings are essential as spaces are very limited.

Don't miss this opportunity to catch Sarob before he heads off on tour!

About Sorab:

Born and raised in Melbourne, Sorab Kaikobad has been acting and creating since he was a child.

As a graduate of 16th Street Actors Studio, Sorab had the good fortune of working with various master teachers including Elizabeth Kemp and Chris Edmund. He has also worked under some of Australia’s finest directors, such as Jason Raftopolous, Iain Sinclair and Paul Currie.