News from the Valley

Open VUE is hosting a free movie night and will be screening two 25-minute films from local film-makers, including one that has a special connection to North East Valley. What does Charlie the cat get up to when his owner is away? Paw and Claw: Finding the balance between pets and wildlife, by Tegan Good, explores how cats have impacted New Zealand’s native wildlife and looks for a future where the two can live in harmony. The second film, The Silent Invader – Can it be stopped? by Berenice Matthieu, takes the viewer to the coast to discover if …

The Valley Project is teaming up with the Sustainability Project to run a two-week Dunedin Summer School offering community education for everyone at the start of next year. A similar event has been running in Oamaru for the past nine years and now the idea is coming to Dunedin. Summer School facilitator Melissa Pronk expects there will up to 60 different classes on offer. Previously these have ranged from skills such as sewing, knitting and making bread; hobbies and interests such as keeping bees and chickens; health and nutrition such as how to grow food and make fermented food; …

The largest and liveliest Dunedin City Council candidates meetings are on again at Opoho Church. This is the chance to hear from the candidates to help decide whom to rank highly or, perhaps more importantly, whom to place low on the list. The meetings will again be chaired by Philip Somerville, silly hats and all, and the stag roarer will be on hand to cut off any who dare to try to go over time. It’s, mostly, those with surnames M to Z on Sunday 15 September, and A to L on Monday 16 September. The meetings are 7–9pm …

Broken things, discarded and free objects on the side of the road and buildings in various states of disrepair have all been the focus of local resident Hayley Walmsley’s lens. She has snapped over 4000 images, mostly on walks to and from school or while out doing errands. The project, titled Suzie No Friends, was undertaken for her master’s of visual arts at Otago Polytechnic, and her work will be on public display until Friday 6 September. North East Valley and north Dunedin feature heavily among the images, but Hayley also visited places as far away as Waimate, Oamaru …

The annual great Valley Spring Clean is coming up on Saturday 21 September from 11am-3pm. If you’re in the mood for a clear out but want to ensure you’re being responsible with what you no longer need, then the Spring Clean is for you. This year, with support from Dunedin City Council, we are going bigger and better, especially in avoiding sending items to landfill. We’ll have a team of dedicated volunteers assessing and diverting as much as possible away from the skip. The Te Rōopū Mānaaki class from North East Valley Normal School will be running a clothes …

Want to get warmer in your home? Did you know that 20–30% of your home’s heat can be lost through your windows? Come along to a free workshop on DIY pelmets and go home with a simple solution to help insulate your windows better. Good curtains that fit well and pelmets will help improve heat retention and reduce energy costs. Fitted pelmets reduce heat loss above windows and can be made of any material as long as it creates an air barrier. Pelmets only need to be against the wall and reach to or past the curtain – they …

Organic gardener Michelle Cox is running two workshops in North East Valley about how to create and support a healthy living soil. Caring for the soil is the most important thing you will ever do as an organic gardener and is the key to producing an abundance of healthy, nutritious food, she says. Her first workshop is about knowing your soil and participants will discover its gifts, shortcomings and challenges too. "We'll do some hands-on tests and you'll learn why soil life is pivotal to the health and abundance of your crops," says Michelle. The second workshop, Heal Your …

Malcolm Law is no stranger to crazy ideas and the idea of running up and down Mt Cargill in the cold and dark until the last runner was left standing appealed to his wackier side. It was also a great opportunity to add some mileage to his current challenge of climbing one million feet (304, 800m) in a year to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. Even so, he hadn’t been particularly looking forward to the Crush the Cargill Longest Shortest Day event, but found himself really enjoying it. It was very friendly and low …

It takes a certain kind of delirium to come up with an event in which participants get to run up and down Mt Cargill every two hours over and over again on the shortest day of the year. Add to that a level of cruelty to start the event at 8pm on the night before, and you wouldn’t expect people to bother turning up. However, turn up they did! Last month 26 runners lined up at 8pm to start the Crush the Cargill Longest Shortest Day event at Bethunes Gully. As the very long, cold night dragged on the …

Should the Valley Project apply for funding that comes from pokie machines and other gambling? It’s a debate that has polarized the Valley Project executive board with some members saying definitely not while others believe without this source of funding the future of the project could be in jeopardy. Community input invited With the project’s annual general meeting coming up later this month the board invites community input on the issue and will facilitate a discussion at the meeting on 19 June. The Valley Project is a community-led development project which aims to improve life for people and whānau …

Homemade sushi, chickpea curry, sticky cinnamon rolls? What is your favourite dish that you could bring to a community multicultural potluck dinner? Get cooking and join us this Sunday! Try lots of different foods and enjoy cultural performances and kids activities. Try new kai and meet new people - homemade sushi, chickpea curry and sticky cinnamon rolls are just a few of the items already on the multicultural potluck menu. This month the Dunedin Refugee Centre and the Valley Project are hosting a multicultural community potluck complete with cultural performances, kids activities and of course food! Dunedin Refugee Centre …

It's time to get stylish and explore the recycled fashion for sale at the Opoho Church Fair, as well as enjoy all the usual fair stalls such as books and white elephant, and the cafe space. Fabulous fashions and fabrics are a special feature of the Opoho Church Fair so be sure to get in early to find yourself a great outfit or a bargain. In a celebration of recycling fashion we will have lots of women's, men's, children's and babies clothing available. It's a chance to explore new styles with scarves, shoes, jewellery, hats and more! Franziska and …