Welfare visit for Ms D

We had loads of fun this morning helping the Pinkneys Green Scouts pack up their kit for camp. We arrived in the rain, but spirits were not dampened. Far from feeling tent-ative, happy campers Sol, Jess, Viv, Jen and I were all ready to pitch in!

Jess deserved an ice cream after arranging all the safety cones and Viv had an in tents experience carrying canvas and poles.

Having two left hand gloves didn't stop Jen from carrying all the right things.

From toilets to tables, cooking equipment to backpacks - we helped shift it all from the hut to the lorry. It was a lorry lorry fun and a good workout too.

Sol also saved the day when there was an oil spill in one of the fridges. She said, 'Oil sort that out!' and set to work. She's not afraid of a bit of (t)oil.

Thanks to PG Scouts for having us! Lovely to meet Scout leader James and lots of Scout families, who were also helping. We hope to return on the morning of Friday 1st August to unpack the lorry when the Scouts return. Save the date now!

That was Rachel's reaction when she visited the community allotment for the first time this year. So much has been added . Phoebe tried out the beer pumps, but they seem to have run dry! Georgeta was already busy doing the watering as we can't quite believe that it might actually rain tonight. While Rachel and Neeta helped her, Phoebe and Sheila shovelled some soil into a wheelbarrow and transported it over to the other side of the car park. Here, one of the apple trees had some bare root exposed, so we piled up the soil to cover the roots. We had also been asked to pile some old soil and rubble up around the fig to help retain the water when it is watered. We found the bags of material we could use, and built a little wall around the fig, adding bricks and stones and firming it down. We did a watering test run and it seemed to work!. Neeta also did a litter pick, gathering up lots of bits of plastic that have gathered around the allotment area. Now, I wonder if it will rain tonight?

It was business as usual at the Baby Bank this morning, and Carol, Karen and Sheila got straight down to work with our favourite task of clothes sorting! Looking out especially for girls clothing for 4- 6 year olds as these seem to be in short supply. Sheila came across a large bag of donated dresses which had all been hand-made from the most fabulous fabrics They were labelled as 'Dress a Girl Around the World'. A quick Google revealed that this organisation provides new dresses to families in poverty in various countries around the world. We were so pleased that someone decided to donate some to UK families as well and are in awe of their sewing skills

It was great to see 5 Goodgymers out in Windsor for tonight's task. We met at the lovely Trinity St Stephen's First School and found our task leader Sonia and other parents from the school.

She explained to us that the Year 4 parents had brought 3 bug hotels, as a leaving gift, for the school to create a pollinator garden and help aid the children's eco-learning. To create this wildlife haven we needed to dig a border flowerbed to allow space for the hotels and loads of pollinator friendly plants and flowers.

We got dug in straight away creating the flowerbed by removing the top layer of grass and soil. We were aided by some of the children who watered the ground for us to make it softer. Once the grass was removed, we turned the soil over and then added the peat-free compost. With our best Charlie Dimmock impressions we then arranged the plants and flowers, making sure we mixed colours, heights and varities to create a welcoming haven for bugs and insects to explore and make their home.

We think the little garden is a great legacy for the children to leave as they move on to their new schools and we hope that many children, and bugs, will enjoy this little haven.

A creative team of Goodgymers joined forces with Friends of Raymill Island to brighten up and enhance the fun pavement games we had created a few weeks before.

A full dozen of us gathered on Raymill Island and welcomed Ailsa for her first Goodgym session, it was great to have such a large group from both teams.

Our job was two-fold tonight, first re-paint what we had created last time to make the colours pop again and secondly to create some more fun activities for visitors to play! We split ourselves up and some took on the previous creations of, wiggly worms, walking the stem, popping bubbles and hopscotch and gave them a new sparkle! Others helped to create the new bright rainbow, paint the letters of the alphabet, add ladybirds to the hopscotch and paint plasters to the tree roots (to show we were helping to mend and give new life to the island).

It was great fun and everyone brushed up well together to bring the creations to life. Well Done All!