We were back at the Community Hospice, helping Head Gardener, Jason, with his masterplan for transforming the grounds for patients and their families to enjoy.

The session got off to the best possible start when Ivar, our very own star baker, arrived with some totally delicious carrot cake cupcakes 🧁, complete with fondant carrots on top 🥕. Fully-fuelled for the task ahead, we collected shiny new blue trugs, secateurs and loppers from the shed and got busy in the warm sunshine.

Some of us settled into weeding the long border, pulling up unwanted growth gently with our hands to avoid disturbing the soil too much.

Others set to cutting back a rather unruly pyracantha hedge. Also known as firethorn, we worked very carefully to avoid the spiky thorns! Eventually the hedge will be tidy and low enough to allow a view of the woodland beyond.

The time whizzed by and, before long, it was time for a quick bit of silliness in the children's play area, before returning the tools to the shed. Then it was back to Ivar's cupcakes for a yummy finish to the morning. 😋

We'll be back again next month - we can't promise cakes but if you see that Ivar's signed up there's a very good chance!

Tonight we took to the local streets to promote Community Hospice’s upcoming Boogie Wonderlab party.

With a stack of flyers, we hit the residential roads and got busy with the letterboxes, spreading the word about an evening of music, dancing and plenty of good times.

There was no dancing in the street or night fever, but we certainly put in the steps as we worked our way up and down driveways.

With the last of the leaflets delivered, our work was done.

We hope the leaflets get people saying “Let’s Dance” and heading along to enjoy the Hospice's fundraising disco fun.

🕺💃🎶

Yee-haw! 🤠

With a batch of Hospice Hoedown leaflets left over from our flyering in Bexley a couple of weeks ago, we headed out into the residential streets around Sidcup High Street to deliver the remainder.

It didn’t take long to get to the bottom of the pile, and hopefully our efforts will help drum up a few more bookings for the Hoedown! 🤠

Howdy partner!

Cowboy hats were optional as we saddled up and went out and about yesterday evening to spread the word about the Hospice Hoedown 🤠.

Hot-footing it around the streets, we posted nearly 500 leaflets through letterboxes in Bexley, close to where the big event is happening next month.

Lots of steps, lots of fun. Let's hope it leads to lots of bookings!

Yee-haw!

A sunny Saturday morning saw seven of us gather in the canteen at the Community Hospice, where we were joined by with Jason, the Head Gardener.

Ivar had arrived first, with a batch of his legendary home-baked Norwegian solskinnsboller (‘sunshine buns’). We normally save the sweet treats until after the hard work, but these pastries were too tempting to wait, so we tucked into them there and then!

Suitably fuelled, we headed out into the gardens, where Jason asked us to clear a patch of ground near the children’s playground. Straw-like Foxtail Barley had taken over, some weeds too, and leaves had piled up from the overhead trees. For the next relaxed hour or so, we pulled up the straw and weeds by hand to avoid disturbing the soil too much, and raked up leaves. Hopefully - when we get some proper rain - the grass can grow back and blend in with the rest of the lawn.

This was one of those lovely GoodGym sessions where the task was almost secondary to the setting: sunshine overhead, a friendly robin coming to see what was going on, plenty of chatting and a chance to enjoy being outdoors together while doing some useful work.

And, as always, the time flew by. While a couple of people headed home, the rest of us and Jason landed back in the canteen, for lunch or another bun and a cuppa.

We’ll be back again next month, and if you spot Ivar on the sign-up list, consider his sweet treats an extra incentive to come along!

Our monthly session at the Community Hospice this morning saw us heading down the garden path, well actually two of them!

As usual, we met Head Gardener Jas in the café, for a quick catch-up over a cuppa before making our way to the tool shed to collect the equipment we would need.

With the sun beating down, Jas kindly directed us to jobs in the shade.

Johnny returned to the block-paved path leading to the main entrance, armed with a scraper and on a mission to finish what we'd started a few months ago. The remaining moss and weeds didn't stand a chance!

Meanwhile, Jas, Alice and Sarah headed into the woodland area to work on a path that was steadily disappearing beneath a sea of bracken. Wearing trusty yellow gauntlets, we moved along the route pulling up the ferns as close to the roots as possible. Some of the plants weren't ready to be evicted and put up some resistance, but that just made for an excellent workout!

By the end of the session, the entrance path was looking fully neat and welcoming, while the woodland trail had been reclaimed and was once again easy to follow.

With our work done we headed back to the hospice cafeteria for plenty more chatting over a tasty lunch.

We'll be back again next month to see what Jas has in store for us. He likes to keep us on our toes and always has a new task up his sleeve, which helps make these sessions varied and interesting. If you'd like to join us next time, you can sign up here.