Many hands made light work this evening as we set about sprucing up some of the outdoor space for the respite centre at Rose Road. It was brilliant to have a real team effort after a few quiet Mondays and we almost had daylight for the whole session. Chris was the king of the lawnmower (not cans!) while the rest of the team cleared leaves, moss and weeds from the flower beds and patio area. It was great to see Leszek back again as we've missed him at our Monday night sessions. The respite garden looks almost ready for summer days outside now, but we’re hoping we get another chance before BBQ season is upon us as we spotted more weeds than we could manage in one session!

We had a great turnout for our first session of the year at Rose Road including a special guest all the way from London, Ivo, the founder of GoodGym. We were tasked with sorting headbands which will be sold by the fundraising team at festivals during the summer. Many hands were needed as there were literally hundreds of every colour you could imagine and style. Yes crab is a style! In addition to the headbands we also had some creative hands working on a selfie frame of roses. We all agree our glue gunners did a fabulous job. A great indoor task for a chilly winters evening. We look forward to seeing what task Rose Road finds for us on our next visit!

A trio of merry litter pickers set to work clearing the paths around Rose Road before our main group task this evening. Within only half a mile we managed to fill a whole rubbish sack and left the area looking much nicer for parents and young people visiting the centre. The best part was we got to use the fancy robot bin that chomps the litter at the end! Who would litter when the public bin is so good?!?!!

We were all super excited for an indoor task tonight out of the cold helping Rose Road prepare for their Christmas Fair at the weekend. Rose Road provided the bags and we brought the enthusiasm! It was a very satisfying task getting the children's gift bags all ready for Santa to give out. We were an organised machine with myself, Abby, and Stephanie filling the bags in no time! Helen and Kathryn were the with the wrapping skills to get the tombola ready. We just had time to finish off labeling some of the children's present donations and putting some gift tags on the bottle tombola. Thanks to Chloe for keeping us hydrated with cups of tea and coffee too! We hope Rose Road's Christmas Fair is a huge success and look forward to helping again at the carol concert in a few weeks.

Another night of cleaning the buses, but this time the insides! We were very grateful for an almost indoor task since the chilly November weather seems to have finally arrived. We got to work cleaning and polishing the interior patio by particular attention to get all the dirt out of the runners that are used to clip wheelchairs into. This was no easy task and elbow grease a plenty was required! We did such a thorough job on the first bus we only had time to give the second bus a quick going over. The buses are already now to take the children and young people on lots more adventures. We’re sure it won’t be long before our services are required again!

A speedy clean up of the Rose Road entrance along Aldermoor Road to make sure it’s looking nice and tidy for families and visitors the centre. Fortunately a friendly cat kept me company in the cold though they were not at all helpful picking up the litter!