Flying the flag for GoodGym, I teamed up with six Abbey People community members for a highly productive two-hour session maintaining greenspace in Barnwell as part of the Seeds of Hope conservation project 🌿

Together, the team pulled up thousands of invasive saplings to clear the way for richer local biodiversity. The massive effort was rewarded during the break with a welcome round of tea, coffee and biscuits hosted by Caitlin, the dedicated lead for Abbey People.

It was also good to see the gooseberries planted last year are fruiting nicely. 🫐

A warm welcome to Sadiya for her first GoogGym session, given both by the volunteers and the lovely sunshine which soon warmed us up. A significant area of weeds was cleared, ready to put the Community farm to bed for the winter. (Their final session is next Saturday, with mince pies for volunteers and sprouts to crop and take for Christmas!) Ann was filling crates with freshly dug leeks - topping and tailing them ready for the local food bank. Many thanks to Sadiya who joined us for the first time today. Her enthusiasm and hard work were fantastic and her fresh energy will be such an asset.

We spent a lovely morning at CoFarm helping Abbey People with maintaining the farm. It was great to have Ann back with us, and she and Catherine and I were able to have a nice catch-up. We also managed to clear a large area of Fat Hen, which I've learned is considered a weed but is also cultivated as a food in some areas of the world. My fun fact for today!