It’s that time of year again already!! We started Rose Road getting ready for their Christmas fair and were very busy elves packing gift bags from Santa. We got them packed very quickly and then had to do some rearranging to make sure there were the right mix of goodies in the final bags. We then had enough time to sort through the Christmas decorations and remove any broken ones and untangle the Christmas lights! And finally we sorted through items to be sold at Winchester Christmas markets by the fundraising team. As always we had lots of fun and are excited for the festivities next month when we will be back to support at the Christmas fair.

Ten brilliant volunteers turned up at Aldermoor this evening ready to tackle nature head-on—and tackle they did! Finn, Laura, and Derek gave the entrance hedge a sharp new look, while Sarah, Amanda, Beck, and Ronna took on the wild willow by the pond, cutting it back and hauling the branches to the chipper like absolute pros. Meanwhile, Ellie and Anna (with a cameo from Wilson) took on the compost bay transfer— never did we think the whole bay could be done, but Ellie and co were determined and they powered through until the task was complete! Laura and Amanda also got stuck into tearing cardboard for future composting. It was fantastic to see Anna, Beck, and Ronna back for round two, and even better to wrap up with a sliver of daylight—possibly our last light-filled task of the season! Great job everyone!

A merry band of 3 set off to help Rose Road at the Shirley Fringe Festival where they were the named charity for the event. It didn’t just involve bucket shaking, but also our best raffle ticket sales pitches! It wasn’t long before we were in the swing of things, with the help of the many musicians playing up and down the high street in the different bars we had to visit. We soon realised the map wasn’t quite to scale, but it definitely helped us get our steps in. We hope we helped Rose Road to smash last year’s efforts!

So good to be back with Aldermoor Community Farm this evening and with a fantastic turnout. Team work made the dream work for the best short, back and sides for the bushes! Well done to our runners who joined in for a hill session outside the farm before pruning too.

Richard gave us a lovely update on the farm and was ready with gloves and tools for the job. His request for a chamfered bush may have been a step to far.... but we can build up to that! Derek caught his finger on the barbed wire, much to Richards delight as it meant he could put an entry in the accident book.

It was lovely to be joined by Sanat, a new member to Portsmouth Goodgym. Thankyou for coming to our session Sanat, hope you enjoyed it and hope you visit us again soon 😊