This Sunday morning, we headed to Epping Forest (home to 55,000 ancient trees!) where we were met by the brilliant Robyn, Conservation Officer at Epping Forest Heritage Trust. This was no usual gardening task. Instead of shovels, trowels, and rakes, modern gardening equipment was forgone and we went back to basics. The weapons, I mean tools, of choice, were big sticks. As we made our way to the task site - a large open area dense with bracken - we kept an eye out for the best ones. Robyn advised they needed to be reasonably long, and sturdy, but not too wide, so that they could be wielded in a whip like fashion. Where bracken grows, not much else does, so our task was to bash as much as we could to give other plants a chance.

Big sticks acquired, we set about, in a somewhat zig zag direction, clearing all the bracken we could. Many different bracken beating techniques were employed - everyone seemed to have their own unique style:

• Hilary found a back-hand most effective
• Chloe put her golf skills to use and struck the ferns as if on the tee.
• Fiona aka Fiona Woods
  
• Emily entered a flow state - the stick became an extension of self
• John employed a choppy, efficient technique
  
• Anna held the stick like a sword, comfortably swiping from multiple angles
• Jack's moves were really a sight to behold, resembling a Wu Shu martial artist at times
  

This was such a fun, (and cathartic!) task - a lot of bracken was successfully bashed, and no-one got hit by errant stick swipes.

Post task, Robyn led us to Ambresbury banks, an Iron Age hill fort, thought to be constructed in 700 BC. Legend has it that this might be where Queen Boadicea fought her last battle in the uprising against the Romans...We stopped to have a picnic lunch here before setting off through the woods towards Chingford.

Shout out to Emily for completing her first Goodgym task!

At first we though this mission was a non-starter, as the entryphone rang and rang without answer. But we were rescued by the passing Home Manager, Peter, who very helpfully let us in and introduced us to Mr A.

We had a detailed discussion with Mr A about how he wanted his living room to be laid out, and then set to it. There wasn't any spare space, so it was a case of creating it through a bit of reorganisation - and then swapping things around. We brought Mr A back in to check that we had positioned everything to his satisfaction and that he could independently sit down and rise up from the main chair in front of the TV. Now, when the new recliner chair is delivered, it will be a simple task of moving the two lightest chairs and fitting it in the space vacated.

Over the past year, Mrs M has been in and out of hospital, and now finds it difficult to walk due to an injury to her foot.

Ivy & weeds had overtaken her back garden, making it inaccessible and leaving her unable to use her washing line.

I got to work ripping up the ivy, and uncovered an underground society of snails. Hundreds of them living their best lives munching happily away. Being mindful not to crush any, I evicted them from their shaded home to a more appropriate location.

After some time ripping, weeding, and rehoming, Mrs M’s garden was uncovered alongside her favourite dragon and frog ornaments. A fridge fresh coke zero kept me cool on the blazing hot May day, and I ended up filling 3 black bin bags full of garden waste.

Mrs M was ecstatic at having access to her garden & clothes line back, a psychological & logistical burden finally lifted.

It’s my estimation that one more trip back here will be needed to fully get rid of the ivy infestation that’s approaching from the other side of the garden gate, and to finally clear up the rest of the weeds.

At first sight, It looked like a large and heavy bed that needed taking downstairs to make way for a profiling bed for Ms L. But, fortunately, it came apart relatively easily into manageable pieces. The rather complicated slat fixings had us puzzled for a while. But it turns out that a combination of skill and brute force solved the problem, as is so often the case. A quick sweep up with Madison, the visiting Occupational Therapist (going well beyond her job description), and the room was ready for the new bed. And not a moment too soon - as I was unlocking my bike outside, the new bed arrived in a van.