When we arrived at Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School, Jane, the vice principal, had two fun challenges waiting for us in the school hall.

Johnny, Alice and Martin got stuck into some serious recycling activity. They carefully removed the legs from a collection of old blue plastic chairs and then screwed the seats onto reclaimed pallets, transforming the unlikely collection of materials into colourful little ‘buses’ for the children to enjoy in the playground. Who knew old chairs and pallets could have such an exciting second life?

Meanwhile, Sarah and Lisa took on a completely different task: assembling a flat-pack canopy to shelter the entrance to the school’s reception area. Sounds straightforward, right? Well, not quite! The instructions were less than helpful, and at several points we decided that what we really needed was an octopus with at least eight arms to hold all the various bits and pieces in place while we tried to screw everything together!

Despite the questionable instructions and our distinct lack of tentacles, the time absolutely flew by. Before we knew it, both jobs were done and it was time to take a couple of team photos to show off the fruits of our labour.

We never quite know what Jane has up her sleeve for our monthly visits — a spot of DIY, a creative challenge, or perhaps another job that requires more arms than we have! Why not come along next time and join the fun? Who knows what will be waiting for us when we arrive!

What a lovely morning with the Friends of Lesnes Abbey and Woods (FOLAW)!

Their woodland conservation sessions take place on the first Sunday of every month and, as usual, we met at The Lodge. There was a big turnout today, with our GoodGym red t-shirts adding a vibrant splash of colour to the proceedings.

Marc from FOLAW had already pre-loaded wheelbarrows with equipment, so we trundled them a short distance into the woods to an area earmarked to become a coppice of hazel trees. Eventually, the hazel will be used for woodcrafts, reviving a traditional way of managing the woodland that would have been common at Lesnes Abbey in centuries gone by.

But before any new tree saplings can be planted, there’s a mammoth task ahead: clearing the long tract of land of ivy, brambles and fallen branches.

So we got to work!

With so many people, it was a hive of activity and a buzz of chatting as everyone worked alongside each other. Some used loppers and shears to cut through the green carpet of ivy and bramble tendrils, pulling and scooping everything up and ferrying it to one side to gently rot away. Some dug out bramble roots to try to curb their re-invasion plans, and others coordinated their weight-lifting efforts to lift move large fallen branches out of the way.

It was impressive to see just how much ground was cleared before we headed to the Chestnuts kiosk for coffees in the sunshine. ☕️

These sessions are a wonderful way to spend time outdoors, meet new people from FOLAW, catch up with familiar faces and be part of a initiative that’s helping restore an area of the ancient woodland to a more traditional form of management.

We’ll be back next month to keep the project growing! 🌱