The team met at 2-prompt today to make our way over to the Rockingham Community Centre in Elephant and Castle.

This centrally-located community centre offers an increasing number of classes and sessions to locals.

The committed and productive TRA were in touch recently, needing a hand making a start on the painting of the skirting boards in the main hall.

Forming not one or two but three groups, all heading at a variety of speeds to the hall, the whole team was in full flow by 2:30.

Following a quick task briefing by Sarah, it was all hands on deck in no time: skirting boards were sanded, mopped, and painted at quite a rate. The work was fast and thorough, and unbelievably tidy.

About in hour in, it became clear that the team were going to finish the job – one undercoat less for the Rockingham team later in the week.

The clean-up effort commenced promptly: Brushes were cleaned, trays stacked and stored, and any remnants of paint wiped away.

With a final cheerio from Kenny, along with a little bit of background to the Centre, we made our way down the ramp and headed back to base in, yes, you guessed it, three groups.

A great afternoon’s work – well done all.

Until next time.

It was windy, it was rainy, it was a slightly longer run than usual…But that didn’t deter an 8-strong team showing up for today’s task, heading just over 2.5km to Bermondsey to help the Thames Reach team tidy up a residential outdoor space.

Why were we doing this?

Thames Reach is a London charity working with those affected by homelessness, offering a range of support from outreach services and accommodation to employment training.

Joel and Elvis head up one of the residential locations in Bermondsey, whose garden needed a bit of TLC in time for the summer.

It’s all about the map reading

After a couple of dynamic stretches at the FGS base, we made our through the streets of Southwark and Bermondsey, led and expertly navigated by Matt.

Stopping only for a brief rest, we arrived at our location nice and early to be greeted by Joel and Elvis handing out all the equipment needed to get the job done.

What’s not a weed?

Trowels were gathered, gloves donned, strimmers powered up…It was all go.

The area at the front of the accommodation was, no joke, pretty much all weeds, along with some tough roots. But the team did good, identifying weeds from the odd shrub, tackling tough roots and avoiding stones.

The weed pile grew, the compost bin overflowed, but still they kept going.

Residents popped out to say hello and we discussed the art of good gardening; a rubbish bag was added for a last minute litter-pick, while the extensive sweeping up was merely a finale.

In terms of before and after pics, this was a good gig.

Before we knew it, it was after 12, and we were returning kit to the shed and saying cheerio to the team.

The run back to base was marginally tougher going due to the 75 minutes our arms and legs had endured in the gardening bonanza, but nonetheless it was fun, companionable and a fitting end to a terrific morning.

It was a good-sized group who gathered for today’s task in the Borough, courtesy of Beautiful Balin, a local community garden group, based in-and-around the Tabard Gardens Estate.

We kicked off today’s activity with a workout, useful for blowing away midweek blues.

After a short run to Tabard Gardens, the team wasted no time in selecting their mini-band-of-choice and tackling upper body moves (yes, bicep curl and tricep kickback, we’re looking at you), single leg squats, and some full-on seated calf stretches.

Just as we were finishing up, Peter from Beautiful Balin arrived, complete with sophisticated strategy for today’s leafleting task.

Background

Beautiful Balin are a community-run garden group based on the Tabard Gardens Estate. The Estate’s Spring Festival, supported by Southwark Council, is taking place this Saturday, and the group wanted to reach as many households on the Estate as possible. A free event with food and family activity (complete with a fantastic weather forecast), this is one weekend activity that local residents will want to hear about.

Steps, stairwells and door-to-door sprints

With 1500 homes to reach, it was a workout in itself.

Peter had drawn us estate maps, and divided us into teams, with the corresponding number of leaflets. This was a precise plan-and-a-half.

After a brief briefing, which included the how-to’s on dealing with ‘troublesome letter boxes’ (yes, it’s a thing), off we ran to our respective blocks.

Who knew leafleting was such a workout. Steps, stairs, and a quick sprint from house to house proved to be the only way to blitz such a large area.

It was fun, it was fast and it was effective.

Until next time

We raced back to our meeting point a little after 12:30, satisfied that was an hour well spent.

Handing our remaining leaflets back to Peter, we headed back to base for a final stretch.

“So, about the trees…”

Two surprises awaited the team on arrival at FGS HQ today:

• The trees for the tree-planting task hadn’t arrived, so the task had, er, changed.
• The team were unaware we were kicking off with a workout.

But the robust crew of 9 seemed unperturbed as we set out for Guy Street Park on this rather grey Wednesday lunchtime. After a speedy warm-up, we whizzed through a top-to-toe body weight workout using walls, tarmac and benches as the ultimate multi-gym:

Lunges, split squats, decline push-ups, elevated side planks and endless V-sits were the order of the day.

With fitness feathers somewhat ruffled, we took an easy jog around to the Kipling Estate to meet the brilliant Clive, who’d prepared today’s task with great care. We said our hellos and distributed kit in the well cared for community centre, before heading out to the new garden area, with its raised beds, and border awaiting completion.

What was the task?

Good question. It was to empty a great stash of woodchip into the pathway, and distribute it evenly.

Why were we doing this?

Well, this new garden area is a much-loved new green project on the estate, created and overseen by Clive and Jo, and other members of the TRA. With funding from the mayor earlier this year, despite all hands on deck from members of the TRA and keen gardeners among the estate’s residents, as people return to work and temperatures drop, a few additional pairs of hands in the form of the fantastic FGS squad was very much appreciated today.

All about the teamwork

Three teams were formed:

• The woodchip shovellers

• The wheelbarrow gang

• Team Rake

They didn’t stop. Literally. “It’s like a machine,” marvelled Clive.

Bag after bag, barrow after barrow…Only stopping to pose patiently for a pic.

And then it was done. “Wait, is that right?” I asked Matt: “Has it taken you fewer than 50 minutes?”

Glancing down at our watches, blinking, Clive and I marvelled at the FGS team’s speed, efficiency and stamina.

And so we said our cheerios, taking a slow jog back to the office not forgetting a shout-out to Barry for patient camera-tutorial and to Nat, for our splendid pun.

A little while later, on arrival home, I received an email from Clive, "The wood chip pathway looks brilliant, and everyone who has seen it is so impressed and proud of how the garden now looks, so much more complete and established. …The team were absolutely perfect guests, who deserve medals for their community works. What great neighbours!"

Way to go. Until next time.