Seven of us met at Bishop Aldhelm's school in Poole, eager to get stuck into some gardening. After warmly greeting us, the caretaker Paul took us past the flower beds we'd previously cleared (still looking good!) to the area outside the reception classrooms. Our task was to dig up the grass to allow a weed-proof membrane followed by bark chippings to be laid at a future date. Simples?! Erm...not really we soon discovered! The ground was rock hard so we had to really put our backs into it but thankfully no backs were put out over it (or not that became apparent during the mission anyway)! And where was Manu? Running a bit late... Until we stood back and looked at the whole area, it felt like we weren't getting anywhere very fast but Paul knew how to incentivise flagging volunteers and produced biscuits and squash. Refuelled and refreshed, we ploughed on until the area was clear. A job well done! As if on cue, Manu arrived just as we had finished digging and helped us to put the play equipment back onto the cleared site. Paul was super happy and is already planning our next visit!