After Fay and Sallyann set off walking to the task, the rest of us did a brief slow warm up and set off on a short route to Chelmsford CVS, collecting one more runner on our way.

Our host Sally showed us the wall that needed painting, which was a slightly greyish-white. Richard and Ben started off with a bit of cleaning, whilst everyone else got out the rollers, trays and brushes to paint. As ever, the group sped through the painting, leaving only the highest parts of the wall until the end. Fay made a start with the tall ladder, but decided against it, whilst of course it didn't phase Richard, and Joel braved the smaller step ladder.

As ever, the longest part of the painting task was the washing up. We witnessed different levels of attention, with Russell's brush and tray almost immaculate, and Erin's roller and tray still pretty painty. We finally posed for a photo with the very fresh white wall; Erin's eyes were characteristically shut, and Ben was very serious, perhaps because he got white paint on his lovely clean GoodGym shirt.

David turned up right at the end, didn't do any washing up, joined us in eating the biscuits kindly provided by our host, but did redeem himself by bringing brownies for those of us who made it back to ARU. They were all gone so quickly (even the one I took home) that I have no photographic evidence.

In case you missed it - we've started planning for Sallyann's celebratory meal at San in June. Thanks to all who've contributed to the poll, date to be confirmed soon.

See you all next time,

Laurie

We headed out into the misty morning to do our semi-frequent volunteer at Parkrun. When we arrived, welcoming Chris back, some of us gushed over the incredible northern lights we saw last night, others over the rum and coke/ star wars marathon (Angela). Fay was incredulous that Martin had chosen to keep his legs covered up for once.

We headed out to our assigned tasks, with me being sad that Paul didn't fall off the bike, although not sure I know how to ride one still anyway, and went to cheer on the runners. We all completed our tasks with aplomb - special shoutout to Laura making her Parkrun debut.

Heading to the traditional Spoons for brekky, Andy and Martin leapt at the chance of a second breakfast, with Andy moaning he was forced into ordering toast by....himself.

Good work, have a nice weekend and enjoy the sunshine!

After a brief discussion on the best way to Beaulieu Community Centre, we set off with Joel leading out in the sunshine. We mostly worked it out along the way, apart from some confusion over what sort of looked like a path, but felt more like an uneven grass verge next to a busy road.

We found Fay and Sallyann with cloths and buckets in hand, so the rest of the group picked up sponges and cloths to clean every possible surface in the Heath Room, ahead of the Centre's open day this Sunday.

David went straight in whilst everyone else loitered for a short period, but his work clearly wasn't evident as the window he cleaned first was cleaned at least twice more by other members of the group.

Best use was made of Andy's and Joe's heights, by asking them to clean the tops of windows, whilst Martin and Nisar took the two sponges and did a great job of cleaning up the marked walls.

I spotted a couple of cobwebs on the ceiling, so suggested Rich and Joe give them a good swipe with their cloths, which ended up more of a posing opportunity for Rich than actual cleaning (followed by another posing opportunity with David and a dustpan and broom).

We finished with a lovely group photo, and then thought we were leaving Fay and Sallyann to walk home. Much to our dismay (mostly Andy, David, and Rich) they popped around the corner for chips on the way, whilst the rest of us were at Andy's mercy for his choice of the running route back.

We didn't let it dampen our spirits too much, and we took a celebratory photo with Nisar in his lovely new red t-shirt, before heading home for our less fun dinners than Fay and Sallyann had.

Great work everyone! Let's hope we get invited back to Beaulieu Community Centre for more tasks.

See some of you at parkrun on Saturday for volunteering, and the rest of you on a run soon.

Laurie