Vincent ran Gogh!

A group of runners ran along the river Avon to St John's Court to paint some outdoor furniture. We painted 10 chairs, a bench, a table and also varnished a bench ... all in one evening! It was a lovely sunny evening and we enjoyed being outside helping our community.

After meeting at our usual spot outside the leisure centre we were on our way. This is one of our shortest runs at just over 1km away, so we got there with lots of time for volunteering.

The task

We met our hosts for the evening and they gave us an overview of the building complex and the task. St John's Court is a shared living space in the centre of Bath. There are lots of different groups of people who live there, including vulnerable adults and people who have mobility challenges.

The Committee and the Resident's Association make a great effort to build and maintain a community and one of the ways they do this is by maintaining a welcoming outdoor space for all to enjoy.

There are several areas where residents and their guests can sit outside and enjoy being together, and these spaces need regular maintenance. We came last year to paint some furniture that lives outside on their decking, and we were back again for more painting!

Last night, we moved furniture from storage cupboards to the back of the complex overlooking the riverside. The team had already kindly jet-washed the furniture for us and we were ready to get going!

We got off to a rough start ... I should sand down from my position, as these puns are awful!!

The first step was to sand down some of the rough edges of the wood. This roughness can come from where things like moss has grown on the surface over the years.

Don't paint on my parade!

After the sanding we mixed some paint and let our artistic talents shine!

We wern-table to leave without finishing!

We worked in teams to make sure we covered as much of the surface of the chairs as possible. The chairs were painted a smooth cream colour and the table was painted in a calming eggshell blue. The colour we added makes the furniture look so much fresher and really brightens up the garden area. Also, the paint will help to weather-proof the wood which is important as it exposed to the elements by the river path.

I should also benchun how much fun we had!

A group of our runners used their skills to varnish a bench. The bench needed freshening up and our work here makes the bench look as good as new. This will help keep the bench protected and help extend its lifetime.

We finished the task paint-splattered and worn out from all the kneeling and bending but we were really proud with our work. Our hosts were extremely happy with what we had achieved in just over an hour and were extremely grateful. We are heading back to St John's Court to do some more painting later in the summer so sign up now to reserve the spot in you diary!

Thanks!

Thanks to Emma for backmakring for us and for also the pun last night!

Upcoming runs:

• On Sunday 26th May we are volunteering with The National Trust to help on the Bath Skyline Walk
• At the end of May we are heading to St James Wine Vaults for the monthly quiz
• On 1st June we are helping out at Dry Arch Growers
• In June we are also helping at the Saltford Festival
• Next week: we are cleaning tennis courts at Alice Park