Ivy pickers

2 GoodGymers made their way to help an isolated older person in Hackney.

: Friday, 29th of March 2024

Here's what Mrs A of E5 had to say about the mission:

From referrer: Thank you for all the hard work the volunteers completed last week. Please can you pass onto the volunteers our gratitude and appreciation for all the hard work they did on behalf of Mrs A. My manager will be actioning the remaining removal of the ivy. Thank you once again for all you support."

Mrs A of E5, mission beneficiary

As Anne and I surveyed our handiwork at removing as much of the Ivy from Mrs A's front wall as we could from ground level as requested, we considered what options there could be to get higher up to attack the ivy that was still attached to the wall from the second floor upwards but was currently (and annoyingly) out of reach.

The suggestion of a cherry picker amused us both, before we ventured into the possibility of abseiling down from the roof or positioning a trampoline and giving that a bouncy try (ideally without any sharp objects in our hands...).

Sadly, with none of these options available to us on this sunny Good Friday lunchtime, we had done as much as we could with the tools that we had, and finished by tidying up the cuttings ready to be taken away.

Report written by Nick Moore