An offer you plant refuse

How it started

With just a 5% chance of rain forecast for today’s task, a torrential downpour at 10:30 was something of a surprise, but the weather did little to dampen the team’s spirits.

After a couple of stretches to warm-up, we headed over to Elephant and Castle in two groups, one walking and one running.

Matt headed up navigation and pace-setting for our running group, and we arrived at our task in no time.

Greeted warmly by Adam, today’s task owner, we made our way up to today’s task location, eyeing up the eight tonnes (not a typo) of soil we’d come to distribute.

Why were we here?

Locksfield Retirement Housing in Walworth is embarking on a new planting project to spruce up the gardens for its 32 residents.

Planters will be filled, so an array of shrubs and flowers can take shape in this well-used garden.

A small team has been tasked with this new project, so the offer of some assistance from the fabulous FGS team came at just the right time.

How it went

(Very) early this morning, eight tonnes of top soil and two bags of mulch were delivered to the site.

Our job today was emptying these bags into wheelbarrows, taking them to four planters and distributing the soil evenly in its new home.

We set about the task, divided into teams of two, shovelling soil from these huge bags into wheelbarrows, and then over to the planters, ready to be raked It was a decent workout: lats, legs, shoulders and chest all benefited from this heavy, repetitive activity.

It was a rewarding task to see bags gradually emptied of soil and residents saying hello and 'thanks' as they came and went. (And a great relief to see the sun after the morning’s downpour).

6.5 tonnes in and we figured it was time to call it a day.

A lot had been accomplished and a far smaller soil supply was left for Adam and the team to distribute later in the week.

After that all-important group pic, we headed back to base, some walking and some running. (Big shout-out to Matt for leading our run back!)

Well done all

...(and a big shout-out to our Southwark Area Activator Sam, who sourced our task and put us in touch with Adam),

Until next time.