Daryl Venner

Last night it was time for us to head back to Abbeyfield Wessex to host their monthly quiz night, one of our favourite "good deeds".

This time Daryl stepped up to the plate and organised the whole evening for us! Thanks Daryl

The decade was the 1960s and there were 8 questions based on Bournemouth to help us learn a little more about where we live, then the rest were based on films and famous people. Some very tough questions on there.

The top team including Marianne, named Table One finished with 22 out of 30 questions. Very respectable considering the diffulty level. Then second place was the one with Hannah in, they finished with 18 points. And in third place were the Belles who finished with 15!

We arrived just as the rain set in and Marianne had run all the way from home...when we finished it was still raining and Marianne refused a lift saying she loves running in the rain! What commitment!!!

Such a fun evening with the residents learning about them and their stories. You know there's hope when one of the residents, aged 96 has been on 14 cruises since their partner passed. Rather than settling down she has taken it upon herself to see as much of the world as possible.

We said our goodbyes and promised to be back again next month for another round. We can't wait!!

Yesterday evening 6 of us met up to help out Grounded Community with a bit of wheelbarrowing and sorting.

For Keith and Lea it was their first taste of helping out this charity and so they weren't sure where Secret Garden 2 was and without having been there before, it's very secret indeed.

Janet timed her arrival to perfection, as she helped Michael bring the big wheelbarrow over from SG 1 in the van.

We started by tidying up the area a little. Sorting out the junk from what may still prove useful. Wood to one area, bottles to another and sorting through crates and plant pots.

Then when the wheelbarrows arrived we started on the main task of filling the barrows and wheeling them to Secret Garden 1 a couple of roads over.

What a core workout that turned out to be! Daryl and Janet were part of the inaugural trip and used their knowledge to guide us through the subsequent ones.

We were using the compost from the bins that we had built up over a year ago and it was great to see that the soil was in great shape and ready to be used for planting at the original plot.

After an hour we had almost filled the other soil bay and the job was complete.

With the darkness creeping in we said our goodbyes and split off in different directions hoping to meet again next week!

Well done everyone!

Special thanks to Janet for coming up with the report title TWO weeks in a row!! Hannah, Daryl and Janet for helping to snap the best shots possible.

Having just moved home, Age UK asked us to help Mrs R and her daughter unpack boxes and to move some furniture into place.

Little did we know that they have moved from a 5 bed house to a 2 bed bungalow and are yet to have a clear out... so it just won't fit!

Unfortunately the move didn't go to plan as they were let down by the removal company and Mrs R was quite overwhelmed, so first things first we made her a cup of tea and told her to take a seat whilst we made a start on the kitchen.

We managed to clear the boxes that were there but that wasn't even half of the kitchen stuff. We hung some clothes in her wardrobe for her too but there was little else we could do today as much of the boxes were still at the old property, so hopefully we will back to help again soon to make it feel like home for Mrs R and her daughter.

This week's good deed is one of our favourites and by the sound of the residents reaction to our arrival, it may be one of their favourite visits!

We met up at our old meet up location outside Flirt in the Triangle. Lots of great times had been had at Flirt so it was a great place to meet and catch up.

We all arrived from different parts and in different ways. Marianne was the bravest, running from home adding another 4-5 miles or so to her total for the evening.

Daryl had been for a toasty run in the morning and Caprice was taking things slow after different injuries so we took a little detour and kept our run to Westbourne house short and sweaty!

Daryl had kindly printed off the quiz and so became the quiz master for the evening.

Nicky had set up the residents in 3 teams and we had around 4-5 residents on each table. Sue, joined one, I joined one and Caprice and Marianne joined another.

With 30 questions to get through Daryl got us going.

From pregnant gold fish to Rosa Parks, we racked our brains for knowledge hidden away at the back of our minds.

After swapping sheets and doing some marking for each other, two teams finished joint top on 24 correct answers. They needed 3 additional questions to be separated and the team with Caprice and Marianne, Adrian's Angels came out Champions.

We were clapped out and loved it! We headed back and Daryl invited us to a quick drink at Flirt to enjoy the last of the evening sunshine!

Thank you guys for a lovely evening!! Next week's group outing is Tuesday evening!