A post-parkrun mission at Portsmouth Lakeside today included an honorary litterpick lap of the lake to keep the trails pristine, and 2 scavenger hunts!

Whilst litterpicking, we were also on a mission to find a Hilsea Lido duck that Sammy had spotted on a bench during Parkrun. After some searching, it was determined that the bench duck must have been a placebo! Thankfully, Sammy did manage to find a duck tucked into the branches of a tree.

The second scavenger hunt was heartbreak for Andy who was on a quest to see the local amphibians! Expecting to see a thriving ecosystem of leaping frogs, he was instead met by stationary, plastic frogs that kids could sit on at the playground!

We then ventured off-piste and discovered a hidden world tucked away from the main path, where other wildlife was clearly in abundance. While the discovery was majestic, it came at the cost of some very soggy trainers!

We rounded off the morning with a well-earned coffee where Dave and Sammy planned a full day of food recommendations in the city for Andy!

The mizzle, the breeze and the fading light didn't put us off our quest to clear the beach - we love a challenge!

We are pleased to report that the beach is quite clean at the moment and that Colas had put out a big extra bin on the promenade by the coffee trailer.

A lovely way to end the week!

​A quick and impactful mission today! Andy and Dave teamed up to assist an elderly resident who needed a large chair moved upstairs to make more space downstairs.

​Moving heavy furniture through tight spaces is always a challenge, but the heavy lifting was handled with care, and the task completed swiftly.

​Another great example of how a small amount of time can make a huge difference in the community.

Well done gents!

Our team this evening was small but mighty, and with the enthusiasm of Vicky from Victory Primary, we created clear pathways and dug a fire pit in just an hour.

Victory Primary have their community fun day next Tuesday, so we were tasked in making the pathways through the woods to the fire pit area safer and more clearly marked. Lucy was out quality controller for the evening, confirming whether a log was a good fit or not, and also showed great commitment to hammering in safety pegs to stop the logs rolling away.

Sammy provided an unprecedented number of Mini Eggs, which kept us fueled throughout the task.

We finished up by finding some small stones and rocks to circle the new fire pit - in doing do some real treasures were uncovered. An unopened, in-date pack of Party Rings and an earring being the highlights!

Dave and Mel visited Mrs E who needed some help rearranging her lounge, by swapping position of her recliner chair and TV. Adding to the challenge was the need to also swap the TV table it was stood on to one that was larger and could accommodate the larger TV. What followed was alot of moving things out of the way, putting them in temporary places (hallway, kitchen) so that we could manoeuvre the old TV table out of the lounge, the new one in, move the recliner chair to it's new home, bring in the new TV table, put the TV back in place, ensure all the wires were run safely, and everything else moved back into a safe storage area. After doing a quick hoover and checking there were no trip hazards, we settled Mrs E back into her chair, TV on and all working. Mrs E was very happy and appreciative with everything done.