Last night’s volunteering session at Masbro Centre felt a bit like stepping into a mystery novel...

After arriving, we were led through a door that many of us had never even noticed before. Behind it lay the "Secret Garden" – and secret it certainly was! 😄

What we found was a space that had seen better days. There were pots everywhere, evidence of some ambitious gardening attempts, weeds making themselves very much at home, and plenty of plastic and waste scattered around. It was less "Secret Garden" and more "Secret Jungle!" 🌱🪴

Not to be deterred, the team got stuck in straight away. 💪

🗑️ We cleared four large black bags of waste.

🌿 We depotted plants and removed weeds that had taken over.

🧹 We swept the floor until it was clean and welcoming again.

🪑 We cleared and cleaned the benches.

🔧 We organised the shed so everything now has a proper home.

🪴 We carefully arranged the pots neatly to one side, making the whole area look far more inviting.

The transformation was incredible. What started as a cluttered and forgotten corner is now a bright, tidy and welcoming outdoor space where the nursery children can learn, explore and enjoy being outside. 🌞

A fantastic evening of teamwork, plenty of laughs, and a real before-and-after success story. The Secret Garden is a secret no more—and it's looking better than ever! 🌿✨

Yesterday’s group meet-up at the Tiny Forest can only be described as: HOT. SWEATY. HEROIC.

The weather was absolutely boiling ☀️🔥 — the kind of heat where you start sweating just thinking about moving. But did that stop us? Absolutely not.

Before we even got to the gardening part, Jalal decided the best way to arrive at the gardens was via a full-speed sprint 🏃‍♂️💨 One minute we were casually walking…The next minute we were in an unexpected cardio session. By the time we arrived, everyone was out of breath, slightly confused, but somehow fully ready for battle 😂

We got straight to work tackling the other half of the Tiny Forest, pulling weeds left, right, and centre. It was proper hard work, especially in the heat, but the forest is looking better already 💪🌿 Special shoutout to Chau, who arrived like a gardening professional with her handheld shovel 🔧🌱 That little shovel turned out to be the MVP of the day, helping dig out all the stubborn weeds that refused to leave peacefully.

At one point, Jalal entered into direct combat with a giant weed. It was man versus nature.

There was pulling. There was twisting. There was determination. There may even have been emotional damage.

In the end, Jalal got most of it out after a very intense struggle 🌿🥊 The weed put up a strong fight, but victory was ours.

After finishing up, we ran back to the station at top speed again 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️💨 And then… HELICOPTERS 🚁🚁🚁 Loads of them in the sky. No idea what was happening — maybe someone was on the run, maybe it was an action movie filming, maybe Jalal’s weed finally called for backup. Whatever it was, we suddenly found ourselves running EVEN FASTER back home 😂

Tiny Forest: 0 Us: 1 🏆

Last night’s volunteering session at Bassuah Legacy Foundation started in the most British way possible… by talking about the weather for a solid few minutes 😄 One minute sunshine, the next wind and rain — classic!

When we arrived, we discovered we’d just missed the BBC apparently 🎥😅 Timing is everything!

Once inside, we split up to tackle different jobs around the shop:

🛒 I took charge of the shop front and even managed to sell an umbrella to a customer — honestly, given the weather, it practically sold itself ☔😂

👕 Meanwhile, Matthew, Kesani and Jalal were hard at work downstairs sorting through clothes and clearing space in the corridor. We separated items ready to sell from those to be recycled, while also clearing out rubbish and making the whole area feel far more organised 🙌♻️

By the end of the evening, the difference was huge — more space, more sorted stock, and less clutter for Tina to worry about 💛

📸 Best of all, we left Tina in such a great mood she didn’t want us to go! Plenty of laughs, smiles, and selfies to finish the night off too 😄✨

Another brilliant evening of teamwork and community spirit — already looking forward to the next one! 💪