Eight GGers kept calm and braved the stormy weather in order to finish off providing a coat of paint to the INS hall way and stairs ahead of their Xmas celebrations.

Adam led Lucy, Africa and Jade on a rather chilly evening warm up and jog through the glorious Christmas lights of Twickenham, while others such as Ken, Suze, Chris and JP found their own way. Once arrived we were ready to roll and were kitted out by task owner Sarah with rollers and paintbrushes and we set about making a splash!

We were on a roll and just like that it was job done! Chris led the way with the washing up team and it was soon time to ease down.

As travel plans meant I would be unable to attend the December mission helping the Friends of Ham Lands, I decided to take a bit of time out of my Monday to lend a hand on their regular weekly session.

It was a larger group than the regular Saturday morning crowd and we were working on a patch of brambles tucked away in the woods. As usual the brambles were being a real menace and needed to be uprooted rather than just chopped back.

We used mattocks and picks to turn the earth and get at the roots, some of which were long and needed to be chased along until the root bulb could be found. But it was satisfying work and we made good progress before calling time for tea.

After a cuppa it was back to work for another 45 minutes and we kept pushing back the bramble tide. We filled sack after sack, all of which were emptied in a compost area not far from where we were working.

It was lovely to see the gang and wish them all happy holidays.