There is a large — possibly huge — tree at Cecil Sharp House.

It must have looked over Camden Town for more years than is possible to count.

It certainly has more leaves than is possible to even imagine.

But our friendly and hardy group have been raking, sweeping, grabbing, and packing this tree’s leaves all season.

And last night — just in time for Christmas — was our final leaf–tackling outing until next autumn 😊

Chandrima, Jackie, John, Lydia Siobhan, Steve, Susannah (our brilliant host), and Victoria didn’t waste any time in donning gloves and getting to work.

First they raked and swept and grabbed and packed, and second they hauled a GIGANTIC number of heavy bags (choc with leaves) to the front of Cecil Sharp ready for collection and composting 😊

Thank you, everyone! Here’s to… 2026!

We gathered in dribs and drabs, some delayed by work and others having joined a group run from the Town Hall Hotel. It wasn’t our last Monday task before Christmas, but there was much talk of exciting festive trips to warmer places as distant as Australia and India, before we instead spread out to various parts of the Parkview estate

There were chairs to be sanded and painted; Anna, Rohan and Jo displaying their artistic talents in adding shades of brown or a kind of light green (not really lime – we were wondering what whimsical description a paint shop would give it)

Mile-End-Emma waved to us from the other side of the street, then decided she might as well cross the road and join in - after all, it was her 75th Good Deed! She bundled tree branches into a wheelbarrow and over to the bin, branches which myself, Ilana and Nia had cut back so people might perhaps be able to notice what’s on the notice board

The three of them then went to pull nails out of some old wood, so it could be recycled for carpentry and shelves in the glasshouse. Meanwhile, Bethnal-Green-Emma seemed to be graffitiing a perforated fence, but closer inspection revealed she was actually doing a great job of removing an unsightly tag from the barrier

Somehow we all re-convened for the group picture - deciding this time it might be a better idea this time to take the photo in a lit-up area...