Today I had the pleasure of helping a resident of Islington to tidy their garden, so they can enjoy the outdoor space.

We have been to this resident before and although that was a few weeks ago now the ground had become full of new weeds.

I did manage to uproot some stumps today and all is well in the back garden now.

Epic!

One goodgymmer joined Plastic Free Exmouth for their weekly beach clean. The usual rubbish was found and removed from the beach including bits of fishing rope/nets, food and drink wrappers, plastic toys and a sock.

Whilst last week, the Food Hub team was already clearing up when I arrived, this week the hall was still busy with customers. So that gave me the chance to walk round with a lovely lady, collecting all the food items she wanted, before packing them carefully in her trolley. Then table wiping and floor sweeping, to help leave the hall tidy for the next users.

The task description was to move a triple wardrobe across the bedroom for Mr A to give him better access to his desk. Mr A's wife greeted David and I at the front gate when we arrived and said that she didn't think it was possible to do what was being asked...but if experience from these sorts of tasks has taught us anything, it's at least to give it a try...

Because what Mr A really wanted was for us to move a double wardrobe from its existing location, move a second triple wardrobe into the space vacated by the double wardrobe, and then move a second triple wardrobe into the new space vacated by the first triple wardrobe, with the double wardrobe then being moved into the old space that the second triple wardrobe had previously been occupying...all the while Mr A was in his hospital bed, precariously close to the action, and his room was chock full of other furniture.

We soon discovered that the double wardrobe was on a plinth, so pushing it at a comfortable shoulder height was only going to end in disaster, and we were pushing it on carpet. After getting low and "giving it some" we somehow got this one moved out.

The next triple we simply couldn't budge unless we emptied the clothes from it - so we used Mr A's various chairs and other furniture as clothes horses, and then again adopting the bobsleigh push start position, slowly wriggled this one along the carpet - success...

Wardrobe three also needed its contents removed, so we had to first replace wardrobe two's contents, to free up the space on the clothes horses, and also empty a bathroom's worth of toiletries that were on the shelves to give ourselves any chance. Once done, we shoved that one across the carpet - magically it fitted into the space, and the bedroom door would still open.

It was then a question of somehow not tipping the double wardrobe onto Mr A in his bed, and walking this one across the carpet into the new space by the entrance door...and putting all the clothes and other items back into wardrobe three.

Neither Mr A nor Mrs A could quite believe that we'd been able to do what had been asked - to be honest I'm not sure David and I believed it either...as they say in the film "I'm feeling very Olympic today..."

David and I arrived at Mr H's ready to try and effect a repair on his bed frame. When he showed us into the bedroom, it was apparent that a few of the castors had come off the divan base, so we removed the mattress and turned the two sections of the base over to try and get the wheels to re-attach.

Whilst one fixed back in ok, the second more problematic wheel just wouldn't stay fixed in the wooden frame, and it was clear that the frame was cracked and so there was insufficient friction or wood to hold the wheel in place. Mr H shared his frustrations with us that he has been sleeping on his sofa for years due to the fact that no-one has been able to either fix the bed, or provide him with a replacement.

What we ended up doing, after a bit of hoovering to get rid of the accumulated dust, was to place a block of wood (that had probably been used before as a support) to support the troublesome corner, and then placed the mattress back on top of the divan base.

Mr H really wasn't happy with this solution as he said the block would move if he moved the bed, and he wasn't wrong in that respect, but there was enough weight bearing down on the bed once the mattress (and a person) were on top of it, that we felt it was our only practical solution.

A slightly frustrating mission it has to be said, and it was clear that what Mr H really needs is a new divan base to replace the current broken one. Hopefully this can be resolved by the referrer or another charity, such that Mr H can get back to sleeping in a bed, rather than on a sofa.

After last week's nearly successful mission to build Ms S's new divan, she had (miraculously) taken delivery of two new divan bed bases (and they took the old ones away - she said to me the delivery driver told her "this happens all the time" ), we were both hoping that this time they were matching twins...they were.

Ms S left me to do the unwrapping, constructing, joining, headboard attaching, mattress replacing to the sounds of Radio 3, and after a while all was complete - she produced a mattress topper that she asked me to fit on top of the mattress and once done, I adjusted the headboard to ensure it was clear of the top of the mattress...and finally, after a week of unnecessary palaver, she finally had what looked like a very comfortable bed to sleep in. Mission very much accomplished.