Pam and Gill attended a chilly All Saints to help prepare some Christmas wreaths for some of the older people on the community. They were soon busy getting creative with moss, pine cones, ribbons and some heart shaped wreaths. Pam was very proud of her wreath, especially as she was told by Fr David that she won the prize for the best looking wreath. Let's hope these brighten up a few doors around the local area.

The morning started out so well, despite it being a Bank Holiday the weather was fine and the team met at All Saints to complete the work started on Saturday. I would say there was a hive of activity, but under the circumstances of what happened later, that may be a pun to be avoided. Musa was back on path clearing duty and Assine did a marvellous job. Jelena started work on clearing the litter from the pavement and inside the grounds then joined Abim on cutting back some more of the shrubs. Yasin soon got busy cutting the bits of holly and ivy that had protruded through the fence to the pavement with Ehsan getting busy with the secateurs and broom. Although a late arrival Assine was brilliant at moving the mountain of cuttings, with Amir taking charge of the barrow. So that just left Gill who really should have stuck to her weeding and raking. Unfortunately she decided to help out with the secateurs and inadvertently cut into a large wasp nest. And boy were those wasps resentful of the intrusion - not content with attacking Gill, they started on Ehsan and Jelena too. But it was Gill who took the brunt of their ire. The rest of the group became a SWAT team, doing their best to swat the wasps off their companions. By the time the task ended, despite her hubby bringing antihistamine tablets and cream before taking the rubbish to the tip, it was clear that she and Ehsan weren’t too well. After driving home Gill was then treated to another Bank Holiday outing - by ambulance to the hospital to be treated for anaphylactic shock!!! Despite the drama, our team of Busy Bees did an amazing job of clearing and tidying, and once the vicar has got someone to exterminate the wasps, this will again be a lovely space for community use.

It was a nice morning for GoodGymers from Luton to be back at All Saints' Church, and this time Fr David had asked us to sort out an area at the side of the church that had become overgrown and unsightly. Gill and Musa arrived on the scene together and met new Goodgymer Anthony who was keen to get stuck in. Initially the task looked quite challenging but they soon got stuck in with the strimmers and loppers. Fearing that they might not achieve as much as they hoped, Gill put out a request on WhatsApp for help from GoodGym Friends. First Amir and Ashkan joined the battle against the weeds, and then before long several of their friends swelled the ranks until there were about 12 of us, including some other newbies, Shahin and Amirarsalan. It was good task, we soon had the weeds cut right back and started pruning some of the overgrown bushes. Anthony, Amir and Musa managed to unearth a good section of the path, and one or two of the newer guys discovered the delights of the British stinging nettle. We are looking forward to going back some time soon so that we can excavate the rest of the path and get the pile of cuttings taken to the tip.