What a beautiful day for gardening it was and today in Victoria Park, it was time to turn our attention to the rose beds. We spent time tidying up the edges with long handled shears, collecting up the excess grass for re-cycling and gullying the edges to give the beds a lovely clean surround. The roses were thriving having been given a good mushroom compost covering. There were lots of mushrooms growing, and also edible, but they were well past their sell by date, so not recommended for eating now. After a very warm session, we went to the Cafe in the Park for a welcome drink in the shade feeling very pleased with how much had been accomplished.

Mel and I joined the regular weekly volunteer group in Victoria Park - planting out the last of the shrubs around the new Community hub.

And then we were treated to a Thank-You lunch for all the various volunteer groups linked to Portsmouth City Council. We had a delicious buffet prepared by the Hope Kitchen (part of Portsmouth City of Sanctuary) and met interesting volunteers who are involved with social history research of the Park; collecting oral history; putting out social media content... so many people giving their time to a wide range of volunteer projects.

Another great physical task with the Victoria Park volunteers!

We raked, shoveled and pitch-forked the fallen leaves, to give the grass a chance to regenerate.

Six people = quick work + great impact!

What a lovely way to spend a morning helping Santa at his grotto.

I talked to lots of excited children and their parents, took photos, restocked Santa supply of chocolates and helped children decide what pictures they wanted to colour in. I was informed that I'm a good elf because i wore green; the naughty ones on the shelf are always in red!

I also enjoyed a big slab of chocolate cake!

Lovely sunny morning planting trees on King George celebrating 150 years of the Salvation Army also 50 years of the Tree Council. All working together with lots of local community groups and volunteers to plant 156 metres of fruiting hedge. 1,200 saplings planted!

I was met by Angela at Southsea Library today where a Children in Need event was taking place whereby children could search for yellow stickers around the library with names on, and match them with a Pudsey Bear money box, donated by a local supplier, with a donation of £2 per child. Donations could also get you a hot drink and a cup cake or slice of Pudsey chocolate cake, made by Vanessa who was also helping at the event. The children could also colour in some Pudsey face Masks to take home, which was very popular. I saw Dr Jo with Freddie, and Rosie with Phoenix which was a lovely bonus. Pudsey wasn't available to visit, but was certainly there in spirit. It was a lovely and popular event, especially for a rainy day. Monies collected so far was over £30.00 and there is another opportunity tomorrow to get involved to raise as much money as possible.