Taking a Crack at the Playground Repair

After helping to clean up the children’s playground in the morning, I offered to return in the afternoon to help Warwick repair some vandalism to the tarmac.

In the heat, we gathered the equipment and mixed the ingredients together — rather like making a very heavy cake — before filling the hole and smoothing it over. Neither of us was completely sure of the perfect technique, but hopefully we have done enough to make it safe and durable for the children when the playground reopens.

A satisfying bit of teamwork, although it would be even better if parents could help keep an eye out and prevent this sort of damage happening again.

Hot work in the playground at Stephens House and Gardens. Volunteer Friday.

Stephens House and Gardens was closed for a big event on Friday morning, which gave the volunteers full access to the playground and a great opportunity to tidy it up.

My first job was clearing fallen cypress needles from the paths, before shovelling the scattered sand back into the sandpit. Sadly, we also discovered some vandalism to the playground tarmac, which will cost the Trust money and take a lot of volunteer effort to repair.

It was a very hot morning at around 25°C, but the team worked hard and got plenty done.

You can help keep this wonderful park open by volunteering, visiting the café or hiring one of the rooms at Stephens House. Every bit of support makes a difference.

GoodGym Barnet helped out at the regular Friday gardening session at Stephens House & Gardens, working with Julian between 10am and 12pm.

Arriving at 10am sharp, Julian and I got stuck into tackling brambles in various locations around the park. These were deep-rooted and determined, with their usual talent for spreading far and wide if left unchecked. The work was so tough that my spade actually bent while trying to dig out the roots!

As always, it was a pleasure to be in such a magnificent park, with bumblebees buzzing around and lovely conversations with park users interrupting the hard graft in the best possible way.

At 12 o’clock we downed tools and headed to the Bothy Garden for a well-earned social tea and biscuits.

This is a regular volunteering session supporting Stephens House & Gardens. You can also support the house by using the café, renting rooms within the house, or getting involved as a volunteer.

Come and check it out if you’ve never been — it really is one of Barnet’s special places.

At the Stephens House & Gardens we assisted with the installation of a new accessible bench located between the raised gardens and the main lawn area.

The task involved carefully lifting, moving, and positioning a heavy bench into its designated location. Due to the weight of the bench, volunteers worked together to ensure the move was completed safely and efficiently. Appropriate care was taken throughout the process, with volunteers wearing suitable footwear and using safe lifting techniques.

The installation was completed successfully within a short period of time. The new bench will provide improved accessibility, comfort, and seating opportunities for visitors to Stephens House & Gardens, particularly for those who may benefit from accessible resting spaces within the gardens.

The activity demonstrated positive teamwork and community spirit while supporting the ongoing improvements made by the Friends group to maintain and enhance this valued local green space.

Despite the wild weather - on-off rain, sun, storms, gales - six sturdy Goodgymmers made it to tonight's mission. It was damp, but we were undeterred, and gathered at the Phoenix for our warm up - Beattie and Rachel first to arrive as usual, before hot-footing it to Stephens House. Sheela took our opening photographs, while Richard promised to do a better job of backmarking than recent reports suggest an unnamed individual delivered.

On site we were met by Theodore and our inimitable host, Helen, who laid out the task. 100m of fencing, with overgrowth poking through. How much could we clear in the next 45min? Well, we got stuck in secateurs and loppers, tearing and cutting, until, boom! We did about a quarter of the lengthy job, well above expectations and well worked out!

After a quick tidy up, we dragged the sacks of green waste to the north gate and set off back to the Phoenix for a celebratory pot of popcorn and chat, where Theo kindly gave us a demo of his (too small for him, but too-large for most of us!) barefoot running shoes.

Great work, though we'll undoubtedly need to go back and finish the job, hopefully before the summer growth hides our great work.

Soussi abdellah went on his first GoodGym community mission helping the Friends group at Stephens House and Gardens.

I arrived at the session and was warmly welcomed by one of the volunteers, who introduced me to the others, including Noah and Catherine.

We then went into the garden and spent the morning removing weeds from under the trees, working until around midday. After we finished, they kindly invited me to join them for a cup of tea. I stayed for a short while before heading back for lunch.

It was a really enjoyable and rewarding morning. It felt good to do something useful, and the setting itself is beautiful, historic, and a lovely place to spend time.

Photo of the wonderful wisteria on the turret at the café