This was quite possibly my favourite task of all time. Why? Here's a list

• burning stuff
• demolition
• bashing things with a sledge hammer
• wildlife (including a very unphotogenic rat)
• power tools (electric saw)
• treasure (marbles and a sling shot)
• lovely people, all equally enthusiastic
• very grateful people at the orchard
• perfect weather

we hope to be back soon to do more burning... watch this space!

🥳 Oh, what a night, with so much to celebrate! It was our 6th birthday group run, Leanne's 1000th good deed and David did his 100th at the weekend too! Epic achievements all round 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️

🚂 Sadly my train was late but I understand that a stellar intro and warm up was completed in my absence and everyone was raring to go when I arrived 👍

🏃‍♀️🚶🚲 Debs led a walking group whilst Leanne led the run to West Bank Park and the rest of us cycled.

🌳 We were met by Kristina who had a list of tasks for 3 groups of varying size. She was determined not to let slip who was doing what before the groups were decided, though we did spot a couple of people swapping groups to be able to use mattocks 😆

🐸 This group were based at the new wildlife area and divided further into two groups. Half were mattocking around the new pond that we’ve been helping with. A particularly challenging task when the ground was frozen solid but hopefully the frogs will appreciate it when they arrive, hopefully in spring 🌱

🪚 The other half of this group were cutting back branches and dividing them into piles based on their size, using loppers and saws. Barbara did a great job of reminding people that the branches needed to be facing the same direction ➡️

🍂 The next group were the first to form, got disappointed with their allocated task, then got lost and finally, were hard to extract from it! They were clearing leaves around the orchard, which was admittedly slightly tricky to find (I also struggled). When I did manage to find them, they didn’t want to finish but once they’d tackled the final few piles of gathered leaves, they joined us for fitness 🍎

🌺 The leftover group became the finesse group who were chopping off verbena heads so that their seeds can be used, and then cutting the verbena plants back to exactly the right point. Tristan did a sterling job with the wheelbarrow, despite me sending him in the wrong direction at one point (sorry…) 🤔

💪 Once we’d gathered everyone together, it was time for a 6th birthday-themed cones of joy. We had 6 cones and did 60 seconds on each activity, before rotating onto the next. The “Dance” cone made a popular return, with various musical accompaniments (the Can Can and New York, New York, to name a couple) 💃🕺

🥶 Hopefully that did a good job of keeping everyone warm before a quick group photo 📸

🎂 We headed back to base on our various modes of transport, to be greeted by at least 4 different types of cake. Most of it was heading to the pub, with most of GG York, to be devoured with a drink and a chat 🍻

🙌 Thank you for a great evening everyone, looking forward to seeing you again soon (don’t forget to sign up to your next task here) 😁