A welcome return visit to see Chris at the Crisis Warehouse this evening, and as always he had just the job for us - after a quick H&S brief (how heavy is this bag?), it was into the warehouse for our intrepid gang of ten, which included first timers Ieva and Steve, and straight to work, as there were a lot of bags of clothes to be shifted, sorted, counted and repacked in the various cages, so as to make life much easier for both Chris and his delivery drivers when they come to transition the range in the Crisis shops on the high street from Summer to Winter wear.

With a rough plan drawn up (tallest to the front...try and avoid an avalanche of sacks), it was then a chain gang effort to get the mixture of bags from all the different shops across London out of the storage cage, sorted by location (Hackney, Camberwell, Elephant & Castle, Hackney, Streatham, Hackney, Kilburn...did I mention Hackney...), identified either by the colour of the cable tie at the top, or more helpfully where the shop had written the source on the label.

The second half then involved counting the number of bags for each shop, and returning them back into their respective correct cages, stacking Jenga style where required, ensuring labels were visible at all times. After an hour of pretty intense manual labour, and with blackened hands to show for our efforts, the final whistle was blown with all bags in their respective cages and the totals marked and taped above them. Yet again Chris awarded us the honour of "Best volunteers of the day", and after a quick tidy up, we ran back to Freaks and Geeks for some welcome, and well earned, refreshment.

Next week we're at the Emmanuel Church helping Sybil and her fellow volunteers to tidy up the garden, and there might just be some post match refreshments to enjoy too...

Mr M was honest enough to admit that when he'd first considered digging up the two "plants" in his front garden so that they could be moved a few months ago, they really were just "plants"...as opposed to the small trees they'd become now.

Armed with a great array of tools, most of which were needed as the ground was rock solid, we got to work on the living tree that he does want to replant in his back garden, and after a bit of judicious digging, cutting of a few roots and much brute force, it came loose and we had it bagged and moved.

The second tree, now sadly expired, but still needing to be removed, proved an easier task as the soil was a bit softer around its roots, and by now we were experts with the tools and the level of force that needed applying. Again after much pushing and pulling and cutting, the roots came loose and it lifted out ready for disposal.

We levelled the disturbed soil, brushed the pebbles back over, and you'd never know they'd even been there...