Coming straight from marshaling at Lesnes Abbey junior parkrun we swapped our giant high-five foam hands for gardening gloves to join the monthly conservation session run by Marc from the Friends of Lesnes Abbey and Woods.

With a barrow-ful of loppers and saws we headed across the park and into the woods, picking up some odds and sods of litter as we went. (Just how did a broken mug handle end up there?!?)

If you know this area you'll know the only way is up, and it was a bracing uphill walk to a big patch of holly growing alongside the path.

Marc explained how invasive holly is, and how cutting it back encourages biodiversity as new plants, insects and other wildlife will move in to make the cleared area their home.

Although just five of us today, we got stuck in and you can see the transformation in the photos: Holly gone, and the cuttings piled up a short distance away, ready to be collected by the Park Ranger in due course.

As if to inspect our work, a robin appeared and flitted across the area, giving us the nod to say 'Nice work!' Then a bright green grasshopper came out and played around our feet. Sadly they were too quick for photos, so we humans took a few pics of ourselves and called it a day.

Until next month...

Sunday morning, 8.55am, and there's a buzz at Lesnes Abbey Woods that can only mean one thing... junior parkrun.

We joined the hi-viz team to cheer and marshal the young runners and parents around the three lap course. Some ran, some walked. I'm not sure who enjoyed the high fives more, them or us ✋.

Good fun all round, then we headed to the cafe to meet the Friends of Lesnes Abbey and Woods for their monthly conservation session.

What a fun (and busy!) afternoon helping out at the local Summer Festival!

Sarah and Johnny were amazing, keeping an eye on lots and lots of excited kids on one of the inflatables. It was full-on, but they handled it like total stars!

Lisa was a lifesaver at the drinks stall, helping to serve a never-ending queue of thirsty festival-goers. She kept things moving with a big smile and lots of energy!

We’re really proud to have supported such a great community event – and hopefully helped raise some money for the school too. 💪❤️