It was windy, it was rainy, it was a slightly longer run than usual…But that didn’t deter an 8-strong team showing up for today’s task, heading just over 2.5km to Bermondsey to help the Thames Reach team tidy up a residential outdoor space.

Why were we doing this?

Thames Reach is a London charity working with those affected by homelessness, offering a range of support from outreach services and accommodation to employment training.

Joel and Elvis head up one of the residential locations in Bermondsey, whose garden needed a bit of TLC in time for the summer.

It’s all about the map reading

After a couple of dynamic stretches at the FGS base, we made our through the streets of Southwark and Bermondsey, led and expertly navigated by Matt.

Stopping only for a brief rest, we arrived at our location nice and early to be greeted by Joel and Elvis handing out all the equipment needed to get the job done.

What’s not a weed?

Trowels were gathered, gloves donned, strimmers powered up…It was all go.

The area at the front of the accommodation was, no joke, pretty much all weeds, along with some tough roots. But the team did good, identifying weeds from the odd shrub, tackling tough roots and avoiding stones.

The weed pile grew, the compost bin overflowed, but still they kept going.

Residents popped out to say hello and we discussed the art of good gardening; a rubbish bag was added for a last minute litter-pick, while the extensive sweeping up was merely a finale.

In terms of before and after pics, this was a good gig.

Before we knew it, it was after 12, and we were returning kit to the shed and saying cheerio to the team.

The run back to base was marginally tougher going due to the 75 minutes our arms and legs had endured in the gardening bonanza, but nonetheless it was fun, companionable and a fitting end to a terrific morning.