On a midsummer evening, a mission newbie and mission vet gave R a miraculous garden makeover by weeding her flower beds and lawn, trimming a bush and sowing two types of seed

I was pleased to see Charlene again after we last met on a starter group run session over in Newham and, boy, has she come a long way with running since then! It was also her first mission tonight (give her a cheer for her new badge) and a pleasure to work together on R's garden.

R you local?

R has lived in her home as long as Charlene has been alive! In her mid 80s she finds herself less able to keep on top of garden maintenance. She was delighted to see us and was very excited about what we could achieve.

U-topiary

Charlene fancied an upper-body workout so took the shears and trimmed back the wild bush. We'd made sure to check in with R several times as we didn't want to take too much off but, at the end, she thought Charlene's topiary was a miracle!

Weed all about it

I had the less glamorous task of weeding the flower beds, lawn and paving slabs which were trip hazards and unsightly.

Thankfully the earth was soft and looked healthy and chocolatey once cleared and turned over.

Charlene joined in for the second half of the garden and it looked great.

Seed all about it

To finish off, R asked us to sow some poppy seeds in one flower bed and a "Clapton Collection" of seeds in another.

It's hour time to say farewell

WOW! What amazing impact we had in just an hour. We were against the clock to rejoin the Hackney Heroes back at the bakehouse to make sure Charlene reclaimed her bag and we timed it just right.

First mission in the bag, a happy host and we got back just in time for a stretch and to dash off before the brief downpour