On a brisk Monday evening, Area Activator Simon and Annikki run together to Caxton House Community Centre from Elizabeth House Food Hub near Blackstock Road, Islington. 2 miles covered on route, passing residential neighbourhoods and streets full of tasteful (and slightly more gaudy) Christmas lights!

Upon arrival, we made our way upstairs to meet Rose and Sue, the volunteer coordinators of the project. Our task this week was to continue painting the interiors of a new sewing and textiles room- hopefully accessible to visitors early 2022. Last week, we successfully laid down a base layer, and this week, Alison, Caitlin and Annikki applied the finishing touches and lined the edges with smaller, finer brushes. Very satisfying work!

In the main room, Steve and Emily, our resident master flat pack builders, continued their project of constructing 4 large moving cabinets for the community centre. After a difficult first attempt last time (locating fiddly bolts and attachments is always a challenge!), our duo did a smashing job building these from scratch!

We wrapped up our evening of activities after a solid 45 minutes of assistance, and set off into the night. AA Simon and Steve ran the approx 2 miles back to Elizabeth House together, using some of Steve's knowledge of local backstreets near Seven Sisters Road (a useful contact for efficient running in Islington!), and enjoyed some refreshments and pizza at the Bank of Friendship pub as part of our monthly social.

Great job everyone! We will be heading to Thornhill Square Gardens next week. See you then!