Saturday 11th January 2020
Report written by Ian Gostling
Wall of honour
Let's have a recap
Starting off at Southwark Park we had 15runners at our Starter Session including 8 first timers, who ran 2.5km in total to the nearby Galleywall Nature Reserve. This tucked away community garden is looked after by local volunteers, and is home to a protected species of newt!
After a quick introduction and warm up, we arrived at Galleywall to meet Jane who directed us to the many tasks she had written down on individual instruction cards! Straight away one team began collecting rubbish and clearing up scrap metal, Leo and Victoria shoveled soil into wheelbarrows, a third team filled over 30 flowerpots of soil, while Helena and Martin collected and neatly stacked branches ready for firewood in the summer. But Alex and Niall had the best job of all clearing out the shed, sweeping the floor and scrubbing the toilets! In only 45 minutes, Galleywall was rejuvenated and ready for planting in the coming months.
FACT OF THE DAY Common garden snails have a top speed of 45 metres per hour, making the snail one of the slowest creatures on Earth.
Finally we thanked Jane for organising so many tasks for us, and headed back to the Lodge Space café via a quick loop through Southwark Park, and a quick sprint to finish.
Next week we will be running 8km on Wednesday evening, to help out at the Crisis store in Elephant & Castle.
See you there team!
The Galleywall Nature Reserve is a small plot of land which has been owned by Southwark Housing for decades. It was used by the adjacent Galleywall School for some time before the school closed. It has been maintained by a group of volunteers, the Friends of Galleywall Nature Reserve, since 2004, under an ongoing long-term agreement with the council.
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