Our first group session of 2026 saw us back at Little ARK and on such a chilly evening we were grateful for Syebvonne's warm welcome and a plentiful supply of hot drinks and Turkish delight. The evening's jobs included stuffing draught excluders, ironing on and cutting out labels, and screwing the legs onto a table. Chris and Erol also went beyond the call of duty to source a drill bit in order to attach coat hangers to a door. This creative space is looking better all the time. Well done everyone and especially to our first-timers Lina, Chris and Felicidade. We hope to see you again soon.

At the end of a long day when there's a need to move items to storage post-event, the "young and active" reputation makes it difficult to decline a request. With the real challenge of mentally juggling entry codes and padlocks it wasn't long before everything was successfully loaded into the storage unit. We even managed to squeeze in a quick, well-earned drink before cycling off into the night.

The Little ARK event was in full swing on arrival, with plenty of festive bustle and ad-hoc tasks to tackle. We stayed busy moving benches and shifting furniture nearby before transitioning into the final pack-down, where it was all hands needed for some heavy lifting. The perfect workout to wrap up the week, leaving the space tidy and ending the Christmas fair season.

It's not possible to resist a last-minute SOS to help with an event setup after hearing that a key member of the Little ARK team was sidelined with a back injury, and honestly, not wanting to miss out on a personal "hat trick" of workouts for the day it was only right to head down to The Vault to see what needed doing.

Turned out plenty of lifting was necessary as the first 10 minutes was hauling boxes and getting the display tables sorted, which was basically just high-stakes Tetris with stands of various sizes. Then a few moments of creative awe while rummaging through the beautiful wares.

This session marks a surprising milestone that crept up, so the only appropriate reward was, naturally, confirming the next job ;) - whoop!

A post party clean up which involved the big task of emptying the leftover mulled wine supplies back into their original bottles. This required steady hands, precision and zero distractions - we successfully transferred every last drop, ensuring nothing went to waste, a truly grape effort!

Aside from our decanting duties, we cleared tables, packed away equipment, swept the floor and generally restored the room to its pre-party space.

We provided extra hands to help worksop participants with their creations, offering support, trimming loose ends, and assisting with the tricky placement of decorative elements.

The wreaths made from repurposed fabrics are such a lovely item to make at this time of year, but we couldn't convince the mayor to get involved, instead settling for a photo.