This blustery morning greeted me with sunshine and the glorious company of the friends of the old Southampton cemetery. We picked up 5 bags leaves & grass and tipped them onto the compost with tremendous strength of the volunteers. I was amazed by the volunteers here who were incredibly inspirational, I will definitely be back.

We helped FoSoC move the grass cut into compost - managing a massive 13 tonne-bags!

What a relief to have a cooler day for today's task joining the Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery FoSOC on their monthly session. Lucy and I got stuck in with the regular volunteers tackling rampant brambles, clearing around some gravestones. We certainly didn't mind the odd shower although rain did stop play at 11.45 but we managed to fill plenty of large bags. They always offer refreshments at their hub in the old chapel which are most welcome when you are a tad damp.

This month's task focused on clearing overgrown graves and transporting bags of weeds to the chipper. Uncovering the graves long buried under vegetation really felt like discovering lost treasure - really enjoyable, and we had a lot of fun!

It was wonderful to welcome Sam to Goodgym this morning, his first session with us. The friends of the cemetery were pleased to have us join them and we soon got to work in helping them clear the brambles, rhododendron and holly away from the graves. The section we are working on will take about three years of clearing to remove these plants and allow the grass and wild flowers to take over. The section adjacent had been done and looked beautiful. It is hard work but good to be helping and revealing the gravestones. Hope you had a nice time Sam and hope you can attend another session soon!

Sam said: "Found the experience really good, full of friendly, chatty, and easygoing people All proper equipment available on-site Made a difference to at least 2+ graves, clearing away a lot of the dense foliage, so that they can be more appropriately laid to rest Thanks to Wilson and everyone involved. God bless"

Thanks Sam!

We had a great time, collecting cut grass for the Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery. Between collecting branches for the chipper and cut grass for compost, we were quite busy and had a well-deserved tea break afterwards. Ashleigh took an incredible photo of Tim, resting in the perfect spot.