On a freezing morning, the hole digging soon made us warm. Each fruit Bush needed a hole loads bigger than the pot it was in because the ground underneath had not been disturbed ever before and so it was solid rock and clay. Those poor roots needed all the help we could give them! Then we moved on to straightening up and strengthening the fencing protecting it all. Many thanks to Nick and Harriet - we made a good team alongside Caitlin and her other helpers.

This morning we had the pleasure of joining Abbey People to plant fruit bushes and trees in Abbey ward as part of a project that aims to improve the environment and safety near a local school in the community. There were blackberry, red current and gooseberry bushes, and even an apple tree. We look forward to seeing them flourish.

As well as doing some hard graft, we learned lots about how to successfully establish trees from Abbey People's Emma and Caitlin, and tree experts Kenny and Ed.

We'll be helping plant more trees in the new year, so look out for future community missions!

Thanks to our 5 hard working Good-gymmers, we raced through the main tasks of planting the new shrubs and watering them in. Jennie was then very happy to have us on hand to dig the edges of the beds to redefine them clearly; weed out the rampant marjoram and give the wicker circle a massive haircut to neaten it up for winter. If anyone would like to join Jennie and her regular volunteers she would be very happy to hear from them. The land had been re-purposed from the old bowling green and is used daily by staff, and families of visitors at Addenbrookes as a place of quiet contemplation and calm or for the children to run and play safely. Jennie's enthusiasm and dedication is amazing!