We visit the Community Hospice once a month to support their head gardener, Jason, with gardening and general maintenance in the beautiful grounds. Today we were also joined by Denise, one of Jason’s dedicated midweek gardening volunteers.

After collecting tools from the shed, we got to work digging, planting and watering to settle five peony plants into their new home. With luck they'll bloom later in the year so we can enjoy the results of our work.

We moved on to some weeding, gently picking out the unloved plants without disturbing the soil too much.

Then we grabbed saws, loppers and secateurs to take out rampant lilac bushes and brambles in an area being prepared for future planting.

Before we knew it, our time was up. We returned the tools to the shed with the feeling of a great workout and an even better sense of achievement.

If you can spare a couple of hours on the fourth Saturday of the month, come and join us for an active session in great company. You’ll be helping to make a real difference while supporting a fantastic local charity.

Another sorting session at the Community Hospice shop in Welling, and today’s turnout was Ivar and Ann. 3 hours spent in the seemingly endless piles of donated items, and we dug out a few trinkets. A single baby Yoda slipper, a Christmas tree tie and a pink cowboy hat among the nice surprises, and less said about the (stained) bad surprises the better. An impressive amount of things went from the unsorted to the sorted pile during our time there, all cheered on by some enthusiastic pigeons bringing the noise from above! Until next (or nest) time, pigeons!

We have regular sessions sorting donations at the Community Hospice warehouse, and they're always a voyage of discovery - we never quite know what we''ll across in all those black bags. And, while we tackle the bags at random, there are often themes to what we find.

This morning's finds? Lots of cuddly soft toys, a magical mix of Disney and Harry Potter clothing and books 🪄, and a fine range of baseball caps 🧢. Plus a belt with (almost) the GG logo as its shiny gold buckle!

It's a fun way to spend a few hours, with plenty of chat, and a tasty selection of biscuits to go with hots drinks when we take a break.

Huge thanks to the lovely warehouse team, James and Andrew, for having us along and patiently helping us decide what's suitable to sell and what has to go to 'rags'. The Community Hospice is such a wonderful local charity and we love lending a hand.

Why not come along and join us at our next session? No experience needed, just curiosity, and enthusiasm! Who knows what you might discover...✨

Just two of us today - Ivar was doing his first hospice clothing mission.

Pretty unremarkable donations; though again we had lots of shoes… I personally had some glass slippers which some lucky shopper will no doubt snap up.

Ivar’s discovery of a massive kilt was a surprise - it nearly got put in the blankets. Typically Scotsmen did use their kilts as blankets when travelling.

Masses of winter clothes today, so that’s good. Not so much in the way of coats, maybe they’re due to arrive next week. It’s odd how donation types go in waves.

A good productive morning with lots of chat too.