4 Goodgymers met with a small group of Friends of Ray Mill Island (including four mini Friends) for some family friendly Island TLC.

The main job of the day was to widen the main path running in front of the playground and cafe. This involved digging away the earth at the edge of the path and transferring it by wheelbarrow to the compost area. At the compost area a couple of volunteers sifted through the soil to remove roots. The mini friends enjoyed looking for the worms and transporting them in the wheel barrow to a safer place.

The path team then moved some logs and branches to mark out the new edge.

There were lots of squirrels taking an interest in our work with one particularly curious squirrel who befriended Jen and one of the mini friends.

Viv and Sheila welcomed Cristina to her first community mission at Braywick Heath Plant Nurseries. Our task today was to go through the pots of perennials that are over-wintering in the glasshouse, removing any brown stems and foliage as well as any weeds and moss. After topping up some of the pots with fresh compost where required, we ended up with buckets full of old foliage and some much better-looking plants which should give them the best chance of taking off again in the spring. A satisfying task and it was lovely to meet Cristina