The Fratton Together Lantern Parade brought the usual chaos, creativity and carnival vibes this year!

After attaching lights and sticks to the lanterns, we prepared ourselves for the tidal wave of local residents arriving to claim their makes for the parade. As usual, the best laid plans for lantern distribution went awry, but we were able to reunite most lanterns with their makers ahead of the parade.

We enjoyed the samba beats of batala as we paraded through Fratton. Dave found a creative way to get around his lantern not having a stick - check out the photos! Whilst carrying some larger lanterns, we were able to marshal the parade safely from start to finish. After enjoying our complimentary cups of tea, we did an extra bit of GoodGyming, carrying lanterns that were too big for cars and vans back to the Pantry.

We hit the bushes of Bevois Valley last night for a community litter pick. There were plenty of cans, bottles and plastic cups for us to pick. Sarah noticed lots of little glass bottles of Magnum Tonic Wine, this is a Jamaican alcoholic drink that claims to boost energy and, well… let’s just say vitality. Might explain why we found some other less savory items on our pick 😬

We filled 5 bin bags and got the thumbs up from a local taxi driver - it was a satisfying tidy up!

It’s that time of year again already!! We started Rose Road getting ready for their Christmas fair and were very busy elves packing gift bags from Santa. We got them packed very quickly and then had to do some rearranging to make sure there were the right mix of goodies in the final bags. We then had enough time to sort through the Christmas decorations and remove any broken ones and untangle the Christmas lights! And finally we sorted through items to be sold at Winchester Christmas markets by the fundraising team. As always we had lots of fun and are excited for the festivities next month when we will be back to support at the Christmas fair.

I met Mrs D mother at the door and she introduced me to Mrs D’s husband as they required some support to prepare the spare bedroom for Mrs D to return from hospital. It was a big task so we all set to work sorting through items that needed to be moved to different rooms or for the rubbish pile. The time flew by so after making sure the hall was clear so all rooms could be accessed it was time for me to leave. The family kindly donated some surplus bags for life for our litter picking sessions as they had more than they needed.