A small but single-minded crew

It was a small group of us who gathered for tonight's run. A dedicated group, mind, keen to get to nearby Parkview Estate ASAP to help task owners Catherine and Ros get some urgent potting and watering completed.

So we took a gentle run around the corner to this wonderful estate, that sits on the edges of gorgeous Victoria Park, where Catherine was waiting and well prepped, the garden already a flurry of activity (she'd been toiling in the Bank Holiday heat since 7am…).

Pot In The City

Teams were speedily formed: two teams hit the ground running, and began potting lavender, geraniums and strawberry plants in the Community Food Garden, working at lightning speed blitzing boxes and boxes of these small plants. Annie formed a Compost Crew of one, shuttling back and forth with Catherine to fill barrow after barrow with compost, greeted with absolute delight by the runners each time a new arrival of soil appeared, "Earth! The earth's arrived!"

Meanwhile, Alice and new runner Rebecca formed the New-Tree Watering Squad, heading around the corner with multiple watering cans and wheelbarrow, to be joined by fellow task owner, Ros, and proceeded to thoroughly hydrate the new young trees we’d previously helped plant.

Upon completion of the task, Rebecca and Alice then moved onto leafleting. Well, I say leafleting – this task actually consisted of posting small gifts of seeds for residents’ planters through post boxes, which appeared to be very well received. A surprisingly rewarding leafleting task, it has to be said! And then it was 8pm and we had a last minute bit of frenzied potting as the runners determinedly finished all trays of plants! Hurrah!

The edible estate

And Catherine and Ros were thrilled, explaining that it would have taken them weeks to accomplish this. What an amazing task. This small collection of residents are aiming to turn Parkview into an Edible Estate, along with bee friendly plants, and we are so, so pleased to be making just a small contribution to their work.

The fitness medley

And then it was off to the park, for our fitness fun. The runners achieved some fabulous speedwork, before moving onto the glute section of tonight’s fitness medley, then abs, and then some mobility and stretching work. They focused 100%, giving this tough little routine their all, which I think is a big deal, after working hard at their gardening task on a Bank Holiday Monday.

What another wonderful night. Thank you all.