Rake and it'll roll!
9 GoodGymers made their way to help their local community in York.
- Friday, 18th of January 2019
-
Led by
York runner
She/her
A group of us met with Kristina again from York City Council behind a block of garages in Acomb. To our delight she had brought lots of tools including brand new shears and extendable loppers. Our task was to clear the back corner of greenery and smaller branches and clear debris from the ground. We were joined by Aron who we haven't seen in a while now he's emigrated to Leeds. Great to see you again Aron!
Our group soon got stuck into our tasks with much snipping, lopping, sawing, dragging and sweeping. Egg was on ground clearing duty whilst several of us got attacked by some quite thick brambles that had grown right up into the trees.
They look like spikey cucumbers - I said.
I'm not coming to your house for salad! - Ed
Even though they had been cut they resisted as they were so tangled but Vicky was not to be deterred and managed to pull down some sizeable branches and brambles without actually hitting anybody on the head (I'm sure)! I came up with the great idea of pulling the huge pile of cuttings/spiky brambles onto the flattened bags so we could drag it across to the dumping place. Ed was not convinced however and was soon proved right as he just ended up with a bag in his hand and the pile still where it was! We then just pulled the big pile across - simples!
I showed Vicky the "rake and roll" technique I've used on previous GG tasks, where basically you use the rake to roll the big pile of weeds/brambles to where you need them to go. The rolling action helps to keep everything together to avoid bits getting left behind. Lizzie then got stuck in helping me roll the piles across, before most of us helped with sweeping the newly discovered slabs. The very wide brooms were very effective.
After an hour some of us had to leave so we had a quick group photo in front of the transformed area and then left the rest continuing to tidy up for the last 10 minutes before some of them went on to the next mission!
Report written by York runner
Discuss this report
Share the love
Join us on the next run
Painting garages in the Groves
Monday 18:15 - 20:00
Led by
Vicky Hearson
York CVS, Denham Room
Become a member
with an optional monthly donation
- Run, walk, or cycle to help older people
- Access sessions across the country
- Claim your GoodGym t-shirt
Need help with a community project?
If you're a community organisation and have a physical task then we'd like to help.
Request a task
Love the rake’n’roll
sign in to add a comment