On Friday 5 June 2009, 13 volunteers from BDB joined 4,000 volunteers across the country to participate in the Business in the Community, National Give and Gain Day. Our task was to restructure a vegetable patch at Twyford C of E High School in Acton, West London.
We met at 8.30am and collected our tools and gardening gloves straight away so that we could get stuck into it. We split into groups with some concentrating on the vegetable patch, some on weeding the driveway and planters around the classroom and others went to work on a ridiculously large pile of top soil and weeds that needed to be moved.
Under the direction of the school caretaker we worked throughout the morning drizzle and managed to successfully weed the vegetable patch, driveway and planters, move the top soil and plant a selection of vegetable seeds all by lunchtime! After lunch we returned for the afternoon to fill four large, empty planter boxes that will make up the boundaries of the outdoor seating area for the students café. We also planted a selection of plants purchased by the firm in the boxes.
We all had an enjoyable day and everyone felt a great sense of achievement once we were done… that and sheer exhaustion! The firm raised £220 from the dress down day and this will contribute towards the timber, shingle, top soil and plants that we used on the day.