Chilly weather may have slowed down our plans a bit, but it didn't prevent a great number of volunteers from turning out and getting busy in the Esplanade Gardens and on Rochester Pier. We were delighted to welcome some new additions to our volunteer team, as well as a group from the Medway Volunteer Police Cadets. As usual, we divided into groups to tackle a few of the items on our to-do list.
Suffrage Sensory Garden
The Sensory Garden was looking a little frost-kissed, but generally in good health. To help keep it that way, our volunteers did a little weeding and put down some fresh bark mulch to keep the soil moist and discourage unwanted growth.
Read more about the Suffrage Sensory Garden
Litter Picking
The litter picking patrol, including the Police Cadets, managed to cover a considerable expanse of our territory, collecting a good deal of detritus from the Esplanade Gardens, Churchfields and as far along the river as the Medway Rowing Club's headquarters. As usual, there were some large and/or unusual objects to deal with, including parts of a pram, some roofing felt, and the remains of a flat-pack cupboard.
Find out more about our Litter Picking activities
Rochester Pier
We're eager to get on with repainting the metal structures of the pier, but February temperatures meant we needed to wait a bit longer to apply rust treatment and prepare the surfaces for painting. So instead, we went about investigating and scraping away rust on the interior roof structure. Here's hoping for some warmer weather for our March volunteer session!
We also finished off scraping the old paint from the railings at the end of the pier. We're now ready for these to be treated with mordant solution and given a coat or two of fresh black paint when Spring finally springs.
Read more about our Rochester Pier project
As always, we're really grateful to everyone who gave us a little of their time to make a difference to the cherished green spaces and historic landmarks we care for. If you'd like to get involved, you can find out about our upcoming volunteer sessions or read more about all of our projects.