On the 4th and 5th of September a team of 20 volunteers from Virgin Money, RBS and residents from the Aldershot Foyer gave one of their homes a very special makeover.
And this is the diary of Averil from Virgin Money...
Day 1 - Tuesday 4th September 2007
5:00 – that was when my alarm first went off. After an extra 15 minutes ‘snoozing’, I felt that I had sufficiently boosted my energy reserves for the arduous two days that lay ahead of me.
It was a 06:40 set off from Norwich train station, where Frostie, Natalie, Karin and I fuelled our selves on a ‘hearty’ breakfast and bucket loads of Green Teas and Coffees. The journey from Norwich to London was a short pleasant ride where we contemplated the days ahead and discussed even more important topics. The likes of running with Nike+, iPods and Nooka watches!
08:40 we arrived at Liverpool Street and, as predicted to a mass of snaking queues for taxis and buses. We successfully caught a black cab after Natalie bombed down London Wall, looking like an Australian back packer desperate to get out of the hustle and bustle and into the security of public transport. Our train from Waterloo to Aldershot was short and sweet, and we were greeted at the station by Dominic and Adam of RBS.
Emmaus House, a towering three storey Victorian terrace which, from the outside, looked a tad tired and unloved and completely unaware of her impending transformation. Outside were stacks of cement and sand, hippo bags full of grassy soil and other items of shrubbery ‘turf-ed’ from the garden. The guys from RBS had already made a good job of turning the garden and were now concentrating on ripping out a large pine tree. With
an obvious look of glee and excitement, Steve readily donned his
man-of-the-hour hat and got stuck in with great aplomb.
Inside was a hive of productivity however, the rear garden hosted a familiar workhouse scene. Foyer residents frantically sanded kitchen chairs and the fencing around the patio.
Natalie and I proceeded to the front room to assess our work station for the next two days and immediately jumped into action. Only we could turn painting into a high intensity workout! Our time was spent in a constant state of hilarity as we, along with Paul and Chris (RBS) shared naughty jokes – (what kind of B produces milk?), ruthless peer jibing and hearty singing renditions, that would put the most enthusiastic X-Factor
contestant to utter shame!
This was the tempo throughout the day, there was no man nor mouse in the house, who did not sand and scrape, wash and scrub, lift and drag, huff and puff, rotivate and whack some area of the site, in aid of improving the quality of living for the young residents of Emmaus House.
The first day ended with an air of smug confidence, that we had all worked our little socks off and by heck, did we all deserve an ice cold aperitif to quench our thirsts!
Day 2 - Wednesday 5th September 2007
Today I did not wake with the same air of grace and vitality, instead nursing my aching limbs from the day before. I soon erased the pains with a hot shower and a cooked breakfast of poached eggs, toast and baked beans and, once again, copious amounts of green tea!
We arrived at Emmaus House thankful that we had worked so hard the previous day, moral was still extraordinarily high and work commenced without any dilly-dallying. In the lounge, upstairs bedroom and rear garden, all that remained were the second coats on all walls and ceilings - so on we cracked.
Due to our vigorous painting antics, there was much to be said about the Jackson Pollock recreations adorning the laminate floor – thank goodness Chris brought some heavy duty cleaning solution with him that morning!
Unfortunately, he neglected to warn us of its industrial strength and, the fact that if need be, this stuff could strip the Titanic of its barnacles!
This notion was made more apparent when Michelle, the Project Manager, knees became ablaze and the foam knee pads she had been wearing as protection, melted away beneath her - along with the skin. Needless to say, we made Chris finish the job!
Outside was a different story. The testosterone laden atmosphere had enough material to make a half decent Diet Coke advert. The guys started the morning painting the front of the house and had even been charmed, if not fooled, into painting the rather attractive lady neighbours window sill and garden wall. By mid morning they were ready to mount the first pave after several pedantic and meticulous attempts. One of the residents blasted ‘ride the riddim’ tunes from his room and the gang effortlessly finished the patio to ‘50 Cent’ and ‘Kanye West’
18:00 – Finished, exhausted and filled with delight at what we, as a group had achieved together. It was such a pleasure to have met so many lovely characters, who each in their own way put their stamp on some part of the residency. The real joy of course comes from seeing the happy faces amongst the residents, who for a few hours over a couple of days didn’t have to worry about anything more than enjoying themselves and, hopefully rested in the thought that there are some genuine people out there that care.