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.

Coming soon....