Little Hoole and Friends Ground Force

23/10/2026

🌬️🌬️🌬️💨💨💨🍃🍃🍃🌪️🌪️🌪️🌪️☂️☂️☂️

Ground Force - Sunday 25th Postponed

The weather expected will not be suitable for what we need to get done and we have not been able to prepare the site for deliveries.

Watch this space for the new date.

Little Hoole Primary School
Little Hoole and Friends Ground Force

19/10/2026

A fantastic new planter has appeared onsite, built by Joseph Vamplew in Y6 on the last ground force day.

Hasn't he done a great job. 👏👏💪💪🛠️🧑‍🔧

Working with the Ground Force he used wood kindly donated by Isla Wignall's Family to complete a project for Y1 to add more planting space in their outside area.

They are planning to fill it with Tulip bulbs this week so watch out for them growing and bringing a burst of Colour to the site.

It would not be a ground force project without a little whimsy, we had saved a ruler from the skip and it needed a use. So added a little bit of storage underneath and the ruler as a handle.

There is plenty of room for more planters and I know Joseph is itching to make some more.

If you have some chunky wood that would make great planters we can deliver to Joseph please reach out.

Also, we are looking for local children from the school or community who have a skill or craft they could use to help us, we are currently needing someone to make plaques and Ground Force logos to put on projects.

Next Ground Force day on Sunday 25th, 8-2 drop by if you fancy a look around.

Little Hoole Primary School
Little Hoole and Friends Ground Force
Catharine Vamplew

15/10/2026

25th October, 8-2, Ground Force Day

A big woodland push, come for 20 mins, come for the day it's up to you. We would greatly appreciate your support.

Bring the kids along, if they are not helping they will be playing.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Little Hoole Primary School
Little Hoole and Friends Ground Force

13/10/2026

Just an update as we have been quiet on here -

We are planning, ordering and ramping up planning for the next ground force day on the 25th October 8-2pm.

We will be in the woodlands, a big push, the paths finished, campsite laid, fences built and canopy hoisted.

We are also creating new items to arrive over half term so watch out for new storage, planters and areas to play in.

We hope your children have been enjoying the spaces and areas we have created. We walk the woodlands daily to see how the children are using the space so we can develop it with them in mind. There are always new dens and areas being created. After the next Ground Force the surfaces will enable use through the winter months too.

As always we appreciate your support.

If you wish to donate to the ground force to pay for their biscuits on the 25th you can do here -
https://pay.collctiv.com/little-hoole-and-friends-ground-force-47071

Little Hoole Primary School
Little Hoole and Friends Ground Force

08/10/2026

🚲🚲🚲Looking for Balance Bikes 🚲 🚲 🚲

In the half term the ground force will be installing a bike shed on the reception playground, it will improve access and storage, save the teachers bumping their heads getting them out of the playhouse and allow the children to get moving quicker.

I was fixing the washing line today and observed the kids joy playing with the bikes but there is not enough to go around. I am hoping the ground force can surprise them with a few more in the shed after half term.

If you have one you can donate please let us know.

🚲🚲

27/09/2026

27/09/2026

Two ground force days in a month, think there wouldnt be much to do you would be wrong.

From taking away the cut grass and overgrowth of plants from the pond area

To weeding, weeding and more weeding in the flowerbeds and allotment.

We were joined by familiar and new faces,

The Nelson family, James Nelson, Isla and Harvey all mucked in, from weeding to planting. Adding more willow features and planting fig trees. Jim kindly drilled a hole for the drop catch on the reception gate and Isla relocated a frog back to the pond area she found in the Allotment.

Carol a Y2 child's grandparent joined us to talk about the equipment she has that could help us move the masses of Mulch and Bark we have coming in the near future. We are very grateful for this support and I am sure our backs will be very grateful too.

Jane, Buddy and Elma joined us to help with weeding and willow features. The children had a great time playing all day while we all had chance to have a catch up and a good chat while we work.

Azekiel one of this year's Reception children joined us with his parents Paul and Laura, Their first Ground Force day, getting stuck into the allotment beds. Azekiel was a superstar, pulling round the cart to collect the weeds and take them to be composted, picked some lovely flowers for his mum. Speaking of Laura, she also found a frog and relocated it to the pond area, first time holding a 🐸. Never a boring day at ground force.

The Vamplews joined us for the first time too, Joseph from Y6 built a planter for us which will be taking pride of place near the Y1 door once painted as they want to expand their planting this year. Joseph will be taking on more projects as the year progresses. Catharine Vamplew got stuck into the flowerbeds to remove the weeds while putting the world to rights with me.

Julia from Hummingbird.Holistics popped by take a look at what we are doing. Hummingbird Holistics is a local business who was exploring whether their was opportunities to work together in the future.

Also a special mention to Jack Purvis's family who earlier this week donated bird feed for our new feeders and a big box of biscuits to fuel us. I would like to say we all got some but I think the kids had most of them!

🫛🪴🌻

Maintaining our projects and clearing up areas which support the school and the children's learning is core to the Ground Force and just as important as new areas and projects.

From the hard work last week by David Eastham and Katy-Leigh Eastham in the woods to all the hard work put in today doing grounds maintenance, the effort is paying off and we are creating great spaces for the school, children and community.

Thank you to everyone, who gives time, support, advice, thanks and well wishes your support is appreciated.

Next Ground Force date for October TBC, keep an eye on this page, we will be back in the woods again moving the project towards completion.

📨 If you want to get in touch, send us a message on Fbook or via our email address - [email protected]

🦾 If you wish to donate you can do here - https://pay.collctiv.com/little-hoole-and-friends-ground-force-47071

Little Hoole Primary School
Little Hoole and Friends Ground Force

26/09/2026

Ground Force Sunday 27th

The weather is looking ropey BUT we will still be there from 8am till 2pm

We will be breaking for Dinner at 12 so please feel free to bring a packed lunch if you will be stopping. There will be some snacks and drinks and access to the loos.

It's a maintenance day so jobs will include -

Pond Tidy
Flowerbeds Weeded
Allotment weeded and plants salvaged
Branches to move around and compost to be moved

General Tidy and some areas need power washing if anyone is up for it.

Joseph (Y6) will be joining us to build a planter for outside Y1.

You can park on the school Carpark and you can find us on the junior playground, access will be round the left hand side of the school. Ask for James.

Children are welcome to bring their bikes and scooters.

Little Hoole Primary School
Little Hoole and Friends Ground Force

24/09/2026

Continuing our look back on the projects we have worked on. This time it's the sensory wildflowers.

Not only does it lift the look of an overgrown area, but encourages children to touch, smell and feel different plants.

It also does wonders for the ecology and biodiversity of the site and community.

Built by the Ground Force, funded by Much Hoole Parish Council

20/09/2026

Ground Force Day 20th Sept - Woodland Progress 🪾🌱💪

Sun was out, the spirits were high and it was a day to make real progress. Back in the woodlands and we made huge strides today. We finally cleared the Mulch Pile kindly donated by Dodd Tree Contractors. We are over half way through the woodland paths, another load for the paths and one for the campsite and it will be covered. We will be sourcing this in the coming weeks.

Katy-Leigh Eastham was in her element finally getting to start adding some creative elements, from signage and arrows through the woodlands from Muddy Faces, Woodland craft tables and dens. All made possible by the support and funding from Much Hoole Parish Council.

David Eastham worked hard on shoring up the fences we built last time as they have started to be used as a supply of branches for the children's pretend campfires. The children using the area are the best user testers of durability and function. Thank you to Donna Carling for her donation of branches to help us to continue building fences.

Manda Gibson Arnie and Alby worked like troopers, hauling piles of logs donated by Stuart and Suzanne Richards from the other side of the site, moving all the Den Building branches and various piles of vegetation. They will feel that tomorrow 💪, we greatly appreciate them coming along to support us.

The Woodland evolution continues and the children will again find new areas and activities to explore, we have added a den building area with plenty of loose parts from branches and logs, to tyres and tarps. We look forward to seeing what they make with these resources.

They will also find den areas that we found they had created and we have upgraded them with seating, woodland craft tables and the ground cleared.

Dave brought his Bug Hotel Tower, we had hoped to fill it out with tubes filled with sticks and other woodland goodies but we will do that in a week where more children are there. For now it will be a work in progress project.

Also newly installed is the start of a living willow pod where the old mulch pile was, again James Nelson and family who have supported many of the projects donated a large quantity of willow cuttings which have been planted ready for over winter rooting. This is a long term project which will develop as the willow is woven. The left over willow will be used to plant a living willow tunnel in the woodlands and for some other projects on site.

Over the coming weeks we have some big statement items arriving to start the campsite so watch this space.

We also spent some time today removing some items which had succumbed to the mighty ivy, which in places was over an inch thick. It's not enough for the space to look great, it needs to be safe so spending the time removing sticking out branches or potential future issues is time well spent.

Finally, we also spent our last 10 mins installing some bird feeders, bringing in wildlife for the children to observe only adds to the site, we have ensured the feeder contents are nut free as Little Hoole is a nut free school.

We are back on site on the 27th from 8-2, we will be in maintenance and small project mode. From weeding, to power washing and some painting. The upkeep of our projects and improvements to the school site are just as important to us big projects.

Please come and join us, for 20 mins to a few hours, it's all appreciated. Even if you cannot take on a project and just want to see what we have been doing, come and talk to us.

If you want to get in touch, use messenger or the number on the pinned post to send a WhatsApp.

If you want to donate to buy us a pack of biscuits for our Ground Force days or help us fund the projects which are not funded please consider donating to our collectiv account -

https://pay.collctiv.com/little-hoole-and-friends-ground-force-47071

Thank you for your continued support in improving the school grounds for our children

Little Hoole and Friends Ground Force
Little Hoole Primary School