On a sweltering August day, a cohort from the M3 Junction 9 Project made up of VolkerFitzpatrick, Balfour Beatty, and National Highways travelled to Bassy’s Barn, a family-owned petting farm for children with special needs.

At the moment, the farm’s roster consists of horses, ponies, goats, pigs, dogs, and an alpaca, but thanks to the efforts on Wednesday they will soon be adding ducks.

We started the day by laying the waterproof foundations for a new pond on the farm, discovering quickly that although there were a lot of us, everyone played an important role and eventually we had the waterproof sheet in place.

From here, we split into two groups with one group focusing on repairing the roof panels of the stable for the horses while the other group repaired and improved fencing around the farm.

The advantage of having a group made of people in construction was critical during the repairs of the stable roof, and the team went above and beyond and patched a hole in the wall too, giving the horses a lovely, draft-and-water-free home as Autumn and Winter approaches.

The group tasked with the fences got to work and, using an auger and post cement to ensure the fenceposts would remain steadfast, extended one of the fences and allowed the farm to install a gate at one end, giving the horses a bit more room while still ensuring the farm did not sacrifice too much space.

For lunch, the owners of Bassy’s Barn generously prepared sausages and burgers for the team, giving us a lovely break before work continued into the afternoon.