Solid workout and well done for persevering to remove as much of the wall frames as possible! 💪

The Plastic Shed refurb of 2026 has kicked off this week, with the previous shelving space used by Shuropody needing to be dismantled and removed to install murals, actual shelving, and other arty paraphernalia.

With a wide array of screwdrivers 🪛 drills, GoodGym elbow grease, and a handy crowbar, we managed to remove as much as possible, with some clinging on as a future problem. At times it felt like a rage room, with banging and drilling filling the air along with the resulting dust.

With the health and safety book firmly out of reach, the Treatment Room 2 upstairs is now filled with wall panels, wood planks (some with screws still attached...), and after some scraping and sanding from Sophie, Caitlin seemed happy with the progress made.

Top effort and teamwork from Hazel, Mandy, Fanette, Tanoshi, Sophie, and Ben!

Welcome to David for your first GoodGym task!

After a ~4 km run along the canal from the city centre for Peter and Ben, we collected the key from Gorse Hill Studios and met with Katie to see what seeds could be planted out. They had some potted up and boxes of seeds so we took what was ready and able to be planted outside in late March and met up with David in the allotment.

With 2 project managers and a biochemist, we set to work. Weeds were pulled, tarpaulin was pulled up, and we managed to make another 3 or 4 new beds ready for the volunteers in the studios to plant things out of the coming months. We planted some lettuce and rocket in the salad beds, planted carrots, onions, peas, and broad beans from last year, with space made for footpaths and the future potential shed to go in. We shifted bags of compost and emptied some out.

All in all, a productive session and we hope to be back before too long to help with planting, maintenance/weeding, and shed building. All things GoodGymers are specialists in.

Tanoshi and Ben joined in with the Great British Spring Clean with a few groups in Ardwick. Co-organised by Ardwick Climate Action, Brunswick Parish Church, M13 Youth group, and the local Scouts, around 30 people took part to help clear up in the local area.

We were split up into groups, with some tackling a green space closer to Plymouth Grove, while we joined a group to tackle a spot beyond Ardwick Green. We were provided with gloves, litter pickers of different sizes, and plenty of bags.

In our group, we managed to collect ~26 bags in total, including a couple that were combined, plus a toilet seat (of course) and a few laughing gas cannisters. In total, we collected 65 bags of litter, tidying up the local area and all reported to Keep Manchester Tidy for collection.

Afterwards, we were treated to a warm soup lunch and plenty of sweet treats and cake, a just reward for a couple of hours of hard work.

Three GoodGymers grabbed their gloves, litterpickers, and refuse sacks to take part in the Great British Spring Clean 2026. Stefanie, Sam, and Ben ran the short way towards Hulme to tackle any litter and discarded waste.

The empty and unused warehouse was our first port of call, with a quick clear up on the perimeter, with council notices evident on the gates. More bottles, cans, laughing gas cannisters, coffee cups, takeaway waste, and a Coronation St DVD lay around the corner, with a few bottles (broken or otherwise) too. After crossing the bridge, we struck upon the aftermath of a small party, with Budweiser can strewn across the grass with the odd Stella can thrown in too. There was also a toy globe that was broken and split (possibly a subtle metaphor...) and another more grown-up toy hiding in the bushes too.

Overall, we collected 7 refuse sacks plus 3 cannisters. All reported to Keep MCR Tidy for collection soon.

Welcome to Denisa for your first GoodGym outing!

Today we were in Peel Park Salford to help with some gardening and park maintenance alongside a few other local volunteers.

With litter at a minimum, we focused on weeding and clearing some dead plants from one of the beds before filling in bare sections with fresh mulch. Bit by bit, the grass and weeds were removed while someone waiting on a train spent their time trimming a lavender bush that was past its best.

A combination of wheelbarrows and dragging tonne bags to the site made sure the bed was looking much tidier and hopefully healthier for the plants that were still there.

Good session, with several Peel Park parkrun runners/volunteers in attendance, and a nice morning for it too. The next session is on 19th April.

Robert, Sam, and Ben met up for our winter monthly foodbank run to donate tins, cans, and other non-perishables to Manchester South-Central. With the Easter holidays around the corner, they are always in need for additional items.

With Rob having recently moved and Sam returning from a trip to South America, they picked the smart option to run to ASDA (the drop-off point) to buy items to donate. Ben on the other hand was laden with lots of tins, cans, rice, and UHT milk partially from home and some donated from a recent GoodGym mission. We managed to donate lots of tinned veg, pasta sauce, rice, tinned meat, microwave noodles, rice pudding, plus some toiletries too (the bread and eggs were already there when we arrived...).. The donation of old books and children's books is a nice touch too!

With a lighter load, the run back via Manchester Met University campus was a bit more straightforward. Lots of stories from Sam from his travels abroad, with Rob having done a similar trip last year. We're also counting down to the lighter evenings in a few weeks for some more gardening or other tasks!