At Ray Mill Island today it was all about creating an edge. Sheila was using a spade to clear the plants creeping onto the path, trying to uncover the original edging stones. Mick was recovering some larger stones from the beds to use as edging stones, as Anne-Laure cut back the dogwood overhanging the path after lugging some logs to the play area. Mick then moved to cutting back some branches of a tree to let some light in underneath. A productive afternoon's work

The sunshine had finally arrived and I spent a pleasant time mowing the lawn and tidying up the garden of Mr S.

We welcomed Barbara to her very first GoodGym session today, at yet another busy morning at the Baby Bank. She joined Jane, Sue, Karen and Sheila for a spot of clothes donation-sorting. She quickly got to grips with what was required, and the team powered their way through the donations in the Girls 0-2 Travel Cot, even managing to empty it before some more donations came in. Jane tried a different skill with shoe-checking and soon polished it off before joining the clothes-checkers again. She was delighted to find herself sorting a bag full of good quality, clean clothes. It makes all the difference!

6 Goodgymmers met in the rain at Wessex Primary School.

We have previously visited and helped remove old planters, but today's task was shifting the rubber woodchip from the car park to the playarea.

In true Goodgym style we rose to the task and with only one wheelbarrow employed the use of a wheelie bin and a smaller bin!! Verdict....great alternatives!!

We smashed out the task in 45mins which left time for a photo op and a play on the adventure trail!

Caretaker Andrew is looking for more tasks so we can return to help out again!!

The delightful Mrs J needed help with how to use her phone and iPad for texts, WhatsApp and making phone calls. She has dementia and Parkinsons, so forgets how to do things easily. Jess took the lead, and I sat there in awe, listening to her patiently explaining how it all works, and how to do the things she wants to. Jess also wrote down how to do each thing, complete with pictures, so that Mrs J can refer back to it when she forgets. It was great having Mrs J's sister there too so that she could explain what she uses the most, and could make some test calls and send messages, so Mrs J could practice. We left Mrs J with some homework to try out some calls/messages when her grandson visited that afternoon

We had sun and rain at Ray Mill Island today, but we were not deterred as we set about our tasks. Sheila and Anna shovelled some compost and barrowed it back to the compound. Anna went to take cuttings of some shrubs around the Island, and brought them back to pot up. Amy felt like getting physical and took on digging out the hibiscus plants so they could be transferred elsewhere. Not an easy task! The roots were all tangled up with nettle roots and chicken wire which had been used to line the area for a previous use. And they were next to a fence, so limiting access. With true GoodGym grit and determination, Amy gave it her all, and was joined by Sheila. Once the hibiscus was loose enough to give a good wobble, Amy employed the Butt technique, and the hibiscus gave up the fight and was out of the ground! We heeled it in to a temporary spot and left the rain to water it in. Amy then had to leave, but spurred on by the success, Sheila and 2 other volunteers tacked the second plant, and employing the same technique, managed to dig that one out too! Way to Go! We all went home muddy but satisfied with our progress