Barbara and Roxy were back helping the lovely Margaret in her care home garden — and, as always, it was a delight to spend some time helping her get everything looking shipshape.

There was plenty to get stuck into. They carefully replanted some little strawberry plants — or, as Margaret might call them, the “strawberry babies” — from their pots and into their new homes.

They also did plenty of weeding, planted some new plants into the soil and prepared an area ready for some beetroot seeds. This involved clearing away some of the old bean plants and getting the soil nicely prepared for its next crop.

Another productive visit, with lots achieved and the garden looking better for it.

As always, it’s a real pleasure to help Margaret and spend time in her lovely garden.

Today we headed back to the allotment at the Turning Tides hostel, where our mission was to tackle the weeds and give the area a much-needed strim.

A huge thank you to John and Belinda, who kindly brought along their battery-operated power tools. This meant we could crack straight on without having to bother any of the residents to find somewhere to plug in!

It was particularly lovely to see Barry back for his second GoodGym task, proudly sporting his brand-new GoodGym red T-shirt! ❤️ And it was equally great to welcome Anne and El back too — it’s always brilliant to see familiar faces returning.

There was plenty of hard work happening across the allotment. John got stuck into some serious strimming, transforming the overgrown areas, while Anne and Belinda got busy re-digging the potato trenches ready for the next stage of growing.

Meanwhile, Barry, El and I concentrated on clearing the weeds and generally getting the beds back under control. El was particularly talented at finding a selection of children's toys ( possibly stolen by the playful foxes who live in the allotment )

There was a great team effort all round, and by the time we packed up, the whole area looked so much better for our visit. Another job well done by the GoodGym crew! 💪🌱❤️

When we arrived at the beach we were greeted by Jade ( the organiser ) with a big hug and a really warm welcome. Our first job was to unpack all the boxes of medals and get them ready for the finishers.

We were very fortunate that a family who were also taking part in the Family Mile later that day had arrived early to help with this task. With so many hands on deck we were ready in no time to greet every finisher with a medal and well- deserved cheer as they crossed the finish line. The most memorable ones were those running in tandem as a sausage dog or a dinosaur. Although visibly exhausted all runners thanked us and some even performed celebratory dances . It was great fun being there to welcome everyone and be part of such a positive atmosphere.

Wickers Gymnastics Club

Tonight we headed to our local gymnastics club, Wickers, which has a lovely connection to our very own Social Secretary, Tamsin, and her daughter Jemmie, who trains there.

We had been asked to help paint the upstairs room, which has been kitted out as a wonderful dance studio. It was our first visit to Wickers, so it was fantastic to have such a good turnout.

We were delighted to welcome Barry, joining us for his very first GoodGym session. He received a very warm GoodGym welcome — and we were particularly grateful for his height later on in the task! 😄

It was also lovely to welcome Roxy back after a few months of being a very busy person, and it had been a while since we'd seen Stephane too, so it was great to have them both back with us. We were also very grateful to see Belinda and John (Mr & Mrs R), Gill and Ricky joining us tonight.

We entrusted Roxy with the important job of pouring the paint into the various receptacles, before we all chose our preferred roles. Gill, Roxy and Barry took to the rollers, while Belinda, Stephane and I tackled the cutting-in with paintbrushes.

There was plenty of painting, chatting and teamwork, and after just an hour we stood back and felt very proud of what we'd achieved. The room is already looking much fresher, although there is definitely more work to do.

We'll need to return to finish the job, but unfortunately that will have to wait until half term when we'll be able to gain access during the holidays.

A brilliant first visit to Wickers, made even better by such a lovely GoodGym turnout. Teamwork really does make the dream work!

A small but mighty GoodGym team headed to St Botolph’s Church tonight, where we were warmly welcomed by our hosts, Val and Rik.

Under Val’s expert guidance, tonight’s task was to heavily prune the laurel bushes along the south-east side of the church, which had been getting a little too big for their boots and enthusiastically overhanging the wall!

The aim is to open up the view over the wall and into the secret garden, where some interesting displays are set to appear over the coming months. We’re hoping our efforts will really help the garden come into its own — you could say we’re helping to turn over a new leaf! 🌿

A huge GoodGym thank you to Mr and Mrs R — aka John and Belinda — together with Ricky, freshly back from his holiday and clearly ready to get stuck straight back in.

It was a small team tonight, but we certainly proved that good things come in small prunings! 😉

Thanks to Val and Rik for keeping us on task and for the warm welcome. Another productive evening of GoodGym graft, one branch at a time!

Fulfil a request for number of garden planters from recycled wood