'Ivy Leaf' in Miracles

2 GoodGymers made their way to help an isolated older person in York.

: Friday, 9th of April 2021

Here's what Ms S of YO31 had to say about the mission:

Feedback from the referrer: ‘Thank you so much for all the hard work your Good Gym volunteers have done. I am sure they will be delighted to now be able to use their garden space to relax in, which is so important for people who have limited mobility and are not able to access the community freely (even when covid restrictions lift). I am sure it will enhance their well-being to have their garden space transformed.’

Ms S of YO31, mission beneficiary

Dream Team Mitch and Debs returned to Ms S's garden for round 2 of clearance. Last weekend Nicki and I (mostly Nicki...) made great headway, but there were still some overgrown plants and ivy which needed removing as they restricted access in the garden and would potentially damage a fence. A previously inaccessible area of the garden was now open, so nothing else to do but get stuck in!

Armed with one pair of secateurs, a trowel and our hands, we got to work ripping up the ivy and cutting back the roots. As more of the rockery was being exposed, Debs marvelled at the garden decoration menagerie that was becoming visible (2x cats, birds, moles, little house, fox, cherub, giant egg...am I missing anything?).

Ms S saw we were having trouble with the trowel, so armed us with the next best thing she could find...a knife! Whilst appreciated, a lot of the vines were dead, so it was easier and more satisfying to use our hands.

We finished up and realised we had to move and tidy the large mess of roots we had created, which was also blocking our exit! However we persevered, moved the roots and left the garden much more open and accessible that before* **!

For full before and after, compare these pics to the first report * There's no picture of the full after when we cleared up our piles, trust us we did!!

Report written by Mitch