The bag-up plan

7 hardy – or perhaps hopping mud – Hammersmith & Fulham goodgymers braved the weather on a drizzly Saturday morning to help out the Friends of Furnivall Gardens. Lead volunteer Rachel explained that our help was required to begin tackling a very overgrown bed near Dove Passage at the east side of the gardens. After unlocking the gate into the area, it was clear that it was not going to be possible to get through this in just one session – we were soiled for choice when it came to which area to begin weeding. We set to work trying to clear as much as we could, getting covered in soil which very quickly turned to mud thanks to the weather. Of course, there was plenty of sticky weed around, so ‘Little’ Beth was in her element! And Analiese managed to dig up some absolutely GIANT roots, which she was very proud of.

Over the other side of Furnivall Gardens, Louisa was first to be drafted in on planting duty. Many of us took turns at this activity to have a little break from the mudbath in the large bed we were taking on. Although having said that, a few chose to continue weeding for the entire duration of the task – goodgymers are generally as happy as pigs in mud! 🐷 With about half an hour to go, the focus of those on weeding duty shifted to the front of the bed. We concentrated on removing weeds from the pathway to make the biggest visible difference possible in the time left.

At almost the end of two hours of hard work, another GG shirt came towards us through the drizzle. Lucy had finally appeared! She apologised profusely for double-booking herself – with a Goodgym tasks nonetheless – explaining that she hadn’t realised that her previous mission was overlapping with the task here at Furnivall Gardens. Being such a good deed superstar and considering that she cycled all the way here to help with the tidy up, we of course let her off.

The final job was to transport the rubbish bags over to the bin. There were far too many to take on the cart, so a few goodgymers opted to carry the extras. They quickly realised that carrying the bags such a distance by hand was a bit of a challenge… but you know what they say – no rain no gain!! We posed for a quick photo with the sum of our efforts, and said goodbye to Rachel before heading off. Well done team 👏.