Trouble in paradise

It was a drizzly start to the session last night, but it was distinctly cheered up by seeing lots of lovely regular faces, some new ones to the group and even a familiar one back after a little time away - everybody is welcome at GoodGym Wandsworth and always will be!

After a warm up which activated our major muscles we did a quick poll to find out our favourite plants and flowers as tonight we were off to Paradise Community Garden. This space was once derelict land but has been transformed into a stunning garden full of flowers, bees, a pond and a community area for local children and residents to use.

We had a long list of jobs to do, but as always our first task was trying to crack the lock to get in. Thanks to Annabel's expertise once again we made our entrance to find the first of our jobs right in front of us. The head gardener Vicky had sent across some detailed instructions about how to fix the wobbly, unsafe path. She had marked the slabs to be replaced with chalk crosses, which added an extra element of challenge as it had been raining all afternoon. Luckily the chalk had mainly survived so we got cracking shifting heavy slabs and replacing them with hardcore. Now I know the clue is in the name, but the sheer weight of the hardcore bags was shocking! Well done to Steph who somehow managed to transport them to their final destination using a pretty wobbly wheelbarrow. Now that's a workout and a half.

Meanwhile another team was sorting out an uneven path in some dim and dark conditions, while other jobs included moving a massive stove and some heavy tiles around the garden. I think it's safe to say this was quite a labour intensive session but it's these kinds of jobs that really make a difference to small teams of volunteers that run important spaces such as Paradise.

After 40 minutes of hard work we all locked our tools back up and gathered by the exit. Or did we? Turns out that while Eva and Athene were having a surprisingly relevant discussion about how they'd fare in escape rooms and were concentrating so hard on their job in hand that somehow I had missed them in the depths of the garden. Luckily my mistake was spotted before they had to spend the night there!

To finish off the evening we did a five minute leg blast which tested our muscles and built strength, as well as displaying the many ways you can do a variation on fast feet!

Next Monday we're off to Sacred Heart School to help with various gardening jobs with the head. Until then, have a great week GoodGym!