After a dry 2025, the rain has finally started in Manchester with plenty of puddles and sideways showers 🌧🌧🌧

Ben ran from Longsight to St Peter's Square for the meeting point then along to Asda Hulme for the foodbank drop off. Laden with a heavy bag 🎒 containing:

• tinned fruit (peaches and mandarins)
• tinned peas 🫛
• tinned mushrooms 🍄
• rice pudding
• instant coffee ☕️
• Apple juice 🍎
• UHT milk 🥛
• Strawberry 🍓 jam
• marmalade

Bit of a diversion on the way home, with a police corden - turns out this was the area of the stabbing in Manchester yesterday (BBC News - Teenager arrested after boy, 15, dies in Moss Side stabbing - BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3y9v8e7eqo) which is a bit sad.

Hope to be at Gorse Hill next week, pending a working website.

Charly and Ben went along to Peel Park to help out David for their regular session tidying up the green space 🌳🍃

First thing was clipping and weeding a small hedge near the flood mark monument (8' 6'' back on November 16th 1866!) to remove thistles and to keep it tidy.

We then weeded and removed much of the deadwood from the beds in the centre of the park, all whilst removing any litter that we came across. Lots of Lambs ear (Stachys byzantina) was removed to prevent it taking over in some areas, and drain gutters were cleared as much as possible of weeds 🌱

Good to meet the other volunteers too! In 90 min, we completed what we could and headed for cover before the Salford rain arrived 🌧

Three GoodGym volunteers returned to Edgeley Community Church for a follow-up session to finish off clearing the outside area.

With trowels and determination in hand, the team made great progress in tackling the last of the weeds and tidying up the space.

Hazel had an unexpected surprise when she spotted a £5 note amongst the weeds — proof that volunteering really can pay off!

The group also got very lucky with the weather, as dark clouds loomed overhead but the rain mostly held off until the work was done.

And of course, the real star of the evening was a friendly ginger cat who came to supervise and keep everyone entertained with its antics.

With the area now looking much neater, the church grounds are once again a more welcoming spot for the whole community. 🐾🌱✨

Rare Monday task in Stockport, stepping in to help Plastic Shed move a few doors down to their new premises. After getting the key earlier in the day, Caitlin needed a few hands to help move all the equipment, machines, and ALL THE LIDS from their storage location to their new home.

Hannah was up to the task moving furniture from a nearby site to the store, while Hazel and Ben moved a whole room of lids and plastic down the stairs to be taken to the new store. All this while machines were wheeled, carried, and dragged to their new site of action.

After nearly 2 hours, we emptied one room and the ground floor items had all be shifted across. Great to see other locals chipping in too, and excited to see the great art work and workshops to come out of Plastic Shed.

Course check and set up at Fletcher Moss parkrun event number 263. 496 runners and walkers completed the 5 km course.

Environmental agency putting up extra fences while they rebuild the river bank. Small mishap turning my ankle while carrying the speaker but otherwise ok.

On Tuesday evening, five GoodGymers returned to What If?, the ideas café in Edgeley, to lend a splash of colour to a set of children’s toys.

With paintbrushes in hand, they worked together to refresh the toys in time for a special party taking place on Sunday 21st September.

As if that wasn’t enough, the group even squeezed in time to finish off painting the outside railings in a bright red. This was a job they had started many months ago but had been rained off before completing.

The session was filled with teamwork and creativity, and thanks to the volunteers’ efforts both the toys and the railings are now looking fresh and ready to welcome children and families at the upcoming event.

Tyla and Ben pulled up their sleeves to clear up some the litter blighting some parts of the city 🚮

After a short jog towards Hulme, we stumbled on a disused warehouse with some pieces of litter around the perimeter near the road. As we got closer and crossed the broken fence, we came across a whole area full of

• bottles
• cans
• vapes
• glass bottles
• canisters
• boxes
• clothing
• plastic bags
• coffee cups
• tiles
• plush pigs
• pillows
• tape measures
• crisp packets
• ...

There was a lot. We cleared what we could using the bags on hand and in just 1 hour, left the area much tidier, with the hope that removing the litter will discourage others dropping takeaway food or fly tipping in future. Maybe a pfand or deposit scheme would reduce the number of discarded drinks bottles and cans... 🤔

The final task was to carry the bags to the nearest council public bin. No mean feat, with several trips needed with the heavy bags providing a good workout 💪

Bags have been reported to Keep Manchester Tidy so they should be collected very soon.