David Barrett

Ben, the caretaker met us at the gate and shown us to the wildlife space where a selection of jobs awaited. An assortment of wooden logs, sticks and tyres had to be moved from the wildlife area to make space for grass trimming. Laura, Lauren, Leanne and Michal did not wait to be told twice and went straight to work.
Meanwhile Zinnie and David started with removing roots from a pile of top soil. The soil had to be made root and weed free as it will be used to fill holes in the playing field in preparation for the school sports day in few weeks’ time. At the same time Cara and Liz went to start fishing out a variety of balls, chocolate bar and crisps packaging, yoghurt bottles, plastic cones, you name it from the school pond. They were soon joined by the log and tyre removal crew who did not want to miss the fun. A long stick and a cable loop attached to aluminium pole were used for picking out. Leanne’s catch, a plastic scoop racket, was used to make a 'super scooper'. This custom made tool has proven to be very effective for the task. Branches hitting faces and poking our bodies were not a deterrent enough as determined GoodGymers squeezed between young trees and the fence to go around the edge of the pond to pick up all the rubbish.

I found the net - Bob

The promised net materialised and was expertly wielded by Cara to pick up some remaining litter from the water.

David and Zinnie have timed their root removal task with such precision that they were putting away their forks at the very moment when the pond clearing people came for the team photo.
With all the wooden logs at our disposal it was an excellent opportunity for another photo for our log carriers calendar.

With all the tasks completed we advised Bob how to provide feedback and headed on our ways home.