On a sunshine Saturday morning, three GoodGymers were brought together for a spot of gardening at St. Clement's, a new GoodGym task. St. Clement's recently started converting a space into an Orchard (apparently in was an Orchard before the Second World War).

Ellie, Sophie and Sam, were given the task to clear a patch of overgrown grass and weeds to create more space for fruit trees to grow and potentially to put in raised beds for herbs and veggies. In two hours and with a few tools, but mainly with their hands - they completely flattened the patch.

There should be more tasks in the future with St. Clement's as they keep on building their Orchard, so look out!

With a later start due to the heatwave, five GoodGym runners and cyclists arrived at Thorlands Garden to meet Simon who leads the community project.

Ellie and Jen, both on their third good deed, showed off their new tshirts proudly - still paint free! We also bowed down to Fran who was completing her 497th good deed! Great work Fran!

Ellie and Vic got to trimming back the buddleia with the unique instruction that ‘if the Mayor visits he should be able to walk around it without it poking him in the face’! So from then on, every chop was prefaced with ‘does that look like it’s in the way of the Mayor?’ No one is quite sure if the Mayor is actually coming or if this is now just the standard measure of Buddleia trimming….

Meanwhile, Jen, Fran and Laura were clearing other areas of the space which will eventually be used for a space to sell some of the home grown produce.

Everyone got to work digging up roots from the bindweed which had gone surprisingly deep! The group were able to quickly dig out a trench where small trees were planted which will form a new hedge.

Time was ticking on so Vic and Simon started harvesting some lovely fresh salads for the group to take home as a thank you. A few of the group had started growing herb gardens at home so were given a few cuttings to propagate, as well as lots of helpful growing tips!

Last night three of us made our way to Thorlands Gardens for a first ever goodgym mission with them. Simon greeted us and was very well prepared with all the tools we'd need. He talked us through their vision for their forest garden and a few tasks that needed doing. We had free range over which of those we did. I cut down and stripped some budlier for a hot compost heap while Ellie heroicly tackled some brambles,showing true GoodGym spirit on her first task! Laura made light work of digging a path, discovering the joys of a mattock, also known as a grubbing hoe. The hours went quickly and we were grateful to be sheltered from the wind. At the end we were shown the growing gardens and were even offered some freshly harvested salad to add some green to our dinners! There are plans for a wildlife area, a music platform and even outdoor movie screenings in the summer. I have a feeling we'll be back again soon to help!