Imy Hopkins

It was a frosty but sunny Saturday morning in Cardiff and 8 Goodgymers headed to help out at Global Gardens. The main planned task was moving some flytipped waste to a skip so we were in for a bit of a workout. Also we discovered that on top of the fly tipped waste, sometime over Friday night, individuals had disposed of many dubious plants that definitely wouldn’t be grown at Global Gardens (and were the inspiration of the title puns)..

We started off moving the fly tipped waste out of bags and into various combinations of wheelbarrows, buckets and other bags to heave the stuff into a big skip at the other end of the gardens. Polly optimistically commented that it was like a lucky dip although I don’t think you’d get many takers willing rummaging around the mix of alcohol bottles, slippers and other abandoned items.

Once the fly tipped waste was moved, there was debate about what to do with the incriminating plants and bin bags.. Since the gardens were hosting a family friendly Wassail later that day, it was decided it was best to move them. As with the other waste we made the same journeys to the skip, getting in plenty of steps for the day and catching up on what people had been up to in January so far.

In no time at all, everything was moved and the entrance to the gardens was looking a lot more tidy and clear without all the bags of rubbish. Polly finished by inviting anyone to come to the Wassail and we then took the obligatory group photo in the now cleared patch of grass.

Overall it was a lovely, if not slightly unexpected way to spend a Saturday morning!

What an amazing night for a good deed, a beautiful crisp autumnal evening - leaves on the floor, an icy nip in the air, but a clear sky and lights all over for the wonderful season ahead.

The Perfect time for a PLOG / Litter Pick

15 goodgymer tonight, and WELCOME to our newest faces - Johnny and Mark, it's brilliant to have you along and we hope you come back soon for another experience of goodgym.

Two groups to set off tonight

• The first were the always chatty walkers, who were going to follow the Taff River embankment with their trusty litter pickers and clear up the route - every bit helps to keep that plastic from polluting the waterways.

• The second were the running buddies, 10 eager ploggers ready to clear the mean streets as we made our way along some of the main roads. 7.5 km total run, with some amazing photo opportunities along the way thanks to the seasonal lights, there were hills and a great work out to keep us warm.

A grand total of 10 bags of rubbish collected along the way, not bad for an hours' worth of walking / running. Some lovely crochet work also found along the way for Remembrance day - you can see it in the photo reel for the report.

For those who tonight had no idea of the song that we were on about when we managed to come up with a new pun using the word 'Plog' again - we have to run out soon surely........

I introduce to you Paul McCartney - Frog Chorus - We All Stand Together

Click below to see the video

Bum Bum

Our biggest group since the lockdown ended, and what a wonderful group they were!

Ashley & Flo

Welcome to goodgym Cardiff

Jamie, Hayley and Rosie

Welcome Back for your second group

Tonight, we welcomed the return of Marie, who surprised us all at the virtual marathon at the end to cheer us to the finish. It is good to have you back in Cardiff. Two teams splitting up, the regular runners led by Michael taking a slightly longer route to make up the km and the super chatty walk / joggers led by Ellen who would make their way straight to the task.

19:00 and we had arrived at the task, once again Lorraine (the task organiser) had put up whiteboards with our tasks for the evening. If only all task started with a list of tasks like this

So many tasks tonight, it was a very satisfying evening.

• Remove the remaining Crocosmia from the raised beds at the front of the yard.
• Cut off the bulbs from any Crocosmia removed and add to the 'bucket of bulbs'.
• Remove the old plants from the hanging baskets and then make up new ones.
• Move a slab table into a new position.
• Sweep up any leaves from the yards.
• Touch up the paint in the tearoom.
• Touch up the paint in the kitchen.
• Plant daffodils and tulip bulbs in the newly emptied raised beds.

A lot of tasks, but we are GOODGYM let’s DO THIS. We split into our groups and got to work, it was a remarkable sight as plants vanished and new ones popped up, bulbs removed and new ones planted, the tearoom started to glow with the bright refreshed paint and a heavy table moved to create a more accessible path to the garden space.

Plenty of chatting tonight as new people were welcomed into the group, and before we knew it the time had gone, and snacks had appeared from Lorraine. Time for a quick social, only a small journey home tonight so we could afford the extra time to get to know each other.

5-minute countdown

Food down, smiles on, let’s get our group photo before heading back. A quick journey to our end location and a stretch for those that were not continuing their runs home.

Join us next week as we go back to school.

Nice to see a Saturday without rain, that means it must be time for a Global Gardens visit...

Welcome to the team - Shauny on your first goodgym task.

Our job today was to get over to the children's area and to remove the bind weed and brambles, clearing the area so that it turned into an additional bit for them to plant in. The kid's have already been busy with some vegetables and nasturtiums, they have also had cooking lessons in the space for some chard pizza's (mmmmmmmm).

Poppy had a barrow ready and full of tools for all occasions, so we set off to the space eager to get going. As we cleared we made multiple mounds, those for the compost heap (mostly brambles) and the dreaded bind weed that would be removed so as not to take over.

It wasn't long until the hour had gone, in fact it was longer as no-one had noticed. So tools collected, waste removed it was time for a quick group photo.

Thanks to all for coming, see you again soon.