It was one of those thoroughly miserable autumn evenings when the weather couldn’t decide whether to rain, mist or just make everything feel damp! After a day of fine ‘wet’ rain, the heavens had settled on scotch mist, the gloom was closing in and the light was fading fast. Perfect conditions for a spot of GoodGym gardening, obviously! 😂

Thankfully, my four stalwart GoodGym buddies, Belinda, John, El and Roxy, weren’t going to let a little atmospheric misery dampen their spirits as we headed to St Botolph’s Church garden for an autumn tidy-up.

There was an immediate fashion mystery to solve. Everyone was sporting red… except El, who began to suspect she’d missed an important memo. We reassured her that no memo had been issued, although we did enjoy teasing her.

John, Belinda and El got stuck into pruning a large tree, with the sawing action providing a good upper-body workout. Meanwhile, Roxy and I tackled the ivy creeping along a fence surrounding a very special garden of handmade poppies. After finishing their pruning , John , El and Belinda joined us for some very welcome help.

These beautiful poppies are being prepared and added to ahead of Remembrance Day. By the time the special day arrives, there will be one poppy commemorating every fallen hero listed in the church’s Lady Chapel. A truly poignant project, and a lovely reminder of why our little gardening missions can mean so much. ❤️

Some of the ivy had other ideas and decided to spread itself over the fence. Never one to shy away from a challenge, I took the direct route and jumped over to deal with it. El and John were on hand to capture my acrobatics on camera, before El likened me to Spider-Man! 🕷️ Clearly, I was getting into the 'swing' of things… although I’m not sure Marvel will be calling any time soon!

We certainly had our hands full getting to grips with the ivy, but we refused to let it 'creep' up on us. We were determined to get to the root of the problem and 'leave no vine behind' ( Are you groaning yet ?!😂)

With the light disappearing quicker than our enthusiasm, we eventually called it a day. Despite the gloomy conditions, we all agreed we’d made a huge difference to the garden and were delighted we’d made the effort to turn out.

Another evening of good company, community spirit and a little friendly banter — proving that even when the weather is thoroughly 'unbe-leaf-able' GoodGym can still help things grow!