Matthew

Having spent the morning litter picking in Anfield, Mat and I grabbed a quick drink before heading off to our next mission.

Liverpool City Council (Social Work Team) had asked GoodGym to help Mr L, a lovely gentleman, living on his own, who is no longer managing the stairs. By moving his double bed downstairs, Mr L would be able to access his bed more easily, and maintain some independence. He had all the tools available for the job, which made it much easier than some we have tackled in the past.

Dickie, his 'small, friendly dog' had greeted us at the front door with a rather loud and prolonged welcome. Apparently, he was named after Richard (Dicky) Davies, World of Sport presenter from 1968 until 1985, as he also sported a white streak in his hair. 😁 Like most small dogs, he demanded attention and was clearly in charge.

Shortly after we arrived, Mr L received a visit from a carer, who was used to giving lots of attention to Dickie before she was allowed to do anything else 😉 This was a great help.

Mat and I needed to move bedding and two mattresses before dismantling the bed and carrying it downstairs. We then re-assembled it all in the living room. Mr L was pleased with the result, and said he would probably go for a short nap.

Once the job was done, we passed on our details to the carer, as she may have some other patients who would benefit from some GoodGym help.

Apologies for the dodgy photo of me and Mat...we forgot to take one of us at the mission, so have recycled an old pic with cheesy grins😁

On a sunny a day, which warmed up nicely 5 intrepid Goodgymers went litter picking in Anfield. We were doing it in conjunction with James Coates from Alley Angels who kindly provided the rubbish bags. I’m not sure the pictures really convey how bad the areas were but you see from the litter picture just how much rubbish there was. Multiply this by every area in the UK and you’ll see how bad this litter problem really is.

Two spots were tackled and 10 bags of litter collected. Both sights are blighted and so for us to be able to clear them in an hour and a half was amazing. But that’s the power of what Good Gym does. It was a mixture of experience and nee members. A huge thanks to Jess, Daniel and Sallyann who are all starting to rack up their Good Gym tasks and it was lovely to see you and chat as well as seeing Pauline, who makes the trip over from south of the river every time to do tasks in Liverpool.

We have to break this cycle of people dropping litter but at least for a day two areas of Anfield are going to be litter free.

Pauline and I raced across Liverpool from our Community Mission in good spirits having helped clear up part of the garden at The Rotunda.

We met the care worker S on the door step of Mr M's house. Sadly it was in a really sorry state. It was so bad we couldn't actually move the bed downstairs but the good news is that S, who had not been into the house before, was now on the case and things are going to be sorted. Even though we didn't do any bed moving we were there to be in the house with S and we offered to go back again if we were needed and S was grateful to have us there.

On a bright and sunny Friday morning, five fabulous GoodGymers rocked up at Rotunda College, ready to rid the community well-being garden of a year's worth of weeds.

Terry, the gardener, and assistant Steve were waiting for us with tools and wheelbarrows at the ready. The garden has been closed for a year, so was in need of a lot of tlc. Terry had been shielding, so was very grateful of the help.

Carol, Linda and I set to with a hoe each and cleared around the raised beds and edges of the garden.

Meanwhile, Mat and Ema joined Terry, shifting a whole heap of soil...they are quite the experts at soil shifting now.

Steve had a more sombre role to perform, as he set up a separate, enclosed part of the garden in readiness for a funeral party for later in the afternoon.

Several members of the college staff popped in to see how we were getting on, and to thank us for the work that we were doing, including CEO Maxine, who was amazed at the change. We were even treated to cups of tea and a whole tray of sandwiches ( Mat very kindly allowed us all a share). There were also lots of bunches of flowers needing homes that were offered to us.

Within 45 minutes, the difference was obvious. Terry was amazed, and said that he felt re-energised working alongside such enthusiastic GoodGymers 😁

After just under two hours, the garden area was transformed. Most of the weeds had been scraped, dug and pulled up, overgrown plants had been cut back, and all of the soil had been removed.

There are still jobs to be done...as in any garden...so we may well make a return visit soon. Terry has some plans for planting, so watch this space.

I have been to S’s house on several occasions now. His is profoundly deaf and quite badly disabled so to be able to help him is a privilege.

This time it was helping to turn the soiled areas of his garden over, planting some wild seeds and giving the whole thing a good water. Thankfully the sun came out and so it was nice and warm.

Nice to be able to help another elderly resident of Liverpool and save him some money.