5 Goodgymers met at Lakeview park on a lovely sunny evening to tackle Himalayan balsam. This highly invasive species degrades river banks and outcompetes other native plants thereby reducing biodiversity in a vital green space in the middle of the city . We all quickly got to work ‘bashing the balsam’(pulling it out by its roots and snapping the stems before crushing them. ) We all got a chance to catch up with each other while clearing vast clumps of the dreaded plant. A great evenings work from all helping to promote biodiversity in Coventry’s green spaces

To kick off July, we made our monthly visit to Carriers of Hope. Five Goodgymers came . I picked up a flat tyre on the way ! ! Luckily, it happened close to the task location!🙏 This month's task involved sorting toys by age group, organizing them, and taking stock. The photos show some fun and interesting toys we came across! It was great to meet Pauline, who joined us for her first GoodGym task We completed some fantastic work—well done, team! 🙌

2 goodgymers made their way to Mrs N’s house to help with some gardening after her recent surgery. They cracked on with weeding, trimming the grass and cutting back some brambles on top of the shed. Mission successful!

Since her surgery, Mrs N has struggled to get to the shops to get her weekly shopping. Goodgym supported with getting her shopping from Aldi! Successful mission!

What better way to spend a sunny evening than a jog over to Spon Gate primary school for a quick bit of sanding and staining?

The school were given to a grant to help spruce up the outdoor space and while the new additions were looking fresh the benches and chair were well overdue some TLC.

With ten of us on the job, we powered through most of the sanding, got a coat of stain on, and even gave the plants a good soak—much needed in this heat!

Great to see you again Dale and massive shoutout to Marcelle who showed up on her birthday—that’s dedication. Absolute Queen status, and yes, we got a snap of her on her ‘throne’.

Top effort from everyone—brilliant work all round!

***Four goodgymers had a fab session supporting Clothing Coventry. *

As the weather was really hot, and we also had a few donations to take down, we opted for a leisurely walk down to the warehouse. Once we arrived, we were soon greeted by Jo and Katie who showed us what needed doing tonight. We focused on making up clothings packs for children and size checking clothes. We then had a short, chatty walk back to the city centre in the lovely June sunshine.

Great session tonight everyone.