Saturday 16th May
Written by Sevan
The last mission of the day for Kash and Sevan had an intriguing title, "Cut, trim and shape garden". How does someone shape a garden? Would they become garden designers? The GoodGymers needed to find out and arriving at Mrs J's home, they could guess what was meant. There were two trees that had been shaped like balls.
Mrs J greeted them and explained that she'd become partially sighted 18 months ago. It meant that she could see some things well and other things were more difficult. Gardening was no longer possible for her and that was tough as she loves gardening, which the GoodGymers could still tell by looking around. Under the cover of grey clouds, Mrs J eyes told her that was too dark to do any work. For Kash and Sevan, even though it was overcast, there was definitely enough light for a few more hours, so they got started.
As expected, Mrs J wanted the GoodGymers to reshape the topiary at the front of the garden. The balls had grown and lost their shape, so an expert was needed to smooth their fuzzy edges. As Kash loves trimming hedges, Sevan volunteered her for the task, leaving him to the "cut, trim" part of the mission.
Kash grabbed Mrs J's shears and a step ladder for the high work, starting with the camellia tree. Sevan worked in the flower bed below, pulling out weeds and having a steady drizzle of camellia leaves and dead heads land around him. As Kash reviewed her work from different angles, trying to create the perfect sphere, Sevan moved onto the other flower beds and trimming the bushes and shrubs in Mrs J's front garden.
Part way through the mission, the pitter patter of camellia leaves changed to the more traditional raindrops falling on the GoodGymers' heads. Mrs J came out and suggested to Kash and Sevan that they stop. As the rain was light and there wasn't much left to do to complete Mrs J's 3 priorities, they powered through to achieve Garden Shaper status and leave Mrs J's garden weed free.
Wednesday 13th May
Written by Cheski Kennedy (she/her)
Last nightโs volunteering session at Bassuah Legacy Foundation started in the most British way possibleโฆ by talking about the weather for a solid few minutes ๐ One minute sunshine, the next wind and rain โ classic!
When we arrived, we discovered weโd just missed the BBC apparently ๐ฅ๐ Timing is everything!
Once inside, we split up to tackle different jobs around the shop:
๐ I took charge of the shop front and even managed to sell an umbrella to a customer โ honestly, given the weather, it practically sold itself โ๐
๐ Meanwhile, Matthew, Kesani and Jalal were hard at work downstairs sorting through clothes and clearing space in the corridor. We separated items ready to sell from those to be recycled, while also clearing out rubbish and making the whole area feel far more organised ๐โป๏ธ
By the end of the evening, the difference was huge โ more space, more sorted stock, and less clutter for Tina to worry about ๐
๐ธ Best of all, we left Tina in such a great mood she didnโt want us to go! Plenty of laughs, smiles, and selfies to finish the night off too ๐โจ
Another brilliant evening of teamwork and community spirit โ already looking forward to the next one! ๐ช
Wednesday 6th May
Written by Cheski Kennedy (she/her)
What a session! We met at Shepherds Bush station and made our way over to the Masbro Centre for a proper spring clean. ๐ช
The task list was packed: we tackled the windows till they sparkled, swept the outside areas, hoovered the corridors, cleared all the tree debris, and made sure the plants got a good watering ๐ช๐งน๐ชด. Everyone got stuck in and the place looks so much brighter.
Big shoutout to Kesani on their first GoodGym run tonight! ๐ We had a great chat about AI on the walk over. And reminder: you can absolutely walk to the task if running isn't your thing - all paces welcome. ๐ถโโ๏ธ๐โโ๏ธ
We even had a mini photoshoot courtesy of Rob ๐ธ - check out the photos in the report for our best cleaning poses and victory smiles!
Well done to everyone who came out. Masbro Centre is looking fresh and ready for the community thanks to you all! ๐
Wednesday 29th April
Written by Nick Moore
A very pleasant sunny morning was the background for Ana and I to move a double mattress and divan base from an upstairs bedroom down two flights of stairs and outside for a local council collection - Mr A's wife was on hand to guide us on what she wanted doing.
After moving a single mattress and bed that were lying on top of the double bed into the next-door room, we got hold of a rather limp mattress (which did have handles though, always a bonus) and managed to navigate that down the stairs and into the garden.
The divan base we discovered folded in two, but wouldn't split apart - although we gave it a good go by cutting through the material, only to frustratingly discover a rather large spring ran down the middle, and we'd still be there tomorrow if we started unwinding it...
Not to be deterred, and reciting the GoodGym mantra that it must've somehow got into the room, we folded the base in two, moved a wardrobe to open the door wider, and shuffled our way down the flights of stairs, taking advantage of the fold in the middle to manoeuvre around a u turn on the landing, and parked it in the garden, propping the still floppy mattress next to it.
Some polythene sheets were provided to cover it in case of rain, and we applied our wrapping skills as best we could to stop it blowing away. Mr A's wife was delighted with our efforts - we were both just glad to have solved all the various parts of today's divan puzzle!
Wednesday 22nd April
Written by Cheski Kennedy (she/her)
Last nightโs session was all about getting our hands dirty (literally!) and giving nature a helping hand ๐ฑ๐
We headed to the Tiny Forest at Norland Open Space to tackle a tennis court-sized area of weeds โ all in the name of boosting biodiversity in the space ๐ผ
๐ช Matthew, Jalal, and I got stuck in and managed to clear half the area, which felt like a serious win!
๐พ And when we say there were weedsโฆ we mean it. We built piles nearly half the size of me ๐ โ a proper jungle before we got going!
๐๐ท๏ธ As we worked, we discovered loads of wildlife โ spiders, snails, and caterpillars โ a great sign that the biodiversity here is already thriving and ready to flourish even more ๐ฟโจ
๐ฌ๏ธ The evening wrapped up with a sunny but very windy run back, the kind that makes you feel alive (and a little windswept!)
All in all, a brilliant effort from the team. Excited to keep the momentum going and get the Tiny Forest looking absolutely superb! ๐ณ๐ซ
Monday 20th April
Written by Alan Armstrong
What better way to enjoy a lovely bright morning than a short stroll to the shops for a new GoodGym beneficiary? It was lovely to meet Ms H and her shopping list was relatively straightforward. She wasnโt at all fussy about brands or type for her own groceries but the key request was for tins of a specific gourmet food for her cat.
Located all the items without problem and it was great to chat to Ms H, who was very grateful for our help now that she struggles to carry her shopping herself.
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