On Saturday Emily and Alexis joined Marylin and Peter at Canbury Community Garden to lend a hand with a few jobs and for some birthday treats. They mixed in top soil with compost, dug up nettles to prepare a the soon to be tomato bed, transferred topsoil to another new vegetable bed and levelled the ground, the hens swiftly moved in to scratch away. Helped Peter move heavy furniture out of the shed and into the visitor’s corner. Marie-Noelle joined them later on and helped finish the weeding We shared some Pain d'Epices treats Marylin had brought back from France to celebrate her birthday 🎂 🥳 and distributed a bouquet of nettles to the hens.

Today's mission was at the 1KH Scout hut where they needed many hands to help construct a bunkhouse for the cubs and scouts. This involved some very heavy work to lift the solid concrete walls and put in place. Perfect GoodGym fodder! Although the building wasn't finished when we left we had certainly helped get it mostly there. Job well done.

Tonight we were off into the unknown at the Save The World Club. As they had collected various items to stop them from going to landfill it meant that there was a lot to sort out before moving premises.

After a brisk run / cycle there our first task was pretty simple moving chairs, bookcases, tables and sideboards downstairs ready to load on to the van. Luke, Tom and Dave tackled the heavy items whilst Ana, Ana, Claire, Raquel, Amreet and Emily moved all the drawers and chairs.

Mission accomplished we headed into the dark to see what was lurking outside. There was a bonfire for paper and wood that we uncovered and a shed full of paint pots that needed moving out.

We also filled the skip with an assortment of items that couldn’t be recycled from envelopes to plastic wrapping and a weird candelabra decoration.

At the last moment Des arrived with the van so we were able to load it up on our way out so that the furniture could find new homes.

Happy Bonfire night Sabir 🔥

On a lovely Spring morning Claire and Julie undertook a very delicate task to prune the Salvias and hydrangeas being careful not to step on the springs bulbs that had sprouted in the GoodGym flowerbed.

The pruning should help us get bushier plants with lots of colour in the Summer. We also removed a large amount of leaves giving the bulbs some more room to breathe.

There will be lots of opportunities to volunteer at the flowerbed across the Spring and Summer so keep an eye out for these.

Over the weekend several goodgymers from different areas did a food drop.

On a glorious sunny Sunday morning, we gathered at Staywell Day Centre with 2 hours on the clock and a mission: to give the vegetable patch, flower beds, and driveway a good weeding makeover! Armed with trowels, gloves, and an eagerness to get stuck in, Amy, Alexis, Farzeen, Emily, and Jana wasted no time diving into the task.

As we worked, conversations flowed freely, with stories exchanged about our professions and daily lives. A highlight of the day was hearing about Emily's exciting news: she’s being presented with a prestigious Majors award tomorrow evening! We all shared in her excitement, which certainly helped lift the atmosphere as we tackled some particularly stubborn weeds.

At the halfway mark, we took a well-deserved break to recharge with biscuits and chocolate. Standing back, we admired our progress so far.

With renewed energy, we powered through the rest of the time, determined to make the residents proud of their newly spruced-up outdoor spaces. By the end of the session, the transformation was complete, and we couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment as we surveyed the clean, tidy garden and weed-free driveway.

It was a fantastic day of teamwork, sunshine, and stories for a worthy cause, leaving us all with smiles (and maybe a little mud) on our faces!