A fearless fab four headed out into a fog‑soaked spring evening, powering up Farley Hill in search of our newest community‑garden partnership. At St John’s Church we were greeted by Carlene, who guided us to the hidden green haven tucked neatly behind the building.

Our mission: assemble a brand‑new poly‑tunnel… minus any instructions. Cue a symphony of puzzled looks, pole‑juggling, and collective detective work. Slowly but surely, logic (and a fair bit of trial and error) won out. Arches took shape, a base emerged, and before long we were confidently bolting everything together as a sturdy structure rose around us.

We didn’t quite get it finished, but we left it tantalisingly close—ready for the garden’s regular volunteers to complete in daylight. With time ticking, we dashed back down the hill into town, pausing only for celebratory cupcakes to mark David’s incredible 500‑deed milestone. Huge thanks to Gill for the perfect post‑run treat!

We had a number of GoodGymers signed up for FoodCycle but Gill noticed that they were going to be short of one volunteer in the kitchen. After an early morning shout out , Martin heroically stepped into the breach, signing up to join the cooking team. The afternoon soon arrived and we awaited the delivery of food surplus with hopeful anticipation. We had lots of potatoes, carrots and cream and soon decided upon our menu. Gill had arrived early and had already made the base and fling for 5 chocolate pie puddings using some of the cream, a random selection of biscuits and some dark chocolate Easter eggs. Lucie put together some amazing potato dauphinoise to use some more of the cream and then a side dish of braised cabbage, while Dani and Martin created some sausage like roast carrots and parsnips. Neill arrived front of house and was busy setting up for the diners, before being joined by Sam to start serving the food. Sam then joined us equally heroically in the kitchen as we didn't have a pot washer. She's an absolute godsend at the kitchen sink. Fabulous team work and a very tasty meal too.

The nature of Leagrave park was getting set for spring, with the irises peeping up in the marshy areas, blossom on the trees and ducks checking out nesting spots. So, it was the last chance to get out there with the litterpickers and stash the trash in our bags before it all gets hidden under a new leafy green blanket.

24 bags, plus a trolley and two bike tyres, were the total haul of the team today, leaving the river, the hedgerows, the paths and fields of the park bright and clear of unsightly rubbish and ready for a spring with hopefully similarly bright and clear weather for a change!

It might have also been a certain Area Activators 500th good deed! Plenty of cake was harmed in the making of this good deed 😄

A huge thanks to Pastor Charmaine, not only for all she does in terms of organising, but for her delicious sandwiches and mac and cheese. Shoutouts go to Abim, Emmanuel, Gloria, Bola, Ola, Susannah and also church members who are not GoodGym members…yet 😄

A great time had by all. Some good gym members also helped to fix Pastor’s fence after cleaning up. Unfortunately we were too busy holding ladders etc to get a photo 😄

Once again, we had a team from GoodGym helping out at FoodCycle this week. With Gill on food collection, Martin in the kitchen and Neill and Abdulrahman hosting alongside the other FoodCycle volunteers a delicious meal was served up to the guests.

We arrived at the temple at 4.30 to find it almost empty apart from the two people in the kitchen who we would be helping. Putting on our headscarves and washing our hands we asked what we needed to do. They were waiting for a group to arrive from St Mary's church youth group. But 5 o'clock came and there was no sign of them. By 5.20 they were still not there and it was decided that we should clean up the kitchen and help pack away the rice and side dishes. Dani started washing up and Gill was putting away the unused ingredients when there was a noise at the door and a group of 9 or ten young people arrived with their leaders. Dani and Gill made them welcome and showed them where to wash their hands and put on head coverings, before showing them to the kitchen. They watched the cooking demonstration and we all ate the biryani rice, pakora, chutney and raita.Then Gill, after requests from the youth leaders, took them upstairs to the worship area and, drawing on her previous skills as a teacher, gave them an impromptu talk about Guru Garanth Sahib and other traditions while Dani stayed in the kitchen to wash and tidy up. At the end of the session we were given a take away tub of more delicious rice and dahl for our partners to enjoy tomorrow.