Trip to visit Mrs C for the first time to assess the collection and donation of items to the charity shop. Lots of items and black bags in the room but Mrs C hadn't been able to sort through or be in a position to tell me which items/bags to donate. Given the numbers of bags and items, would likely need multiple people or a car/van. Will be back once rescheduled.

Fab session with Gordon, Zoe, Dan, and others for Ardwick Climate Action Saturday session 🌱🌳☘️

We were out clearing and maintaining the sites across three locations in Ardwick.

First was near the blood donation centre, litter picking, weeding near the bed and sign, raking the leaves, and clearing the cycle path where it narrowed. We topped up the stones before moving on.

Second was on a patch near the A6, where we dug up the earth and overgrown grass to lay a more permanent path to the sign. Rusted metal used to line the edges, with stones laid down too. We planted lots of daffodil bulbs in the vicinity and cut away low hanging branches and lopped competing tree growth from the planted trees nearby.

Third was on Ardwick Green, weeding and clearing weeds and grass from the bed near the sign, trimming the hedge by the main road, and generally clearing the area.

Very productive session and we'll be helping out again on the Scouts Plot next weekend.

Had to leave for a mission afterwards plus Juno and I were out checking the course at Fletcher Moss first thing in the wonderful morning fog.

Perhaps reflecting the need for the #ThisGirlCan #LetsLiftTheCurfew initiative to improve the safety for running in the darker, winter months, it was just the one person running this evening 🏃‍♂️🔦🏃🏼‍♀️

Warm evening and much better weather with little wind and rain making the running conditions better than over the weekend. Nice couple of pints of finest Yorkshire stout at Sandbar afterwards with Fanette who came straight from work.

On a rainy Saturday morning, Ben, Peter & Sanjeev took to Gorse Hill Allotments to start prepping the plot for winter.

Taking care to avoid the pumpkins 🎃 , the group were let loose on the overgrown weeds with shears in hand! The jungle of the pollytunnel was cleared out and bindweed & brambles tamed across the patch.

With the clearance complete and a sizeable pile of mulch gathered, cardboard was laid and topped with the freshly cut foliage 🌿. Nature will do the hard work now; breaking it all down over the coming months, while helping to keep the weeds at bay!

The last task was to plant out a few perennials which had been picked up from B&Q on discount! Four Currant plants and two Gooseberry's... a welcome addition that will provide fruit for years to come! 🍇

We will be back in November for another session at Gorse Hill 🌱, so keep an eye out on the GoodGym Manchester page! 🏃

First session at Burnage community library for us. Nice and well stocked library with lots available for local kids to read and use, including an enclosed garden, which was where we were needed today.

With the Wendy house waiting on the base and some parts missing for the gazebo, we pivoted to making the new storage container, with the previous one having broken.

With a screwdriver 🪛 and some GoodGym elbow grease, and wonderfully fuelled by banana bread and coffee, we managed to put it together, with the shelving inside left open if needed.

Thankful for the refreshments and we'll be back to tackle other tasks in the future.

p.s. there was a quick re-rooting of a tree in front of the library that had seen better days, so hopefully it will survive 🤞

Brisk October evening of marshalling a key junction at the Moonlit Miles event organised by MCR Parks and the council. Regular waves of runners, led by various run clubs, from 18:25 until 21:00.

Thankfully had hot coffee on hand to keep hands warm and lots of lights to keep both runners and marshals visible as the night drew in.

Super event to raise awareness about safety for runners, particularly women, over the darker winter months, with information on hand. It would be great to get a GoodGym group out next time!