St Peter’s was looking really nice this evening, especially with the lights we put up during our last session now all lit up!

We split into two groups, with one group outside collecting up the leaves and clearing them away. Once we had gathered them all up, they were put into the compost, giving them a chance to eventually go back into the ground and give something back to the garden.

The other group definitely had a more hands-on job, getting stuck into taking things down, unscrewing bits, carrying boxes and helping to clear and reorganise the space inside the church. There was plenty to get involved with, and everyone was happy to get stuck in.

Lucinda was also busy giving one of the benches a fresh coat of paint, while a few cats made an appearance outside too!

With so many people coming along, it made for a really enjoyable evening with plenty of teamwork, good vibes and lots getting done.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect this morning when I arrived at Mr J's ready to "move some plants from pots into the ground" - as it turned out Mr J has the most amazing sun trap patio that would've blown Monty Don (other gardeners are available) away.

He needed help moving a Clematis that had made its long term home in a wooden tub into the flower bed, and which required quite a deep hole to be dug, followed by a variety of other plants moving from the bed into tubs, and finally a peony moved from another tub into the ground recently vacated by something else just moved out. The Clematis and Peony were well rooted and it required quite a bit of effort to get them uprooted...

With the right tools, a fair amount of elbow grease and Mr J's helpful instructions, I'm pretty sure I got everything moved into their rightful places, and by the end of it all, Mr J was delighted with the transformation - bring on Wednesday's rain...

We started today’s session with a lap around the garden, although I think the real leader of the run was the very energetic dog who came along with us! There was definitely no shortage of energy!

After our lap, we got stuck into some litter picking. There was only one glove between the four of us, so we had to take turns, but we still managed to fill a whole bag with rubbish! Not bad for a quick and easy task.

It was also Ros's first GoodGym session, so it was lovely to have her join us! Hopefully this is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to see how far she goes with GoodGym

A simple Sunday session, but a good one — especially with one very enthusiastic four-legged team member! 🐶

Monday night was another big one at Cranbrook Community Centre!

We got stuck into improving the outside areas, with plenty of leaf picking, clearing up and getting the garden looking a little more loved. Lucinda also came prepared with the lights and made sure everyone had gloves, which definitely came in handy as it started getting darker!

We also had a couple of new faces join us, including someone doing their very first GoodGym session! It was lovely to have them join us at Cranbrook, and hopefully we’ll see them back here again soon

But the biggest celebration of the evening was for Kareem, who completed his 100th GoodGym session! 🎉 It was also his last session with us for a while as he’s moving on to his next plans, so it was a lovely way to mark the occasion. We’ll definitely miss having him around, and wishing him all the best with whatever comes next!

A big thank you to everyone who came along, got stuck in and helped make a difference to the outside space. Another Monday night well spent!

Lady Andrea was quick to invite GoodGym to host a stall at St Matthew's community event to celebrate the church's 280th birthday. A lot of people were interested to hear about us, and many took our flyers. I also had a lady from a community organisation asking for our help, so look out for a brand new task on a future Monday night! We also got to sample the buffet, climbed the church tower, listened to a history talk, got a demonstration of the organ, rang the bells and saw the inner workings of the clock

Our only panic came when we emerged from the tower to find our precious GoodGym flag had disappeared! After some detective work, we discovered that Lady Andrea had taken it home for safe keeping. So we got to see the fantastic collection of plants on her balcony!

This month's social gardening club saw Sam and Future Leader Rasheed team up for the first time. The front garden outside No.19, which is the old residence of the former boss of St Margarets House, was being desperately overrun with wisteria so we got to work with shears, trying to remove the vine's roots wherever possible.

The next St Margarets House social gardening club is on Wednesday 21st October 4-7pm, hope to see you there!