2 GoodGymers met Pam from Colchester in Bloom to help tidy up the planters along the high street. Despite our best efforts to change the soil and remove weeds in the autumn, some resilient weeds had come back with a vengeance and took a lot of effort to detangle their roots from the plants. There was also the usual litter from people mistaking the planters for ash trays/gum bins, but after an hour's hard work removing litter, dead heads and weeds the planters were in a much better shape to welcome in the new growth spring brings!

Sorting the planters in town is always a great opportunity for a chinwag with Pam/fellow GoodGymers, and to be entertained by the random comments of passerbys (asking whether we're digging up buried treasure seems to be a common one!).

All in all, a successful evening!

5 GoodGymers met Pam and a couple of other volunteers from Colchester in Bloom to empty the planters on the high street, ready for them to be filled with beautiful new plants later this week.

We removed the plants, dug about to remove any remaining roots, emptied some of the soil to make room for some new, cleared up the mess, removed any litter and loaded Pam's car. All while having a good catch up and accepting compliments and gratitude from the passing public.

If anyone is able to help them, Colchester in Bloom will be meeting at the town hall at 10 this Friday morning to put in the new plants.

5 GoodGymers met at the Mercury Theatre and headed down the hill to Middleborough (no S, despite autocorrect's best attempts) to meet Pam and some gardening tools.

The garden around the old drinking fountain had become overgrown, the paving area with many slip hazards and a fair bit of litter around the place.

We quickly set to work pulling weeds, trimming plants, removing moss from the paving, picking up litter and moving dead leaves (but not too many - a friendly passerby stopped to remind us that hedgehogs love the fallen leaves). It was amazing how quickly the area looked much smarter.

We then attempted a bit of night time photography before heading up the hill to return the tools to Pam's house.

Lovely evening with you all, I thought it was fun despite what Ray's facial expression may suggest....

After a last minute change of location, 4 GoodGymers enjoyed a pleasant evening walk over to the Colchester in Bloom allotment, including a brief encounter with Frazer en route.

It was lovely to meet Rebecca who was visiting from York GoodGym who got stuck straight in (with Louise) watering everything to keep it going after some dry weather. Alexander got to work with the strimmer, an important job to keep the allotment looking smart (as required to keep hold of the allotment), while Ray delighted Pam with his work to rescue some fruit trees.

We promised we would be back again soon to sort out some barrier boxes which need cleaning out so they can be put to good use.

A lovely evening for getting some extra steps in to tend Pam's allotment. Louise, Ray and Alex headed north via a meet up at the Mercury, whereas Stu and Helen took a short cut. We divided up the tasks, grabbed some tools and got stuck in. Louise made the plot look super tidy by strimming, Ray bravely tackled the prickly brambles which had popped up everywhere, Alex made a dozen trips to the water tank, and gave everything a really good drink, Stu weeded the vegetable beds, and unearthed a surprised beetroot, and a very tall chard, and Helen weeded the potatoes and corn. The allotment looked much better and Pam was really grateful for our efforts. Well done everyone 👏 👍

Four GoodGymers spent a lovely warm and sunny evening at the Colchester in Bloom allotment. We watered, weeded, dug, strimmed and debagged some fresh soil to help rejuvenate a bed ready for something new.

Eight hands make light work, well done all especially Hridyaand Rayfor your first allotment task! And Louisewho showed serious strimmer skills!