6 goodgymers (Amy, Christina, Sofeen, Ramiz, Morwenna and Iain) joined the friendly team at Dads Lane once again for a “sort out your life” style mission! We welcomed Christina to her first GoodGym mission as well!

We started by clearing an unsafe area of the garden consisting of planks of wood, bricks and general rubbish. We then levelled off this area with some shovelling and raking and weeding the area so we could lay flat paving stones and pallets.

We then formed a human brick chain passing the bricks from the old position to the new - switching every layer so each person moved up the chain! We made sure to turn every so often to even out those standing twist movements!

After a well deserved coffee and biscuit break we went back out and finished putting anything useful back on the pallets in a neat and orderly fashion.

The rest was organised in a pile for Steve to take to the tip. A massive difference was made and a good workout was had! The garden area is now safer for residents and children to play in.

After another cold day we all gathered at Dad's Lane Community Association (or the newly named Pineapple House, owing to it's location on Pineapple Road) to get stuck in with the weekly cleaning tasks.

Laura got to work cleaning the floors, while Eve removed marks from the walls. Liam and Annie were stuck in with sweeping and Morwenna, Ramiz & his friend (WELCOME!!) got stuck in giving the kitchen a deep clean.

After this we headed out on a 5km Run to the famous Bournville tree! It was so lovely chatting to Ramiz, and we hope you come back. I'll be sure to send an email follow-up and include some other activities in Brum to get stuck in with.

Thank you all for a lovely run!

On a rainy Tuesday evening we met at Dad's Lane for some brick moving! Amy was first to arrive, then Laura had run up (completing an impressive 4 miles!), and we all got stuck in , moving bricks from one pile in the front to the back garden. This is so that contractors can make a start on the paving (exciting!). Sofeen arrived shortly afterwards as a surprise addition to the crew, this was welcomed by all as it sped up the work as we implemented a rally with wheelbarrowers and stackers and tidyers. All this in the rain! Great work all!

Afterwards it was time for a hot drink in the warm and welcoming community centre that many Brum GoodGymers have helped to make into the space it is today.

We welcomed Hayley to GoodGym for the first time! This was also our first time doing a group run in Stirchley.

We met at Dads Lane Community Association which was a great place to check out our previous handiwork.

We then ran down to Hazelwell Park where Richard had bags, gloves and litterpicks for us! After a litter pick we did a 5k run together along the Rea before heading to British Oak for some refreshment.

This weekend we were back at Dads Lane Community Association - lured in part by the cookies Steve's wife Jo had baked for us that morning! The renovation of this community space in Stirchley is nearly finished, but that meant lots of rubbish in the back garden that needed to be shifted into a skip*.

Iain, Sofeen, James, Steve (a trustee for the association) and I all pitched in to move a huge pile of damp plasterboard, broken bricks and other rubble into the skip. In doing so we unearthed something of an ecosystem: worms, spiders, woodlice and even a frog*.

We're looking forward to seeing the next phase of the DLCA centre!

*Hence the pun

This weekend we were able to see the latest stage of the renovation of the Dads Lane Community Association building, following the installation of the plasterboard. The whole downstairs is bright and white and ready for some colour!

But first, we had to prepare the walls. Most of the team grabbed some sandpaper to smooth off any rough areas, while I and Dan – who’s been working hard on the renovation for the past couple of years – filled in any divots.

There was also a stack of unused plasterboard that needed to be stored upstairs, so Sofeen, Louise, James and Sam (on his very first GoodGym mission!) took take of that. Meanwhile, Laura, Amy and I discussed the perfect colours for the space.

We’ll be back at Dads Lane soon as the reno project continues.