Warning: this report may contain a disproportionate amount of puns due to the generous word-smithery of the GG Ipswich Pun Crew led by Imogen, David and Pippa...

A tree-mendous morning in the East of Ipswich as Good Gymers turned up to hep celebrate #IpswichLovesTrees Week. To show our love for the town - it is Valentine's Day after all - Imogen , Pippa and David came along spades in hand despite the rain. The rain, it turns out, did us a favour as the ground was soft enough to easily dig holes for the trees. The aim is to plant 1,000 and there are other tree planting events going on across this week in other parts of Ipswich.

A kidney bean shaped area had been demarcated and after careful questioning about spacing, depth of holes and types of tree, we merrily got on with the task in hand. Always looking for the most efficient way of completing a task, various discussions about best approaches - criss cross slicing of the ground vs square shaped holes.. it turns out both have their place dependent on the roots and size of the tree being planted. Glad we got to the 'root' of that...

David and Pippa got to test out their new latex gloves, ( no puns here) and were pleased to report their grip was satisfactory. Natalie's partner came along to eat all the biscuits and demonstrate an annoying knack of digging with ease.

Within two hours, the kidney bean went from an empty grass area to teeming with small trees reading to take root. You 'wood' not believe the difference... And on the one year anniversary of the Ipswich Good Gyn's relaunch, a fitting celebratory shin-'dig'...

Note: all puns not the authors own

Four good gymers headed off in the early evening sunshine to chantry park this evening for some litter picking.

Great to see Natasha back for the first time since completing not one but two marathons recently. What an achievement! In awe of your commitment!

And Imogen and Bruce too who got stuck in - even bringing their own gloves at such short notice. Loved hearing about their bbq at the weekend and Bruce's former foray into cross country.

Natalie channeled her inner lobster with some formidable litter pickers looming precariously out of her bag as they faced the hill up to the park together. Quite a sight.

But the gang were more than rewarded with the golden hour light and gentile scenes of the local cricket club playing once they arrived. And thanks to the cricket team who kindly disposed of the rubbish collected: a high proportion of energy drink cans and rogue plastic.

Thanks everyone, great work!

We couldn't think of a better day in the year to show Ipswich Parks some love than on Valentines' Day!

Arriving at Gippeswyk Park early to ensure no one was without cake it was hard to decipher the Ipswich Park Ranger Sarah and location for the tree planting due to the mist and fog that covered the park.

Part of #IpswichLovesTreesWeek, the word had definitely got out. Families on half-term rolled up their sleeves, coinciding the planting with a visit to the park's new play area that had opened that morning.

No sooner than the gazebo was up and the spades and forks were unloaded from the van, the skies lifted and the sun shone.

It was lovely to see GoodGymer Eleanor there who wasted no time getting stuck in and offered pro tips to Natalie about the best way to get into the tough turf. Smaller spades were the order of the day with plenty of fork action. Tips to treasure for life! Paul too was an expert at his craft and it was great to see their enthusiasm for the park, planting and Good Gym.

Along came Mayor of Ipswich John Cook who was a dab hand and plenty of Ipswich Tree Wardens who knew exactly how to get the job done. And Theresa from Good Gym HQ was delighted to be back in Ipswich.

Within an hour, more than 250 trees of the final 400+ were collectively planted including Bird Cherry, Buckthorn, Crab Apple, Gorse, Honey Suckle and Hazel. National charity Trees for Cities too offered muscle, encouragement and plenty of motivating tunes from their speaker.

All in all, it was a great morning spent with people coming together in the Spring sunshine and seeing such progress. It really did feel apt for a relaunch. Can't wait to head back and see the trees mature.

(Better photos coming soon... :)

One GoodGymer grabbed her litter picker at lunchtime today (granted: child sized version) and roamed through Christchurch Park grabbing all sorts of debris. It took an eagle eye as the park was looking spectacularly clean and tidy today and especially lovely with the crocuses coming through. No stone was left unturned.

Think it may have confused the squirrels who seemed rather perplexed / interested.....

One hour done, 8,000 steps and a half bag of litter carefully deposited.