Work continues at Knaphill Lower School Garden. This week only Julie was there to support Vikki and Mark as they get closer to completing the restoration. The beds are taking shape and Julie dug and weeded the front beds so that they are ready for some more topsoil and then the fun bit - planting will be happening soon so do sign up for the next session!

*Knaphill Lower School Restoration Project*

Another Saturday morning and another opportunity to help out at Knaphill Lower School Restoration Project.

Wayne, Julie, and Stephanie met Vicki and her husband at the school to see what Goodgym could help with.

The garden has changed alot since goodgymers have been coming, really starting to come together.

The first task was for Wayne and Julie to move some logs from one of the out buildings over to the new secret garden luckily we had two wheelbarrows that made light work of the this particular task 😀

Stephanie then arrived and was tasked with cutting some big branches into smaller sections for the new bug hotel 🐞

Once Wayne and Julie had finished putting the logs in place they joined Stephanie and together managed to cut various sizes of branches that were neatly put into the hotel, 🐜

the ground was damp but at least it was not raining and we even had a little bit of sunshine ☀️

Stephanie and Kirsty were back at Knaphill Lower School this week, cheerfully soggy but undeterred, helping the PTA continue the transformation of the outdoor space into something special for pupils to play and learn in. Our mission: support J, a Duke of Edinburgh participant, in planting 50 hawthorn wicks (that’s roots, for those of us who still think gardening involves guesswork and hope) to form a new hawthorn-lined hedge alongside the living hedge created by GG on previous tasks. we didnt quite manage to get all 50 into the ground, but honestly it was hard to count!

As ever, the project is being powered by the seemingly limitless commitment of Vikki and Mark, with son O firmly in the mix. Proof that community energy, much like hawthorn, thrives in all weather. Rain-soaked, muddy, and oddly satisfying: another GoodGym task well planted. 🌧 Well done Stephanie and Kirsty

Another session at Knaphill, sadly this week only Julie was able to attend from Goodgym. Vikki was already working hard with her family and today’s task was painting - a second coat on the wigwams, finishing off the fence and more green on the newly installed gate. Luckily the morning was dry and bright however the wind was cold. 🥶 great progress this week and plenty more to do next time.

What a wonderful task organised by Julie, who kindly provided all the paint, paintbrushes, pots, tablecloths and even drinks and snacks.

It proved to be a popular task as there was a good turn out from the Woking GoodGym gang to paint bird boxes for Knaphill Lower School. We were given a wooden bird box to unleash our creative painting talents. Becky and Anne shared a box, and went with a very practical camouflage design, as did Julie and Kirsty who went with a beautiful shade of blue plus a cheerful yellow sun.

Nadia did GoodGym proud by not only painting a colourful box but also bringing along a friend for January in the form of her mum who is a good painter as demonstrated by her berry design. Adam ran to the task now he is getting back into running in time to paint a colourful red and blue box.

Ola showed his creative talent by using masking tape for his design. Vicky from the PTA popped along to see our hard work and explained 20 bird boxes will be placed along a trail for the lower school children to try to spot them all.

Vicky's son picked Stephanie's as the the best painted bird box, which was well deserved, as she was able to combine a practical but stylish design of green leaves.

Luan, Olalekan, Kirsty and Julie were back for another session reviving the outdoor space for the school pupils. Vikki had 2 jobs for us this week - creating a habitat hedge and constructing a gate. Ola took on the gate and persevered all session, showing great determination,overcoming incorrect instructions and a lack of pre-drilled holes to create a great looking finished product!

Luan teamed up wiith one of the school parents and did a great job of removing the ivy, while Kirsty demonstrated her fantastic new tools that Father Christmas had provided. She must have been on the 'very nice' list. The loppers were particularly great for chopping the branches for the habitat hedge and the hori hori (a cross between a trowel and a knife) was great for making holes for the support posts. A great job by the team as always.

Looking forward to meeting at the Phoenix Cultural Centre on Wednesday evening to paint the nesting boxes.