Another successful gardening session for Mr S. He's been getting out in the garden himself with the dog, which is great to hear, particularly for keeping moving and his mental health!

Today I focused heavily on bramble removal in a section of the garden. Surprisingly went well with the electric clipper and manual loppers with the rake effective in collating the garden debris. 90 minutes of tough work showing good outputs!

Mr S is hoping to get out with the mower now the brambles have been diminished a bit. Solid session.

Another productive gardening session for Mrs L. This time sprucing up the front garden after the warm weather and rain last week.

Lots of lopping of branches from the hedge overgrowing at the front, weeding of the paths, a thorough clearing of the beds, and a mow of the overgrown grass. Swept up and all the garden waste placed in the green bin, which was full to the brim.

Poppies and ferns left to flourish and some of the rose bushes dead-headed. Looking splendid in the sunshine and Mrs L was very pleased.

Welcome to Amrinda and Antonio for your first GoodGym volunteer credit with a big litterpick in Hatchett's Wood in Wythenshawe 🚮

Hannah and Ash from City of Trees 🌳 were leading the group, with volunteers of all ages joining in to help. With tea, coffee, and biscuits on hand to fuel the litterpick, plus good litterpickers, bags, and hi-vis, we dived straight in.

Alongside normal litter of bottles, cans, and lots of plastic containers (some apparently to feed the local foxes), there was also a lot of fly tipping that took the headlines. Antonio and Amrinda did a sterling job unearthing lots of carpet plus some other glass items to be safely disposed of. Ben managed to find a battery, a black bin, and a kids red car 🚘 Some sharps (needles) and a trolley were also found along with a few cones.

A busy 3 hours of litterpicking culminated in 34+ bags of litter and a sizeable pile of fly tipping that was all reported for collection.

First mission for Mrs M to give the garden a thorough weeding and digging over in some places.

Good hand tools with a hoe, spade, and rake meant removing the weeds and grass from the top beds was relatively straightforward with some GoodGym energy. Lots of brambles around the garden with roots renoved where possible and a thorough mowing of any grassy areas to leave it ship shape.

Thankful for the cup of tea and the cooler weather without much rain. Garden waste bin was filled to the brim.