A return to St. Paul's Community Hall and Church tonight. But first, time to ask one of the strangest questions at a bar......

did you find my watering cans last week?

Some 13 goodgymers tonight, so plenty to get done. We welcomed to their first task, Bruno

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And back for their second helping of volunteering, and this week joining the runners Abdullah.

Sneaking in at the last minute, and thinking he'd bypass the tradition by not signing up! Dylan arrived, but unbeknown to him we had already planned for this. Thanks Rosie 😁

And so without further delay.. Congratulations on hitting 100.

Hope you enjoy wearing the wings for the evening.

The walking group made their way on a slightly more direct route, led by Emma.

The runners took a route following the river and getting a wonderful breeze, and arrived to meet our organiser and a couple of goodgymers who had made their own way there.

We had a big task tonight, as so much of the grounds had become overgrown... Even in a drought. We split into groups to get as much completed as possible.

• Group 1 were on fence clearing
• Group 2 were clearing in between the paving slabs
• Group 3 tackling the side
• Group 4 around the back

There was cutting of the ivy around the fences, before the crew got their energy and started ripping it off. The tree saplings that had taken root were also cut back, leaving a nice clear site. The pathway was cleared using some tough wire brushes, before being sprayed to keep those weeds at bay. We may have broken a brush or two, but our organiser had admitted to buying cheap online....

The side had a lot of misplaced plants, so they were removed before the whole area was swept and made all spick and span again.

And then came the back.......Everywhere you looked there were plants to be pulled. Rosebay willowherb and buddleja where just a couple. Due to the drought conditions of late though, they were a little easier to pull up, but the seeds and pollen certainly got up noses. And so, the conversation got onto the conga - Standard.

The original by Miami Sound Machine and Gloria Estefan, and the childhood / wedding party delight from Black Lace.

Distraction out of the way, we downed tools and made our way to the front for our standard group photo. We achieved a lot more than our task organiser expected, meaning our next trip could be something a bit different. Thanks team for a successful evening, see you next time.

Our second successful task at the local community orchard in Cardiff.

Welcome to our first timers, Jenny and Mhairi.

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And back for more, on their second return task Darcey (and the orchard again.... do you have a favourite task already?).

Our groups tonight had walkers Michael, Jenny, Rosie, Dylan and Dylan.

Runners Mhairi, David, Darren, Darcey, Aaron and Emily.

And on the cycle..... Lew.

With very little rain in the recent months we needed to help out the trees in the orchard. With some only recently planted (this year), they are much more vulnerable to droughts.

Unfortunately other community spaces in Cathays and Bute Park have had 30-40% of their newly planted trees die this year due to drought conditions.

GoodGym are not going to let this happen to the orchard!

A great team effort watering a lot of trees. We had our extra workout rolling the bowsers to the tsp and back, then team spout got to the watering cans. We managed all the trees tonight, and then had a wildflower spotting session with the wonderful Bodge.

On yet another hot and sweaty night, 8 Goodgymers ran, cycled and walked to Cwtch together to help out. There was plenty of tasks to get on with, inside and out, so we got cracking straight away.

Welcome Matthew to the Goodgym crew. Thanks for attending your first GG task, hopefully we will see you again soon.

Inside the hall, Matthew and Dylan S were clearing out and cleaning the kitchen whilst Rosie and Dylan V were mopping the main hall area. Initially Rosie and Dylan did kick off with their patented 'dry mopping technique'! So eager to start and do good they were working away without any water or cleaning product! ;o)

Emily, Darren and Jen set about the front garden, clearing any nettles and weeds from the play area and the perimeter, as well as mowing the lawn. Michael attacked the overgrown back area with a strimmer, check out the before and after to see the difference! Impressive stuff.

At the end of the task we were rewarded with some ice cold cans of water! They may look like beer or an energy drink but we can assure you it was water! We had a play with the hula hoop before some photos and bidding farewell for another week.

We got back to the pub where Leon had kindly reserved us a table to watch the Spain v France WC semi final.

On a glorious day in the sunshine, goodgymers got together for the long overdue task of Orchard watering..

The community orchard in Bute park was in need of a good slosh o' water. After heatwave after heatwave, those trees were rattling the fences for us to come in.

Due to all of the events in the parks recently.... The orchard had to be fenced off for its own safety. This had meant a cancelled water session last time, but no more. Finally as the people of Cardiff get their parks back, goodgym can get to the orchard.

We met at Glassworks as usual, and welcomed our first timer Darcey..

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We set off on our run, a light jog due to the heat.. A slight detour due to the get out for the events crew as they disassembled the monstrosity of the stage and walls, but we made it to the orchard gates. Our organiser, Mel messaged to say she was running a little late so we got comfortable in the shade relaxing after our run.

David decided to try to break the code for the gate lock, but with no success.

As Mel arrived, on her bike with 2 water browsers and a watering can (Michael had run with 2 from his allotment), it was time to get into the orchard to get volunteering.

There are over 60 trees in the orchard, so our task was a big one tonight, the plan of action was simple....

• fill up the 2 browsers (60 litres each)
• decant water to the cans
• give each tree 1 FULL can of water

We rotated, giving everyone time for a different workout. Running back and forth to fill up the browsers, they were quite a workout on their own once full, but fun to roll. Lifting and pouring the water into the watering cans, a great upper body workout. And last, but by no means least, running to water the trees.

We were even lucky enough to see a green spotted woodpecker, but not in time for Jonathan to get it on the merlin app.... Maybe next time...

Speaking of which, we will return in 2 weeks for another watering session as we head into a big ol heatwave....

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