Our second longer run for the season, we visited Stargarallot once more to finish off with some green work. Cyclists and walkers meeting us there, and the runners heading over from out City Centre start location. A beautiful evening for active travel and some outdoors volunteering, recharging the batteries for the rest of the week in work.

Today’s tasks were weeding the pathway before it became out of control, giving the wilding area a edge it to stop it encroaching onto the pathway, removing an old cover and putting to the side and finally clearing some dreaded bindweed and bramble from an area that should be utilised as food growing space.

Join us next week as we head on up to Global Gardens to help clear a space for a new children's activity.

A return to our friends at StarGarAllot community allotments this week, one of our slightly longer runs so we had some walkers meeting there, cyclists as well as the usual runners from the City.

It was a lovely evening for a run, and time for a nice chat as we made our way to the task. We picked up some people on the way who wanted a shorter run and then met everyone else outside the gate for the task. We were met at the gate by the task organiser, Camilla, who then walked us around the site explaining what needed doing this evening. Our tasks were;

1. To move a large bench from the shed to a new position that had been cleared in the shade.
2. To clear the area under the bench just moved
3. To put a picnic bench in the area we cleared so more volunteers could sit for lunch.
4. To clear a rather large grass, which was in the way of a pathway
5. To move another bench to an area overlooking the trees and potentially a nice sunset.

It as going to be some good lifting and exercise tonight, so plenty of team work going on. The grass turned out to be the most difficult of tasks as four of us with forks still struggled to lift it - sweat and grunts and it finally gave in as we dragged it away to the compost heap.

Some apple juice, a few grapes and bananas and it was time to leave. We will be returning next week to get on with some actual gardening, so get signed up here and we will see you there.

Another concert Tuesday in Cardiff as this week Taylor Swift and 70 000 fans take over the City, after the Pink concert last week we made the decision to move the start location back to Sport Wales for this task. It made our active travel much easier with a great direct run and walk.

Tonight's task was a great new one for the goodgym crew to get their teeth into, we were helping out at Llandaff Cathedral and to the background music of bell ringing. The water from the cathedral runs through guttering and out under a bridge, out job was to get in the trench and start clearing it out so that it can be transformed into a bog garden.

Learning ALERT

A bog garden can be created by adapting an existing soggy area, or from scratch, either at the edge of a pond, or as a standalone feature. Permanently damp, it creates an area where moisture-loving plants thrive. These plants are different to those suited to the standing water of a pond, so will attract a host of different wildlife.

A bog garden may be a better option than a pond for families with young children. Like a pond, it should attract frogs, toads and even grass snakes. Dragonflies and damselflies will perch on the taller grasses, and bees and butterflies will flit around the flowers.

wildlifetrust - make a bog garden

The soil in the trench was already springy and the area is surrounded by trees, the graveyard has a range of wildlife including some lovely foxes. This project will help to increase biodiversity even more and we can't wait to see the end results. We had lots of plants to remove, some could simply be pulled up with our hands (gloved of course) whilst others needed to be dug out with trowels. There was some overhanging branches that needed removing and lots of brambles trying to root themselves, all of the green waste could be placed in the grounds in-between trees to put their nutrients back into the soil.

Circle of Life

We bagged up all rubbish that had made its way into the trench, dating things as we went - can you remember ring pull drink cans? All fallen branches and wood was moved to the woodland areas too and the rather LARGE stones were placed on the side of the trench to be used in the next phase of the project. It was a good workout tonight, and everyone of us could see the work that we had just done.

A wonderful light evening, sunshine and a brand new project to help - It must be a goodgym Tuesday.

Tonight was our first visit to Grow Cardiff's newest project at Grange Medical Centre, the space that they have been given is very large with great potential......We will certainly be having a return trip here. Grow Cardiff have been going since June 2015, and have some really inspiring community gardens set up around the city.

Their mission is to inspire people to use community gardening not only to grow fantastic vegetables, herbs, trees and flowers, but through this to build caring and inclusive communities where everyone can thrive.

With such goals, goodgym are a great group to get involved and help.

It was a shorter run than usual, but with so much to do the added volunteering time was useful. Our jobs for the evening were,

• remove the layer of manure from the garden and move it to the compost heap
• build a compost heap
• remove all grass and weeds from the seating and pathways
• litter pick
• lay cardboard and woodchip on pathways

We had nice new gloves ready to wear and all the tools needed for the jobs, so it was straight to work. We got to meet a few of the locals who were also going to get involved with the project, nice to see the project already gaining volunteers. After 40 minutes of shovelling, wheelbarrow moving, pulling of plants and laying of woodchip it was time to step back and see the results of our efforts. There was a very visible difference to the plot today, and a great feeling of satisfaction.

Thanks to all, Grow Cardiff for task and you lovely volunteers to help spread the goodgym joy.

Get signed up for the next task here, as we get our painting task on again

Another lovely day in Cardiff as 10 volunteers got together to Get Active and Do Good.

Tonight, we had 7 runners from our start location, 1 cyclist and 2 walkers. It was a lovely evening to be out and about helping, and we had a celebration too.

Jonathan hit a milestone as we celebrated 50 good deeds.

Big Congratulations

As always, we arrived at Samye to smiles and a table of water, just what you want after a lovely run. We had a quick chat whilst rehydrating and catching our breath. Then it was time to get busy and help, there was a list of tasks and a group of willing volunteers - the perfect combination.

They had been very busy indeed since our last visit to Samye and were part way through a build of what will be a lovely pond. They had broken through the brick, rubble and dug down, piling it all around the sides. Still tome to do in the middle, which we could also help with if there was time, but for now the most important thing was to help, tidy up and move those heavy bags. After all, many hands make light work.

Our tasks for the evening.

• Put all the rubble into sacks
• Move around to the side of the building
• Vacuum hall, stairs and office in building 252
• Sweep up around the pond
• Sand the wall around the new fire door

It was all go, Dylan went straight to his friend HENRY to clean up that building. Imy and Natasha got their sand on, shimmying and shaking around the door frame. The rest of us, well it was manic - spades moving rubble and soil into sacks, people carrying bricks, moving bags once full....a little more of the pond was also dug out. After 30 minutes of good old hard work, the pond was looking good, and we had certainly "Done GOOD".

We popped inside for a bit of a social and a little soup, before heading back to the city.

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