REPORT BY NAZIFA

St Matthew’s Gardens had certainly accumulated its fair share of leaves, so it was time for the GoodGym crew to get involved! 🍂

The task was mainly focused on clearing leaves from around the garden and churchyard, with a little bit of litter picking thrown in too. There were* A LOT* of leaves to tackle, but everyone got stuck in. We picked, swept, gathered and bagged them up, with plenty of bags being filled along the way

I made sure everyone had bags to collect the leaves in, and it was great seeing everyone working together to clear the paths and tidy up the area. There was definitely no shortage of leaves, but we managed to make a good dent in them!

It was also my first time leading a GoodGym session, so I was really happy with how everything went. As Emma would say, I can’t “be-leaf”it was my first one!

A big thank you to everyone who came along and helped out. It was a really good experience for my first time leading, and I think we all did a great job

Two seasoned GoodGymers, John and Emma, were joined by Rachel and Mick (Emma's parents) down from Dudley to tackle a variety of jobs on the Usk Street Allotments wildlife plot!

The awesome foursome got stuck into tidying borders, pruning trees and clearing away dead vegetation and debris. A particular focus for the mother-and-daughter duo was removing the brambles and bindweed that had started to choke some of the apple and elderberry trees, helping to give the plants space to thrive and ensuring the wildlife area can continue to flourish. Meanwhile, Laurel and Hardy (aka John and Mick) got stuck in at the front of the plot to remove dead flowers and tidy the compost and bark chip around the rose bushes to give the space a welcoming border.

Amongst the piles of twigs and cuttings, we also uncovered an old bug hotel which had seen better days. Rather than leaving it hidden away, we found a suitable spot and hung it up again, ready to provide shelter for insects once more! A robin even visited us to say hello and see what treats we might have uncovered.

Catherine, the wildlife plot lead, thanked us immensely for our work in helping with the upkeep of the plot. After a productive morning in the fresh air and September sun, we rounded things off with a well-earned cup of coffee and a chat. A lovely way to spend a Saturday morning while helping both the allotment and local wildlife 🌿☕️🐝

We were back at Ocean Youth Connexions to support Kamal for another session, helping keep the site in tip-top shape.

First on arrival, John, Sam, Kareem and first timer, Ken were set straight to work litter picking in the yard and clearing leaves. Meanwhile, Darren and I tackled the front of the building, pruning what we identified as a milkflower cotoneaster shrub, as well as clearing leaves and picking up litter.

A little later,Emma, Arina and Louise joined us. Louise deserves special credit for navigating a heroic bus journey to get there! They headed upstairs to clean and soap the doors, with Emma declaring it was “the most I've ever enjoyed cleaning doors!”

As summer fades, we couldn't help notice the darkness creeping in earlier than usual.It won't be long before the head torches make their seasonal return.

A special mention goes to Sam, John and Darren, who all took part in the Big Half on Sunday and still turned out to volunteer.

Finally, a big welcome to Ken on his first GoodGym task. We hope to see you again soon!

A whopping turnout of 17 GoodGymmers made a huge difference to the grounds that wrap around St Peter's Church.

One main aim of the session was clearing all sorts of unwanted stuff out of the gardens and filling up the bins outside, including a heap of old furniture and scrap metal, stray traffic cones, old plant pots and fallen leaves. Another task was scooping mulch out of a very large container and tipping it onto the flower beds and there was even time and enough helping hands for some litter picking.

A warm welcome to the three new faces, Ming, Lake and You who all made their GG debuts on this sunny evening. Afterwards a few people headed to the Royal Oak pub in Columbia Road for a well deserved drink. 🍺