It was a bright day in May, and the clock was striking 15:48. Yes, it was the first ever GoodGym bell-ringing social! The secret, according to task owner Lady Andrea (she’s really a Lady!), is to pull down sharply and just hold steady. Which various GoodGymers succeeded in doing, and all of them (well, apart from Kate) even stayed on the ground! The bells peeled out and the local populace probably emerged from their homes expecting a church service, some kind of jubilee, or just the surprisingly early arrival of four o’clock

Earlier, we did fulfil our usual “big-Monday night task”, albeit in the afternoon this time, with our efforts endorsed by the good Lady, who gave us "many thanks to all who attended". Emma J was trying to unearth a stubborn root, while litter duties were undertaken by Ilana, Fiona (all the way from Highams Park) and Jackie (all the way from Camden Town). Meanwhile Jack (all the way from Redbridge), Chloe (all the way from the next block but one) and Kevin beavered away at the growing plot, oblivious to some mayhem going on nearby

Four GoodGymers struggled for some time to separate a large bush from the earth beneath, then Lucinda arrived from nowhere (Tooting), applied her well-practiced carpet-rolling technique, and the roots just surrendered. Emma R was doing excellent work manoevering the dug-up weeds, dead leaves and large picked-up branches into small bags, while Emma J was pulling furiously, in a valiant attempt to unearth the stubborn root

Zak appeared for his first GoodGym and threw himself into the task and the conversation. Louise didn’t sign up until the clock was striking two, but that was nothing to do with us, this time

Nia, fresh from doing her first ever half-marathon - faster than she ever expected - introduced us to a first-timer, Alex. In contrast, Kate is a veteran, having undertaken her debut task all of three years ago before disappearing to the far North. Meanwhile Emma J was making a sterling effort, trying very hard to unearth that stubborn root

Sam had just about recovered from his amazing efforts in the London marathon, where he somehow evaded the gaze of every mile-24 GoodGym cheerer. Rue kept everyone informed with a stream of fascinating facts, before we moved on to our bell-ringing duties - all apart from Emma J, determined to unearth a stubborn root…

Mrs M finds it difficult to walk and so finds it hard to upkeep and maintain her garden area. He home is small so being able to feel comfortable in her outside space is important for her wellbeing.

When I arrived she showed me that some of her ivy netting had fallen down, thus exposing her side garden to a public walkway. She had initially wanted it all pulled down, but I suggested that I could get it back up again if she had a few zip-ties lying around.

After rummaging around a bit she found some, and I got to work tying back up the netting to the gate. I had to prune back a rose bush that had overgrown into the netting and started ripping it apart. A few zip ties later and the netting was all back up and privacy was restored to the garden.

I then put my focus to some of the big weeds along the footpath, and used some weed-whacker to attack the gaps in the pavestones.

Once that was done, my time was up and Mrs M was very happy with some renewed privacy. She can now sit out and enjoy the sunny days ahead ☀️

Next up will be tackling the massive weed problem in her back garden.

Mr R is wheelchair bound and it has been impossible for him to get in and out of his bathroom because of how the door swings inward. Removing it was the name of the game.

This was a quick job with high impact, I just used a flathead screwdriver to unscrew 6 screws and take off the door off of its hinges, then moved it into a hiding spot in another room. In and out in 15 mins.

Now Mr R can easily access his bathroom and live a more independent life. Le bosh!