Knaphill Lower School Nature Garden

This morning Wayne, Kirsty, & Julie met at the Knaphill lower school nature garden to finish off the last few tasks before the grand opening in a few week ☀️

The weather was amazing 😎. We were as always met by Vicki & Mark. Wayne first task was to get the whose pipe working as there were issues with the connections 🤔. After 10 mins of re-configuration we had water 💦.

Once the hose pipe issue had been rectified Wayne onto to the bug hotel 🐞🐛 to fix and attached the the fence around the hotel 🐜

Kirsty was tasked with painting the seated area 👩🏻‍🎨.

Julie was in charge of the positioning of the plants that had been donated to the school as well as clearing some logs. 🪴

We have one more visit to finish off which is next weekend before the grand opening 😄

Knaphill Lower School

This evening Wayne, Kirsty, & Nadia met at Knaphill lower school for a final push to get the outdoor play area completed in time for its grand opening in early June 😄

They were met by Vicki & Mark and were given tasks.

First task was to clear the ground of leaves and twigs 🍁🍂 from the area. Rakes and bags were provided.

2nd task was for Wayne & Mark to move three very heavy Belfast Sinks and place them in specific locations around the garden. These sinks were about 50kg 💪🏼, luckily we had a trolly to put them on once they had been lifted off the ground.

The whole garden looked amazing especially with the Goodgym bird boxes that were created by the team high up in the tree's.

Once the date of the opening is confirmed it would be fantastic for all of us to attend. 😄

A great turn out today of 6 Goodgymers meant that we made great progress on the school garden. Luan and Kirsty started by collecting plants from another area of the school to add to the previous planting which is settling in and looking amazing. Anne and Katie painted the bug hotel with lovely red paint inspired by the Good Gym branding. Stephanie got stuck in to making some concrete mushrooms - we are very excited to see how those turn out. Julie finally got to use some of the massive compost heap to fill a wormery so that the children will be able to see how worms aerate the soil by creating tunnels and pull down leaf litter from the surface to help decompose it and create more lovely soil. A great team effort today - Vikki is planning a grand opening after half term so watch out for the date for this.

Anne, Andy and Nadia met at Woking Leisure Centre at 18:45 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ and jogged the 1.2km to St Mark’s Church, Westfield ⛪, with Wayne and Kirsty joining us there at 19:00 👋. How great to see everyone again with their busy and interesting lives! We emptied the room 📦, shoved all the cupboards and chests forward to sweep behind 🧹, and unearthed some treasure toys that had been suspiciously launched onto the top shelves 🧸. Anne mopped the floor 💦 while the rest of us naughty students trod it dirty again 👣, only for her to sparkle it back up like a pro ✨. By the end we’d left the community fridge as bright and clear as the evening itself 🌙, then ran the 1.8km back to the Leisure Centre 🏁. 3km total, one gleaming room, and we burned enough calories to justify raiding a fridge ourselves 🧀.

A small but mighty team of three GoodGymers headed back to Knaphill Lower School’s nature garden today, and with the finish line in sight, it was all hands on deck to bring the space closer to completion.

We kicked things off together, planting the last batch of flowers to add even more colour and life to the garden. With the beds blooming nicely, we then split off to tackle a few key jobs: Katie got creative, giving the bug hotel a fresh coat of paint – making it not only a cosy spot for insects, but a real feature in the garden. •Kirsty took on the perimeter, cutting back some wayward branches and helping to tidy up the edges of the space. •StephanieStephanie (that’s me!) took on the task of digging a deep hole for a post. It took some perseverance (and a bit of sweat!), but we got there in the end 💪 With the sun shining down on us, it was one of those sessions that reminds you why these tasks are so rewarding – great company, meaningful work, and a lovely setting. To top it all off, Vikki and Mark were really pleased with the what we achieved and how the garden is coming along. As a thank you for all the help over the past few months, they kindly gifted us a mug and a crochet coaster – such a lovely thing! The transformation of the garden has been incredible, especially over the past few weeks and it’s now looking absolutely fantastic. Just a few final touches to go… 🌿✨ Can’t wait to see it fully finished!