Three GoodGymmers joined Grow for Life to spruce up their tool shed with a lovely lick of black paint. We always enjoy coming to their wonderful walled garden where they provide social and therapeutic gardening sessions for those living with low confidence, anxiety, depression or isolation. With lots of fun chat including the origins of phrases such as 'cutting the mustard' we can confirm that Bennath, Ruth and Tanya definitely cut the mustard today! With the repainted shed looking very smart we were well rewarded by our hosts with cool melon and iced drinks which were so welcome on a hot day. Great job all and looking forward to the next session in August, sign up to really make a difference to this small Bath charity.

One of GoodGym Bath’s regular missions is helping a local church support some vulnerable members of its community. It lays on a monthly meal - ‘One-to-One’ - at the church for people who would otherwise be eating on their own and also provides a takeaway version for those who can’t make it. Mary and I put the “do good get fit” mantra into practice by hand-delivering them across Odd Down.

The fact that the lunches were roast turkey (and trifle!) may seem surprising for a hot summer’s day but the guests simply love their roasts. As Mrs C said as I handed her a lunch, “I really look forward to these every month, they are wonderful”. When you’re on your own it’s a lot of effort to cook a full-on roast.

We are not just delivering lunches, we are also possibly the only person these people may see during the day. We provide a friendly face and check up on them too.

Indeed, one householder I visited who was struggling in the heatwave welcomed my advice to keep hydrated.

I hope they enjoyed their trifles too!

“Do not underestimate the bindweed, its need for wreathe and stifle rooted deep in its name”. Jan Wagner

“ Each morning I evict them. Each night more arrive, their leaves small, green shrouds, reminding me the mother root waits deep underground”. James McKean

“ Bindweed was a bane — hellweed, strangleweed, devil's nightcap”. Caroline Mellor

Poets don’t just confine themselves to waxing lyrical about roses - they’re also inspired by one of the most problematic weeds around. While it is no Japanese knotweed, it chokes the plants it grows around and is notoriously difficult to deal with.

Well there is plenty of it at Cleveland Pools where GoodGym Bath has been helping keep the site under control so it will be ready for action when it is brought back into use.

Bindweed’s white trumpet flowers are deceptively pretty in the bushes but they simply had to go. I spent my time untangling their tendrils and pulling them out as best I could. It was a task made trickier by the sloping ground. Let’s hope they don’t pop back up the moment our backs are turned.

While I was battling the “devil’s nightcap”, Paul was busy doing all sorts of odd jobs. In fact he was busy in the week - taking the mower to the slopes and making them look neater than I’d ever seen them. Today he tidied up bits of rusty fencing and other bits and bobs as well as doing a serious amount of sweeping. There was one area with concrete benches which was tucked away - he imagined swimmers relaxing in the shady spot. Maybe some day soon!

It’s Loneliness Awareness Week and it’s timely that St Philip’s Church in Bath hosts its monthly One-to-One meal - a way to bring people together over a roast dinner. They would otherwise be eating on their own and this is aimed at combating loneliness along with two courses , a coffee and a quiz.

Sadly some One-to-oners can no longer make it to the church so the team reach out to them and provide them with a takeaway roastie so that they can still feel connected.

That’s where GoodGym comes in - we deliver the food door-to-door. If we’re fast enough it arrives hot - but it can always be heated up and still taste as good. This is where GoodGym’s famous “Do Good Get Fit” motto comes into play. I only had four meals to deliver but I travelled 4.6 miles. Not only were the deliveries spread out across Odd Down, the grateful recipients also gave donations so I had to come back with change.

Still what do a few blisters matter when you’re doing good? We’ll be back next month.

107 children took to the local cycle track this Sunday but no bikes were in sight. The route doubles as a 2km course for Odd Down Junior Parkrun and the tiny runners were there to get a personal best, start the day right, improve their fitness or just simply run for fun. Every single one of them gave their all and some of their parents joined in to support them and give a family feel to the event.

Mary and I were among 19 volunteers on the day to help things go smoothly. Our job as marshals was to keep an eye out for anyone in difficulties along the course - we were issued with whistles just in case - but also to cheer on the youngsters. Giant foam hands were deployed full time for high fives alongside many words of encouragement. It’s amazing how the prospect of hitting a marshal’s hand can give you a real turn of speed.

We noticed that one or two of the fastest children were absent and realised they were now too old for juniors - let’s hope they find a future in athletics and have been inspired by their Odd Down experience.

There are still plenty of familiar faces to look out for next time - with those foam hands at the ready.

You might think spending the hottest day of the year at the local open air swimming pool would be ideal but there's a snag - Cleveland Pools is currently closed following flood damage.

The only creature who got to have a dip was a visiting bird who fancied a bath.

Our job was to keep the site looking shipshape and Bristol fashion ready for the moment it is brought back into use. This time Meyrick and Ruth pulled weeds and poured compost around plantings to discourage further growth. Meanwhile Paul oversaw all the volunteers who were also helping out and also made a number of trips to the compost heap for us.

We managed to complete our task, despite the heat.

The promise of more homemade cake (it was delicious) will go a long way to tempting us back to the historic lido for another session.