Another fab mission at Aldermoor Community Farm where we welcomed Sue for her first task with us. This time we were helping prepare kindling. Easy to snap twigs went in a bag and those that were a bit bigger were cut into 30cm pieces. It was a lovely task, the geese kept an eye on us while we chopped and chatted.

Join us when we return in a months time! 🌻🌻🌻

Todays session was at Lordshill Community Centre. It was the first time we were visiting for a task and we were kept very busy with a wide variety of things to do!

The centre has a beautiful outdoor playspace for children to enjoy that needed clearing of all the leaves that had fallen into the playground. Lucy, Wilson, Lauren and Helen tackled the leaves and Wilson was very pleased to discover Dinosaurs (that have now been nicely rehomed into a tree!) and have a go on the tiny tiny bike with Lucy!

We had a great mix of teams, Helen, Hannah and Sara also tackled everything from filling the grit bin and moving sandbags to clearing the gutters and cleaning the windows. We also snipped the brambles and generally spruced the whole place up.

Hannah and Lauren ran to and from the task from the Walnut Tree (with Hannah cycling there!) on a magical mystery tour and Wilson walked, making it a super active evening for our goodgymers!

Hopefully we can return again soon and help out again, an enjoyable task for all.

We were delighted to return to Aldermoor Community Farm for our 10th official task this evening. We can't believe its been over 3 months since we had our very first meeting of GoodGym curious Southamptoners at Aldermoor. We couldn't believe last time we were there we were shifting compost in our winter gear and racing to finish in daylight!

We were excited to welcome Lucy to her very first task and hope to see her again soon. It was also great to welcome back Amanda . Today Richard had some different tasks to help with which included cutting back the hedgerow to develop a clearer path, and rescuing an apple tree and the raspberries from the brambles and bindweed. Helen and Amanda rescued the apple tree while being careful to protect the tiny frogs that had set up home there. Sara and Hannah worked their way round clearing around the raspberries, picking the ripe ones as they went. Once finished we made short work of eating the ripe raspberries with Richard's encouragement of course! The rest us tidied up the hedges with instructions to sort the spiky trees from the non spiky trees, all ready for composting. We were all pretty skilled at sorting using those categories! Before we knew it the wheelbarrows were full and it was time to head off, but not before we got our next visit planned in.

Lauren led another fab run this evening to and from the task. It was also brilliant to see our pedal powered GoodGymers tonight - Wilson, Amanda, Hannah. You don't have to be a runner to come and join us. Walkers and cyclists will always be welcome too.

Thanks to Lauren for leading us on our first proper group run. Four of us ran just over a mile from Southampton Common to Shirley Pond park. Here we were joined by Sara and David . It was Dave’s first Southampton GoodGym session after attending Portsmouth GoodGym once upon a time! We met Friends of Shirley Pond Park for their monthly litter pick and got a “bioblitz” thrown in for free! Using the iNaturalist app, Christelle explained we would take pictures of plants and wildlife in the park to upload for identification into a national database. Some of us had some minor technical problems (including not bringing an actual phone Helen!) so stuck to a good old fashioned litter pick. Clearly Dave was a pro bioblitzer though as found all the insects to identify. This included a moth with a fancy name, Pearl Veneer, and a slightly less fancy lady bug! Park bioblitzed and litter picked it was time for goodbyes and the runners to head back. We hope to return next month to lend a hand again.

With half the hands of last week we went back to finish the garden clearance at Moorlands Community Centre. Tracey was very impressed with the amount we had cleared the first week and has lots of plans for the space that will benefit the local community including their preschool.

We split into two teams with Team one tackling the front of the centre. Tracey, Helen, Helen and Wilson tidied up the kerbs, weeded along the front of the building, and did a good litter pick. Meanwhile Team two, consisting of Sara and myself, continued to clear the astroturf (sorry bugs!) and remove nettles and brambles. I discovered dry brambles sprinkle sharp thorns everywhere so it’s best not the snap them until they’re over the bag! Thorns all disposed of, and with a final sweep done, the centre’s outdoor space was looking much tidier. We hope to be back again soon to help with further plans to develop the space.