Last night’s GoodGym Nottingham task was meant to see us helping at the Meadows Foodbank. However, for the second week running, a last-minute change of plan was needed, this time due to illness (get well soon Mark!).

Luckily, Leah had a stash of purple bags and gloves in her car, so not to be defeated again, we quickly switched gears and turned our attention to litter picking around the local area. As there were so many of us, we split into two groups and collectively managed to fill 4 bags of litter which had been lurking amongst the fallen leaves – impressive given how clean and tidy the area actually looked and that some of us were wheeling bikes around whilst picking!

It may not have been the task we originally planned, but we still got out, got moving and made a difference. Thanks to everyone who came for being so adaptable, and we will hopefully reschedule our visit to the Foodbank for a future week.

A big welcome to Georgie who joined us for the first time!

Next week we will be at the Brandon Lawerence Sports Centre – sign up here.

On a dark, damp night it was good to be inside the Sherwood Community Centre.

Laid out before us were a plethora of brushes, rollers, trays and paint and we rolled up our sleeves in true GoodGym fashion.

We split in to two teams with Matt, Charlie, Dayna and Peter on one side and Walter, Khiltee, Florence and first timer Martin on the other.

We were so efficient that there was even time for Charlie and Matt to vacuum, sweep and mop some floors and for Peter to make a start on cleaning the brushes, trays and rollers.

Welcome aboard Martin, we hope you enjoyed your first task with and hopefully see you again soon.

Last night, GoodGym Nottingham headed to Sherwood Community Centre for one of our first properly dark tasks of the year.

Our mission was to clear a seriously overgrown patch of ground so a skip can be brought in, while also cutting back enough brambles to expose a gate which was totally unusable.

Meanwhile, Nigel took on a spot of mowing on the lawn next to the car park. However, this was abruptly curtailed when a yoga class began inside the community centre and it was decided that Nigel’s mower may disrupt the peace in the yoga room.

About 15-minutes into the task, the daylight started disappearing, so out came the head torches and a few portable spotlights and on we went.

As the brambles were gradually defeated, we made an important archaeological discovery – several large stone 'megaliths'. In true GoodGym fashion, we immediately began speculating whether we had stumbled across some kind of ancient Roman settlement or one of Nottingham’s greatest undiscovered historical sites.

By the end of the evening, we had cleared a substantial area, freed the pedestrian gate from its brambly captivity and made good progress towards getting the space ready for the skip, and, quite possibly, uncovered a piece of Nottingham’s Roman past.

Well done to Walter, Giovanna, Matt, Nigel, Leah, Peter and Rachel.

Five GoodGym Nottingham volunteers headed out for a special evening that combined two very different Nottingham traditions: litter picking and Goose Fair!

After meeting up in Carrington, Leah, Florence, Tim, Walter and Rachel worked their way around the local streets filling a whole bag of litter on the way. Good deed done, it was time for a well-earned reward...a trip to one of Nottingham’s most iconic nights out!

The group made their way to Forest Rec where the bright lights, terrifying-looking rides and enormous soft toys of Goose Fair were waiting. The first priority was refuelling with some tasty fairground food. Leah and Tim decided to try out the infamous Goose Fair mushy peas – as you can see from the photo, Leah seemed more sold than Tim! Afterwards, the group wandered around taking in the sights and sounds, ruling out any desire to try any ride that involved spinning wildly in the air or a stomach-churning drop.

After waving goodbye to Tim, the rest of the group decided that the Ferris wheel would be a suitable activity worthy of our time and money. As the wheel climbed higher, the group got a bird’s-eye view of the dazzling rides below, with Goose Fair glowing in all its colourful glory. And to make the evening even more spectacular, a huge, beautiful moon appeared to be hovering in the distance over the fairground (the photos don’t do it justice).

From filling a bag with litter to floating above the lights of Goose Fair, it was a brilliant evening of community, teamwork and a little bit of fun.