Went back to do some more gardening at Mr R's yesterday. Last time I was there, the lawnmower was out of action so I cleared the patio and did some weeding. Mr R had purchased a new lawnmower so I took that for a spin yesterday and got the back garden mowed. One of his wishes is to be able to get out and sit in his garden again, so I set up some patio furniture for him to use - just in time for the incoming heatwave!

Three jolly Goodgymmers made the most of a sunny(ish) Sunday afternoon to get stuck into the rennovation work at Walthamstow Toy Library's new adventure playground. Ros, Ruby and Sarah all mucked in, putting up fencing, laying woodchip and tackling lots of pesky bindweed, all in a contribution to the ongoing efforts to get the adventure playground ready for its grand opening on 30 May. So much work has been done, but there's still a way to go, and, as ever, Helen and her team were delighted to have some extra helping hands on board. We got some good work done in a couple of hours, and it was lovely to be able to contribute to preparing this incredible new addition to the Toy Library's facilities and to think of all the intrepid little adventurers who will get hours of fun and joy from the playground for years to come!

After a hiatus in the GGWF routine over Easter we're back for our monthly task! Four happy Goodgymmers were lucky enough to catch a break in the erratic weather on Thursday for long enough to do some serious clearing up at the Toy Library in Walthamstow, where much progress has been made on the adventure playground renovations. Helen had roped in her entire family, plus Mel from the Toy Library, and was absolutely delighted, as ever, to have some Goodgym helpers too. Many hands made light(er) work of filling a big skip with all the dismantled rotten decking we'd cleared from the playground back in March, laying weed-proof matting and gravel, weeding, sweeping and cleaning. The adventure playground is due to open on 30 May, so time is ticking to get it ready for a big future filled with lots of little adventurers! It's going to be a phenomenal addition to the Toy Library's facilities and an exciting new offering for the little ones in our community. Enormous thanks go to Kevin from Greenwich and Chloe from Tower Hamlets who came all the way to Waltham Forest to help us out, and Lily gets the prize for true dedication, using her early evening work break to come and join in! Well done everyone - the energy was high and Helen was enormously thankful for our help!

Mr R is pretty much bed bound and finds it very difficult getting around his home. His garden had become overgrown and hadn’t been tended to in over a year.

Today was a beautifully sunny strike day in London. I met the referrer, Bradley, at Mr R’s house and we headed round the back to be met with a jungle on the lawn.

We decided to jump right in and tackle some of the big weeds before getting the electric lawnmower set up.

As we were picking some of the behemoths we spotted a bit of a distressing sight lying in the corner of the garden - a recently deceased fox in his final resting place. It must have been a recent passing as Bradley mentioned he saw a fox in the garden in the morning and it hadn’t run away from him, maybe indicating it was not far gone at that point.

Brad got on the phone with the council and they can only collect the poor guy if he was left in a black bin bag in front of the house.

Wanting to do right by Mr Fox, in the most dignified way possible I used a shovel to pick up his body and slid him into a makeshift body bag (double wrapped black bin liner) and left him out front for the council to collect.

After saying a few words and prayers, we hooked up the mower and started chopping away at the rest of the lawn.

Within no time the jungle had been tamed. We uncovered some bird feeders and a bird bath that we set back up again, and set out some chairs for Mr R to sit out in the sun on.

After filling a whole garden waste bin with cuttings, the job was done. Mr R was left with a garden he can enjoy again, and Mr Fox was left with a dignified send off.

Three happy Goodgymmers (Lily, Sarah and Sevan) braved the howling winds and spent a solid hour and a half clearing, cleaning and organising the outdoor toy shed at Walthamstow Toy Library, in the hope that preparation for warmer climes might lure back the spring sunshine! The task looked a little daunting at first glance, but we tackled it admirably with all hands on deck, together with Mel from the Toy Library who was standing in for Helen this evening. Buckets, spades, rakes and water toys were organised, footballs gathered into boxes and stacked on shelves in the shed, while rocking horses, scooters and pedal cars were stationed neatly outside, ready for action. Now all we need is some sunshine so that the Toy Library's lovely little customers can have some outside play time. The newly organised toy shed will certainly make all the resources on offer much easier for little hands to access. Well done GGWF - another excellent job done - and a very big thank you to Sevan, who trekked all the way from GG Ealing to give us some support - that's dedication!

Three jolly Goodgymmers went to WalthamstowToy Library this morning to join Helen and her husband John and some Toy Library volunteers, to tackle the epic task of clearing the currently defunct adventure playground, to prepare it for refurbishment. Lily got started with a big litter pick, Sarah swiftly joined in and they weeded, picked up lots of plastic and rubbish (and a dinosaur!), shifted rubble and timber, and removed all the weed-proof matting from the grounds. Later on, as if a morning of competitive Crossfit weren't enough for her, Pippa came to provide a fresh wave of energy for a lot more clearing of vegetation and removal of rubbish once the hedges had been cut. Thankfully the rain cleared up and the sun shone a little. All in all, it was a gigantic task (my back is certainly feeling it now!) and a very, very good job done. Helen was delighted with the progress made and immensely grateful for the help. The adventure playground, which will soon be repaired and ready for use, will be an incredible new addition to the Toy Library's facilities, providing a much-needed play resource for families in our local community. Well done GGWF - we did an excellent job and made a huge difference!