Last night, Sophie and Anne Laure met at the community centre and set off for the 1.2km run to the task location whilst Jess and Jen were already en route walking. The other Goodgymmers all met at the task location of All Saints Church who mostly ran, walked or cycled to get there and we were greeted by Jo who was one of the Church volunteers and directed us on what we needed to do.

Our job was to remove ivy and bindweed from the fencings along the A4. There was a LOT and we spent an hour making it look a lot better and removing multiple bags worth into the church grounds which will be disposed of at the tip in the coming weeks. We also swept and raked to make the pavement look at clean as possible. Thank you Jess for remembering to take before and after photos!

It was a great evening with good company, thankfully only a bit of light drizzle and passers by thanked us for our efforts. Well done everyone!

Jess and Sol arrived first and met the working party in the graveyard for a task briefing.

By the time Jen arrived, fresh from Parkrun, at 10.15 they were working hard raking a marked out patch of lawn down to the soil ready for a wildflower meadow to be planted. Jen's pair of hands was a welcome addition.

It was lovely to welcome firstimers, Barbara and Aaran to their first community mission. They didnt hesitate to grab rakes and get stuck in. Aaran even tried his hand at using a spade to skim the top of the grass ...not to dig though, we didnt want to disturb the skeletons even though it is halloween month.

Amazing Amy was able to join us for a short period too and as she joined in the raking action, Jen, Sol and Jess went off to another area to plant English Bluebell bulbs and bud plants.

Meanwhile the rakers turned their hands to sowing the wildflower seeds into the newly prepared area by which time Lisa had arrived and joined in the action too.

A bit more planting, some ivy clearance and cutting back of brambles and it was time to call it a day.

What a satisfying way to spend a sunny Saturday, with great company too.

Quite fittingly the first Wednesday night mission of the month of Halloween involved working close to the graveyard. We helped clear a lot of the ivy from the long fence of the All Saints Church grounds. Also fittingly, spiders were a big part of the night!

After we finished, we enjoyed cake and flapjacks for Angela's birthday - what a top GoodGymmer who chose to spend her birthday evening helping out in the community. We hummed a birthday song to Angela and also cheered Adam for his recent 50 deeds milestone.

Thanks to Jess for the report title and Diya for the photos.

The paths in All Saints Churchyard have become completely overgrown and hidden from view under a carpet of grass. This was our third visit to try to regain the path definition. After Roger had opened up the shed, we selected the best tools and set to work removing the grass and weeds. The early morning's rain had softened the ground, but luckily stayed away for our session despite the forecast. Having five GoodGymers on the job was brilliant; we more than surpassed the target I had set for ourselves, and with 15 mins to go, we upped the tempo, determined to reach the point where the path forked. Target reached! We had collected several barrowloads of moss and grass which were deposited onto the compost heap. Well done to Anita, Elliott, Juli, Sheila and Steve for making such a difference and for being such good company

Anita and Sheila made a return visit to All Saints Churchyard to continue working on clearing the path edges of weeds, and were joined this week by Steve. No one from the church was available to open up the tool shed, so we were limited to the equipment that Sheila had brought with her. Sheila used the weeder to cut through the encroaching grass whilst Anita used the hoe to reveal the stone edges of the path. Meanwhile, Steve collected up fallen twigs and branches and piled them up ready for collection. We made really good progress and revealed some lengths of the path that haven't seen the light of day for a while. There is more to do, and we woud be happy to make a return visit

Storms Eunice and Franklin had made a bit of a mess of the churchyard at All Saints, bringing down lots of branches in the wind. Juli, Alice and Sheila took on the task of clearing the debris, and piling the branches by the gate to be collected by the local council. We welcomed the help of some passers by and before we knew it, we had amassed a huge heap. Anita got busy with a hoe, clearing the edge of the path from the encroaching grass and weeds, and was later joined by Juli. It's a very long path, so we were unable to complete this task - we will have to make a return visit. It was lovely to be out in the spring sunshine and the churchyard looked really pretty with daffodils, primroses and violets all on show. The churchyard now looks a lot tidier - well done everyone!