Hanging Up the Gardening Shoes

Our final visit of the year to the Beehive garden was a rather poignant one, as we said goodbye to a very special chapter in the GoodGym garden story.

When Margaret moved into the home several years ago, she took on the garden as a way of helping herself settle in after having to leave behind her own much-loved garden. Over the years, she has lovingly tended it, making it her own little patch of green — and we’ve been very lucky to be able to join her along the way.

But the time has now come for Margaret to hang up her gardening shoes and let someone else take the strain!

So, for our final task of the year, Paula and Barbara got stuck into the weeding and general tidying, while Margaret kept a watchful eye on proceedings and made sure standards didn’t slip!

And because we couldn’t possibly leave empty-handed, Paula and Barbara brought Margaret a lovely bouquet of flowers as a thank you for sharing her wonderful garden with us over the weeks, months and years.

It really does feel like the end of an era.

But hopefully not the end of GoodGym’s visits to the Beehive — and certainly not the end of our support for Margaret. We’ll just have to find new ways to keep her involved… preferably ones that require considerably less weeding!

Thank you, Margaret, for letting us be part of your garden story. ❤️

Barbara and Roxy were back helping the lovely Margaret in her care home garden — and, as always, it was a delight to spend some time helping her get everything looking shipshape.

There was plenty to get stuck into. They carefully replanted some little strawberry plants — or, as Margaret might call them, the “strawberry babies” — from their pots and into their new homes.

They also did plenty of weeding, planted some new plants into the soil and prepared an area ready for some beetroot seeds. This involved clearing away some of the old bean plants and getting the soil nicely prepared for its next crop.

Another productive visit, with lots achieved and the garden looking better for it.

As always, it’s a real pleasure to help Margaret and spend time in her lovely garden.

Barbara spent a happy 30 minutes with Margaret helping her plant bulbs in pots so that they don't fry it in these drought like conditions.

While the rest of the team headed off on a litter pick, Barbara and Paula spent the evening bringing a little extra sunshine to one of our favourite residents at Beehive Care Home.

The trio enjoyed a relaxed evening in the garden. Armed with gloves and plenty of enthusiasm, Barbara and Paula got stuck into tidying borders, pulling up weeds and giving the garden a well-earned spruce-up.

The highlight of the evening was harvesting some beautifully ripe tomatoes, which were picked fresh from the plants and ready to be enjoyed. There's something especially rewarding about seeing the fruits (quite literally!) of previous GoodGym visits.

A huge thank you to Barbara and Paula for helping keep Margaret's little patch blooming and proving once again that kindness grows best when it's shared.

There are some evenings that remind you exactly what GoodGym is all about, and tonight was one of them.

Our mission took us to Margaret's garden at Beehive Care Home, where there was plenty of green therapy waiting for us.

The biggest cheer of the evening, though, was reserved for Paula. It was absolutely wonderful to welcome her back after some time away. We've all missed you enormously, Paula, and it was so lovely to see you back where you belong on a Monday night :

Naturally, alongside her was the perfect partner in gardening crime, Barbara, and together with Margaret they made a fantastic team. Armed with gloves, trowels and plenty of determination, they got stuck into weeding, dug out some particularly stubborn grasses, and gave an overgrown clematis a well-deserved prune. By the end of the session, Margaret's garden was looking tidier, brighter and ready to flourish once again.

As always, it wasn't just the garden that benefited—it was another evening of friendship, laughter and making a real difference in our community.

Welcome home, Paula. We can't wait to see you back in your red GoodGym shirt again next week! 🌱💚

Helping Margaret out is always a pleasure and she was in good spirits tonight sharing with Barbara that she didn't learn to ski until she was 60 !

This evening was a mixture of weeding , pruning and tidying.

What a fantastic character Margaret is 😍