A bright and slightly chilly evening saw our small but mighty team of five heading to English Martyrs School, where we were warmly greeted by Helen, the head teacher. She filled us in on the school’s plans to give their gardens a boost in time for the new season — and we were more than happy to help!

With tools at the ready, we split into two mini teams to make the most of our time. John, Roxy and Julia got to work on a bed full of lily-like shrubs, carefully digging them up, dividing the roots and replanting the new sections all along the flowerbed. It was a satisfying and surprisingly creative job — and by the end, the border was looking much fuller and ready to flourish.

Meanwhile, Ricky and El tackled another flowerbed that needed a good weed and clear-out. The pair worked methodically to remove stubborn roots and prepare the soil, setting it up perfectly for the bulbs that will be planted tomorrow.

By the end of the session, both areas looked tidy, refreshed and full of promise. Helen was delighted with the progress, and we left feeling proud of what our compact crew had achieved.

A lovely evening of teamwork, green thumbs, and garden transformation — well done, team! 🌱💪

On a sunny early September evening, we headed out to a local school to give their garden a much-needed boost. A grateful headteacher, Helen proudly showed off the progress made with play areas over the summer holidays and also pointed us in the right direction for our tasks for tonight.

It was a happy coincidence that both Sue’s, Sue and Suemade their return to GoodGym today—and even better, they found themselves teaming up! Together, they tackled the stubborn weeds and grasses that had been creeping into the beds, making short work of an area that was looking particularly wild.

Meanwhile, Julia joined forces with John Ryan and Paul to take on the flowerbed—our new nemesis. This sprawling patch of bramble and weeds seems to bounce back as soon as we turn our backs, but the team made great progress clearing it once again. This time, though, we were rewarded with a surprise discovery: pumpkins growing among the chaos!

Ryan did a stellar job switching between both groups, keeping the wheelbarrow moving and ensuring all the debris made its way to the compost heap.

All in all, another productive evening in the school garden—sunshine, teamwork, and pumpkins included!

GoodGym Worthing: Rooting for Change at the School Garden

On a sun-drenched breezy evening in Worthing, a cheerful team of GoodGym volunteers gathered at a local school, sleeves rolled up and spades at the ready. The mission? To tackle a set of stubborn, root-bound flowerbeds and get the school garden ready for planting butterfly friendly plants.

Amongst the team, El brought a bit of ergonomic brilliance to the task—adopting a smart corkscrew technique with her fork that made clearing roots easier on the back and surprisingly effective. It didn’t take long for others to take notice!

John wasted no time in getting stuck in with practiced determination. He was soon joined by Roxy whose energy and laughter kept spirits high as she wrestled with a particularly knotted section of roots.For the 2nd week running she unearthed a relic, this time of the canine variety in the shape of a jaw bone and teeth most likely belonging to the fox skull we dug up during our last visit.

Nearby, Ryan focused on systematically breaking up compacted soil and roots with plenty of sweat and toil but always a smile on his face :)

MeganPaula and Ricky teamed up to dig over a corner bed where roots had nearly taken over completely and where Ricky was particularly determined dislodging a stubborn tree root.

Stéphane brought a calm and steady energy, methodically working through one of the trickier beds and tree roots . His determination to get the job done was evident when he and John tackled another extremely persistent large root. Stephane always has a few good natured jokes up his sleeve to keep us all smiling!

Meanwhile, Anne , Belinda, Sarah, and Gillybean were tackling two overgrown flowerbeds bordering the classrooms. Armed with forks, trowels, and serious focus, they cleared thick weeds and undergrowth to reveal planting space ready for action. In very little time, both beds were transformed — clean, clear, and ready for planting.

The heavy work was softened by camaraderie, determination, and the a final victorious cheer as the last stubborn root gave way.

By the end of the session, the flowerbeds stood 90% cleared and turned and almost ready for fresh planting. Head Teacher, Helen came along to admire the transformation - Don't worry we will be back again soon to finish them.

Time to celebrate - Sarah wears her wings

The group headed to the pub, where there was no shortage of reasons to raise a glass. Roxy was marking her 50th GoodGym task and her birthday last week. She was surprised with a framed collage of photo memories ,each image representing one of her good deeds, a heartfelt tribute from the team. Sarah celebrated her impressive 100th GoodGym task and received a beautiful hand-crafted needlework portrait of herself in 'action'— beautifully stitched by John, capturing her perfectly. She was also modelling her much sought after GG 100 angel wings tee shirt which she did perfectly in her natural stylish way :)

Ricky was also in the spotlight, toasting both his 150th GoodGym and 200th parkrun milestones. He came well prepared for the occasion—bringing along two delicious cakes to share with the crew.

There was a slight delay in the celebrations for El, Anne, Megan, and myself as we had stopped to assist Stephane who had unfortunately taken a tumble on his bike en route to the pub. Though bruised and a bit shaken, Stephane was in good spirits and, after being checked out at A&E, was thankfully given the all-clear. The group, as always, pulled together—proving once again that GoodGym is more than just a running group; it's a community that looks after its own. Special mention to El for her speedy bandaging skills and to Anne for wheeling the bike home.

It was the perfect end to a memorable evening—filled with digging, laughter, surprises, and the kind of camaraderie that makes GoodGym Worthing truly special.

Until next week ..........

Julia xx

Rake Progress

After another Bank Holiday Monday, we moved our session to Wednesday again. We headed back to English Martyrs School where we are meet the head teacher, Helen.

Thank you to my team tonight - It was great to see Ryan and Sarah after their Worthing 10k at the weekend. It was lovely to welcome back Megan after some very busy weeks of work for her. Thank you also to John and El who had both marshalled at the RUN Fest on Sunday.

Completing this evening's team was Ricky and Roxy along with puppy Mali in a cat carrier 😻😅.

Helen asked us to continue with the clearing of the large beds that we had started last week. The school are planning to plant a butterfly garden and we are more than happy to assist with this :)

Although the progress didn't look so dramatic this week we worked equally as hard. Thank goodness we had John's electric saw that he was able to cut through the stubborn tree roots. We hope we haven't broken it !

As well as the sawing there was a lot of brute digging activity going by Ryan,Ricky and Megan, together with some very fine raking by Sarah and El. Roxy was got right down to the task pulling out roots and weeding the area she was working on too. . I was in charge of getting the debris to the compost heap. With the help of John's gauntlet gloves this definitely pushed my step count up for the day!

Another very worthwhile and impactful task ! Thank you all and see you all next week.

Have a lovely weekend in the warm weather.

Julia xx

Getting to the (almost) root of the problem

On a stunning April evening we had headed across Sunny Worthing to one of more recent, but also favourite tasks, at English Martyrs school. We were met by Helen, the head teacher who had a comprehensive list of task requests. Many of us had arrived with loppers in readiness for hedge and bramble work so we got straight to work.

Special mention to Roxy who completed The London Marathon yesterday in a fantastic time. Massive congratulations also must go to Anne who completed the 50 mile South Downs Challenge a few weeks ago and returned to her GoodGym buddies tonight.

Most of the team including Belinda, Barbara,El,John,Ricky,Paul Gillybean, and Anne got stuck into lopping down large brambly hedges lining the bordering fence. They certainly worked with great gusto with lots to get done in a limited time. The progress was excellent with piles of debris soon appearing ready to be transferred to the compost heap.

Roxy and puppy Mala decided to continue painting the fence that we had started last year. With only 1 paint brush it was a 1 person job but we do hope that we will push through and finish the whole thing this summer before it will all need doing again next year! Luckily for Roxy, when Mala got a little too hot and restless Helen's daughter stepped in and was only too pleased to take her inside to play with her.

Stéphane arrived just in time to help me empty compost into the new raised beds before concentrating on helping with all the debris clearing. John had usefully brought along a brand new electric strimmer which was sliced through the brambles beautifully. Gill very usefully found a trolley to help with transportation to the compost heap ( great photo)

Superstar of the day

Talking of the strimmer ..... John unfortunately misplaced a wing nut on it so we were all trying to keep a look out for it which was a little like looking for a needle in a haystack ! However thanks to our eagle eyed ( and determined) El this was the first of two problems that we didn't need to worry about! Within the space of 10 minutes she had not only found the missing part for the strimmer but also Paul's glasses which had dropped off his head into the abysis of foliage ! El is definitely one we are keeping !

What a lovely evening this was :) We will be back again next week to continue with more jobs. As its a bank holiday Monday we will be meeting next Wednesday 7th May at 6pm instead.

Have a great BH long weekend and see you next week.

Julia x

Better than a BOGOF - Today was a triple! It was a great turn out this evening and we had a very prompt start.

Head teacher Helen asked to do 3 things

*Dig over the flower beds at the front of the school and line it with wood chips.

*Continue painting the fence surrounding the play area.

*Dig out a massive plant in the play area.

Daisy andPaul elected to get started on the digging and were joined byJohn and Duncan. Gillybean did her usual great job on pruning and tidying the bushes on the flowerbed which made a huge difference to the visual finish ( Daisy helped with this too )

Ryan, Sarah and Roxy headed out to continue where we left off last time with the painting of the fence in a forest green colour. They were joined by Sue and Belinda Everyone tried to avoid Sarah's paint flicking skills but some of us didn't manage to swerve this ' talent ' 🤣

The flowerbed team soon achieved fantastic results and came and joined the team at the back of the school. Daisy pitched in with the fence whilst John and Paul decided to attack the huge plant/ bush that needed removing in the play area.

Given the time we had left , this was an optimistic and challenging and involved a fair amount of brute force and determination plus some cardiovascular strength too ! They were joined by Duncan who brought some muscle and also Gill who offered some useful technique tips 🤣

Despite all odds the task was completed meaning we had achieved 2 / 3 of our goals tonight - Bravo team 👏

Next week we will return to continue painting the ( eternal ) fence!

The final question is, why is this report entitled ' What lies beneath ' ? There are 2 answers to this - both fairly confidential. One relates to what is underneath the wood chips and the other is what Belinda is concealing underneath her hoodie! Ssssshhhh - nobody knows 😁😁😁