As GoodGymers there's nothing we like more than starting a project and seeing it through to the end.

So last night's task was particularly satisfying, as we finished painting the Year 2 cloakroom at Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School - transforming the original scuffed yellow walls to a clean cream, over three separate visits.

As we rollered and brushed, there was plenty of chatter with Jane, the school's vice principal. For added entertainment, Jane showed us her favourite entry from a recently-unearthed school punishment book. Dating from December 1932:

Frightening small children with a dead rat: 2 strokes on the hand.

Eek, hopefully the only strokes on our record are our painting brush strokes!

We'll be back helping at the school next month - check the sessions listing and come and join us!

This was our monthly session at Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School.

After a warm welcome, Jane, the vice principal, and Andy the site manager, helped us set up for part 2 of our painting project in the cloakroom area. We're tackling it wall-by-wall, brightening things from a scuffed pale yellow to a fresh clean cream.

Jane provided teas and coffees and there was plenty of chatter as we worked.

Jane also showed us the school's old punishment book, recently unearthed during a clear-out.

• Excrable work in Arithmetic book after many special warnings - 2 strokes each hand.

• Interferring with workman's tools after repeated warnings - 2 strokes each hand.

• Singing while master was absent from room - 2 strokes each hand.

Ouch 😖!

Hopefully our painting would have received gold stars 🌟🌟🌟 rather than a rap across the knuckles!

Join us next month when we hope to finish the job. Meanwhile next week we'll be getting in a good step count with some letterbox leafleting!

At this month's session at Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School, the fading daylight meant recent outdoor tasks gave way to a new indoor project - painting a well-used communal area.

With only 50 minutes in hand, our team focused on a single wall. Protective floor coverings were carefully laid to save the carpet from splashes - none of us are decorating professionals after all! Kam even took off his black his trainers to avoid paint-splatter. Wise move!

Then some of us set to work with brushes to define edges around skirtings, noticeboards, ceiling and corners. Others got a great arm workout with rollers - gliding fresh paint over the tired surfaces.

The change from cream to... cream... was subtle but it was nice to see the wall looking brighter.

Often the worst part of painting is cleaning the rollers and brushes afterwards, but luckily for us the school's site manager said he would do that. Happy days!

The work continues next month. Come along and join us to help make a difference in this lovely school.

It was a glorious summer evening for our return to Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School — greeted with a big smile and warm welcome from Vice Principal, Jane.

This time, we were handed a brand new mission: start to rescue the nursery children's garden, which was looking somwhat sad. Or in Jane’s words, “It’s become a bit of a dumping ground for old outdoor toys and play equipment.”

First, out went the miniature park benches, forgotten play equipment, scattered flower pots, and one lonely compost bin — nicely modeled by Lisa (check the photos for the full fun moment). Some items will be re-homed elsewhere around the school, while other bits were beyond keeping.

Next, we gave the overgrown bushes and plants a much-needed trim so teachers can actually see the children when they’re in the garden — always a bonus in a school setting!

Then we went to war on the weeds. They were stubborn little beasts, poking through the wood chippings and weed membrane like they owned the place. It took some serious heaving and arm-power to get them out until the brilliant discovery that pointed shears = weed-removal magic. Victory!

The added bonus? No clean-up needed! Jane had a genius plan — the Year 6 children would tidy-up the cuttings and sweep the area the next day as part of their Digital Detox Day: a full day of outdoor fun with zero screen time. Win-win!

A big high five to everyone who came along. The garden’s on its way back to being a safe, fun, and leafy little paradise for the nursery children. We're looking forward to continuing its revamp after the summer holidays. 🌼

Some of us arriving by bike and others doing a lovely run through the park from the leisure centre, we had a fun evening cutting back low-hanging branches and building new dead hedging at Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School.

It's so rewarding doing tasks like this, supporting organisations that find it hard to get the work done otherwise.

And who knew that creating hedges from sticks, branches and tree cuttings could be so addictive. We didn't want to go home!

We'll be back again in July. Meanwhile, next week we're heading to Hook Lane Primary School for the first time, to help spruce up their outdoor learning area. We've put in a request for more sunny weather, so come and join us.

When Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School had an unsafe tree cut down they wanted to make use of all of the wood. Part of their plan is to create wildlife habitats in the school grounds and we went along to help.

After a short walk from our meeting point at the leisure centre, we met Jane, the vice principal, who briefed us about what to do.

We got busy breaking and cutting up the smaller branches into roughly half-metre lengths, and constructing them into brash piles.

(In case, like me, you were wondering about the word 'brash', its definition in this context is 'loose rubbish such as tree or hedge clippings'. You get to learn all sorts of things on GoodGym tasks!)

These piles will provide shelters and homes for wildlife such as hedgehogs, bugs and perhaps even frogs 🦔🐛🪲🐸.

It was surprisingly physical work and by the end of our hour we'd put in some good effort, had a great dose of fresh air and enjoyed lots of nice chat.

We're back at the school next week to work on the outdoor kitchen area, cutting back overgrown trees and bushes to give more headroom for the children to play. Come along and join us!