Today's task owner was feeling a little under the weather, but heroically came up with an alternative plan for our group: giving the parklet on Gladstone Avenue a bit of TLC.

It was lovely to meet newcomer Henriana and also to welcome Jessie back from her travels in South America. Sarah selflessly handed her gardening gloves over to Henriana so she could pick up discarded dog poo bags while Sarah took photos for the run report.

Armed with two Veolia sweeper bags, the team quickly organised to put recycling (beer cans, energy drink bottles) in one bag and general waste (dog poo, dirty cardboard) in the other. "Why are we doing this when Veolia is going to collect it all as general waste?" Sarah mused. "Because I can take it home and put it in my bin" Dave said. Then Yann pointed out that he lived only a couple of if minutes' walk away and also had a recycling bin. Problem solved!

A lot of the litter tonight was in planters that sadly don't contain any plants or soil any more. Paul and Dave put their heads together and came up with a solution: attaching some mesh across the opening of one of the planters. Paul ran home for the mesh and screws, before making short work of attaching the mesh across the planter.

Finishing with loads of time to spare, Latoya suggested a round of Sallies to round off the evening. There was unanimous agreement to this suggestion from unsuspecting newcomers and seasoned Goodgymmers alike. Hazing ritual complete, Sarah declared tonight's task officially over.

Three GoodGymers came together to help tidy the gardens at Margaret Hill House.

It was wonderful to welcome Helen to her very first GoodGym session. Welcome to GoodGym, Helen! She worked really hard from the beginning. Dave also did a fantastic job, and together we cleared the garden, trimmed bushes and trees, cut the grass and collected garden waste.

We also enjoyed chatting with the staff and residents, including a lovely lady in her nineties. It was great to see everyone smiling and enjoying the evening together.

A special thank you to Dave for taking some old pieces of scaffolding home so they could be recycled instead of being thrown away. It was a great example of caring for the environment.

Thank you, Dave and Helen, for a wonderful evening. It was great teamwork, and I look forward to the next task! 🌿♻️

I really enjoyed volunteering at the Mulberry Tree Community Garden. I joined the session at around 10:30 and stayed until 12:00. I helped with weeding, cutting the grass and tidying up the garden. Although I had limited time, I was happy to contribute and work alongside the other volunteers. It was a great experience, and I hope to join again in the future. Thank you everyone!