We arrived in convoy for our weekend session at Fox Den Community Allotment. Having taken the scenic route along the river, Caroline and I fell in line behind Becky, who had been following Daiana and Andrew from the city centre. They hadn't met before, so had no idea they were heading to the same place (although the red t-shirt was a little giveaway)! We had a chuckle when we realised what had happened 🚲 🚲 🚲

Ilse was like a beacon in her GG t-shirt waiting for us, and we welcomed Princy back for her second GG task 💪

After some introductions, Lorna was briefing us on our jobs for the session. We were working in the forest garden area and Andrew, very impressively, explained to the rest of the group that the methods used in the forest garden enable mycelium to thrive, allowing plants to communicate and supporting hydration. Eventually, after 20ish years (or 10000s of GG sessions) the garden becomes self-sustaining. 🌿

Although the garden looked peaceful, it was a hive of activity as everyone got stuck in shifting bags and bags of clay and compost to clear a bed for planting. It was a efficient operation, and a proper strength workout with some VERY heavy wheelbarrows to transport. We played many rounds of the game 'compost or clay'? I'm not sure it will catch on.

As well as this, Daiana and Andrew did a great job cutting back the hedgerows, Ilse put the bricks to good use creating some much needed borders for some of the flowering beds, and Princy and Becky made light work of cleaning and folding the huge tarp that had been used as a base to store the clay. A busy evening, and what a transformation 🙌

We were delighted to be celebrating Ilse's 10th Good Deed, which as well as being a great achievement, meant we all got some cake! 🎂 Congratulations on all the good you've made happen in Cambridge so far, we're glad you're on the team 💛

We wrapped up for the evening, feeling satisfied with another active session. Daiana harvested a couple of tomatoes and took them home in her GG branded water bottle (ingenious) and I was also gifted a cucumber, so a really top notch session for us! And yes, the cucumber did get transported home in my bike's bottle holder. 🥒#normalforcambridge

We were back at SIN Cru this week, making the most of the continuing sunny weather! ☀️

Scott, Becky, Catherine and I met at Parkside Pool for a 3.5km group run to the task, taking it easy in the heat and stopping for plenty of water breaks 💧

Waiting for us and admiring our arrival (I believe Baywatch was referenced!) were Ilse and Sandra, who had joined by bike. After some mandatory dog-petting, we got stuck in: Becky, Sandra cleared an impressive amount of weeds, Ilse and I tried our best to paint a very uneven surface with very hard rollers, Catherine FINALLY cleared the wood chippings bag, and Scott once again showed off his impressive sawing skills 🪚

After some final pets, we set off as a team and strolled a fair way back together, sharing Percy Pigs and discussing Paul Chuckle. Somewhat reluctantly, the 4 runners eventually set off again, distracting ourselves with restaurant chat and plant-based dining 🍽

Great work again, team! 🙌

We had another great session supporting Strawberry Fair this weekend. This time taking down the fences we'd put up last week!

Welcoming Becky to her first GoodGym task 👋 we met with Eva and headed over to the volunteer area to get kitted out. Still no left hand gloves to be found (where are they??) so we went with one glove each. To compensate, we had brand new shiny high vis jackets, which were so bright you couldn't miss us 🦺

We certainly got our steps in working at 3 different locations across the site. First up was the Big Top where we were moving paint cans, tables and chairs ready for collection. The round tables were particularly tricky to manoeuvre with their wayward legs, but we managed it with some coordinated teamwork. We were then over at the soap box area moving wood planks into a storage compound. Again, not an easy task as they were tricky to balance! Lastly, the site team had already made an impressive start at removing over 4km of fencing, and we helped to take down some of the perimeter fencing. With Eva and Becky on fence panels and me on the bases, we made swift work of it and definitely felt like we'd had a good workout afterwards 💪

As we headed back to the volunteer tent, we noticed it had gone! After an initial panic, all was well and we found Kirsty and our belongings in the marquee. We returned our vests slightly less shiny than they started, a sign of some hard graft. 🦺

See you again next year! 🍓

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It was a busy running weekend too.

👟 On Saturday, Caroline signed up last minute to pace at Coldham's common parkrun, coming in right on time and helping runners reach their goals.

🏅On Sunday, Scott got a PB at the Flaming June half marathon. After coming back from injury, this is a great achievement, well done 🙌