On a freezing afternoon, Rachel, Carys and Sheila gathered at Ray Mill Island. Despite the Friends of Ray Mill Island deciding not to meet formally, we decided to go ahead anyway as we had psyched ourselves up for a session. We worked on the continuing task of ridding the beds of the invasive heliotrope, and managed to find a patch of winter sunshine in which to work. In places the ground was frozen, but we managed to dig out a wheelbarrow- full of plants and Rachel learned more than she ever wanted to know about the local netball league! Well done to everyone for turning out on such a cold day and getting the January challenge off to a flying start

What a fantastic turnout at Ray Mill Island (RMI) today. 6 Goodgymers joined 11 Friends of RMI volunteers and tackled a range of jobs.

One group, including Carys, set off to identify trees and paint signs to identify them, whilst Mick continued his work on the mid path, moving the stones into place. Whilst Sheila and Christine started out weeding the rockery, Ed fixed a new sign to the mural and then joined Jen and the rest of the group with weeding the proposed nursery area.

By the end everyone was helping in the nursery area, apart from Mick who continued flexing his muscles moving the rocks around.

The two hours flew by with lots of progress made.

Karen and Helen worked their way through five crates of very cute toddler shoes to ensure they were all good enough quality to be given out. Meanwhile, Carys and Sheila K worked through the crates of larger shoes making sure they were not too worn or scuffed and in pairs. Sheila A was doing a final check on piles of sorted clothes and making sure that the boxes for referrals were topped up. Another busy morning at the Baby Bank!