If darkness hadn't quite fallen by the time we arrived at Sivill House, it was certainly teetering over the edge. There was some illumination from the estate lights, and people brought head torches, but our main concern was the effect of the gloomy conditions on those all-important task photos!

Task owner and GoodGymer Ed directed us to a very large pile of woodchip which had been donated to Columbia TRA. It was happily sitting in the car park, but it really needed to be in the gardens, the other side of the estate. It didn’t look too large a pile, until we realised how far back it went…

Still, we had five wheelbarrows, plenty of shovels and bags, and most importantly a 17-strong squad of GoodGymers. It felt like a real workout as we persuaded the reluctant woodchip to separate from the security of its pile, to a new life – mulching! This technique suppresses weeds, conserves soil moisture, insulates plant roots and improves soil health and fertility. Yes, we’ve enabled all those things!

A special welcome to newcomers Angelique and Ryan, who really threw themselves into the task. Hope to see you back soon! And thanks to Fiona who took some good photos after all!

Despite the darkness, the night was still young as we headed off, with a suggestion that one of the task owners had invited us to the pub. We didn’t know where we were supposed to go, so after wandering around for a bit, four of us headed for the Royal Oak to congratulate ourselves on all our good work

8 of us headed down to Ocean Youth Connexions on a blustery evening (still arriving in light). We were met by the task owner, Kamal, who provided us with all the equipment we needed, including some giant bags. These were very useful as it turns out leaves are prone to blowing away without some sort of receptacle to contain them.

Rohan worked out front, tree trimming whilst perched on the railing, reminding me of a scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. He made light work of this and soon joined the rest of the gang out back who worked tirelessly to round up all the loose leaves they could see.

Special shout out to Dnyaneshwari for completing her first task!

A amazing effort by all, no cap! (Correction - there were actually two caps left by previous goodgymers, one modelled by Lobo in the group picture).