Five GoodGymers—Hazel, Laura, Mandy, Molly, and Ben—joined forces with the ever-friendly locals of Edgeley to support What If’s Tuesday Night Club, kicking off the mission to transform a humble parking area into a thriving green food park in just six months!

This session was full-on graft mode. The team tackled all sorts of maintenance jobs: sweeping, filling the compost pit, watering, picking up twigs and logs, assembling the raised bed, weeding, and even adding chalk spray markings to the tarmac (because every great garden needs a good road map).

But it wasn’t just about getting our hands dirty—brains were engaged too. Jade, the gardening expert brought in by What If to lead the six-month transformation, treated everyone to a mini masterclass on Hugelkultur. The word may sound like a spell from Harry Potter, but it’s actually German for “mound culture”—a permaculture technique that involves building raised beds filled with rotting wood, logs, and organic matter. Translation: a low-cost, low-watering, high-impact way to grow good food. Clever stuff.

Everyone put in a huge effort, with special shout-out to Ben, who showed up and grafted on despite not feeling great. Proof that sometimes the biggest wins aren’t about being perfect—they’re about turning up, doing what you can, and collecting strength through small, meaningful actions. Compost piles were filled, knowledge was shared, and commitment was well and truly planted. 🌱💪

With potential rain clouds circling, Fanette, Hazel, and Ben met up in Cringle Park to tackle a slightly extended version of Route #1 of the Manchester Green Trail. A quick coffee from Grounded MCR and introductions for Juno provided some preparation time as we waited for other walkers to possibly join, with the walk advertised as part of the GM Walking Festival.

From Cringle Park, we took in the sights and smells of Levenshulme to reach Chapel St Park, next to the Blue Bell Inn, before entering Greenbank playing fields, with no cricket being played today. In Greenbank Park, we bumped into Maria from MCR Library of Things before circling through a side street to Nutsford Vale (note, not Knutsford...). We made a note for a potential litter pick here due to the volume of fly tipping before going through Annie Lees Park, and then towards Sunny Brow Park after crossing over the railway, again passing a few potential litter picking hotspots.

Juno was unable to resist the cooling stream in Sunny Brow Park and entered on several occasions, and as we approached the Waggon & Horses we encountered a surprise cemetery in the woodland, presumably associated with Brookfield Church. After crossing a busy Hyde Road, we skirted past another pub before finding a route through the Fallowfield Loop and found Gorton Lower Reservoir and Debdale Outdoor Centre, leading us past McDonald's (for a quick toilet stop) and Debdale Park. Debdale Park was surprisingly big, clean, tidy, and full of activities including community gardens, Men's Shed location, a cycling practice circuit for youngsters, tennis courts, bowling greens, a workout station, kids playground, and a Heroes Wood Memorial with trees and landscaping to remember locals from World War I and onwards.

We walked a path separating the lower and upper reservoirs before stumbling upon Gorton Reservoir Allotments, a large area of allotment plots with lots of plant sales and events advertised for the coming months, plus plenty of signs for selling horse manure. Following this, we joined the yellow brick road (previously the Stockport Canal) north past King George V playing fields before entering the 2 final parks in Lees Street Park and Delamere Park, the latter having a newly constructed bike park, Max Trax that has some story behind it!

In all, we encountered 11 parks and covered over 10 km while thankfully the rain generally stayed away. Juno had a blast and fell asleep as soon as we got home!

It was another one of those “bestest weather ever” kind of days 🌞, so the Codling father‑and‑son dream team, Lee and Luca, were back in action for Luca’s Duke of Edinburgh mission 🥾🏅! Our mighty powerhouses Luke and Noah arrived in fashion, joined by mum Kirsty, all kitted out in perfectly coordinated summery outfits 👕🧢 and armed with litter‑picking gear like seasoned pros 🧤🗑️. And a huge round of applause for Kevwe 👏, who bravely joined her very first GoodGym session despite the pre‑run jitters 😬➡️💪. We’ve all been there — and turning up anyway is a badge of honour ⭐. Welcome to the crew, Kevwe! 🎉

The original plan was to spruce up the main commercial road 🛣️, but when the local organisers didn’t appear… plot twist! 😅 So they did what GoodGym does best: adapt, improvise, and crack on 🚀. Tools at the ready and enthusiasm fully charged 🔋, they headed straight for the litter‑pickers’ equivalent of hidden treasure 💎 — the alleys and bramble‑filled nooks lurking behind grocery shops 🌿🛒. Kevwe, the local‑area expert 🧭, led them confidently to the hotspots, while Lee and Luca took charge of the neighbouring inner roads 🛤️.

Our mighty little pickers showed absolutely no fear 🦸‍♂️🦸‍♂️, boldly conquering dense brambles that had been hoarding their littery secrets for far too long 🌱😬. The haul? Roughly 50% alcoholic bottles 🍾, 25% soft drink cans 🥤, and 25% assorted plastic bits and bobs 🧴 — a perfectly balanced (and entirely unwanted) litter diet 🤢😂. Around eight bags were filled in total 🛍️🛍️🛍️, proving once again that teamwork really does make the dream work 🙌

Best of luck to Luca with your Duke of Edinburgh 🏅 — choosing to spend a glorious sunny Sunday helping the community is dedication at its finest 🌟. And massive kudos to Luke and Noah too 🎉🎉; for now, we’re officially awarding you both the prestigious Duke of Stockport honours 👑🏆. Titles well earned all round! 💚

See you all again at the next GoodGym Stockport session — same energy, same smiles! 😊💪

With no other joiners for the newspaper distribution, Hazel suddenly found freedom in changing the task's schedule—and promptly used it to conquer the remaining April issue of Stockport Post over the weekend. It took just two sessions, the final one powered up with help from Mithra, and abracadabra!—250+ copies of the Stockport Post were out in the wild. 🚶📬🚀 The only distribution strategy? Swiftly skip houses with less-than-friendly dogs 🐕⚠️. For now, Hazel is officially Team Cat 😄😸✔️

With Tuesday night unexpectedly freed up, Hazel joined What If?’s Tuesday Night Club gardening session 🌱🪴—and this was no ordinary pottering-about-with-a-trowel kind of gardening. The group emptied two raised beds, mixed soil with sand, planted Mediterranean herbs 🌿, assembled metal shelves and plant holders 🔧, and plenty of good chat was shared along the way 💬😊. Hazel even met another Hazel (a very rare occurrence here in fact 😲✨) along with a group of the warmest, most welcoming strangers 🤝💛.

Newspapers completely delivered, herbs in the beds, and spirits well watered—mission accomplished! 📰🌱✨

The first half of the 500‑copy SK Post (April issue) has been successfully deployed ✅ today, thanks to the dynamic duo Jamie & Hazel 💪. Jamie heroically cycled to the task 🚴‍♂️—clocking a respectable ~17 minutes of cardio 🔥—while Hazel took on the calm‑but‑mighty job of folding ~235 newspapers 📰✂️ like a true origami sensei 🧘‍♀️.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe (aka another part of Manchester 🌍), Ben bravely tackled the remaining 100 copies of the Manchester Post in the Longsight area 💼📬. Another brave solo adventure by Ben!

As tradition demands, the session began with the sacred Tea Ceremony™ ☕🙏—because nothing delivers newspapers faster than proper hydration and biscuits. With only 2 joiners tonight, there was no need for strategic masterminding 🧠❌: just take a side of the street and GOOO 🚀. The outcome? A lightning‑fast ~40‑minute delivery ⚡, impressively efficient for a two‑postie power squad 💥. Speed ✅ Accuracy ✅ Dedication ✅.

There are still 250+ copies 🗞️🗞️🗞️ waiting for their letterboxes, so an extra session may be summoned 🔔 before next Tuesday’s delivery 📆—stay alert.

Bonus perks: this route is elite for cat spotting 🐈🐈‍⬛👀, so if newspapers and unexpected feline encounters are your thing, definitely join us next time 😸.

Stay tuned 📡✨