A sunny Saturday morning saw seven of us gather in the canteen at the Community Hospice, where we were joined by with Jason, the Head Gardener.

Ivar had arrived first, with a batch of his legendary home-baked Norwegian solskinnsboller (‘sunshine buns’). We normally save the sweet treats until after the hard work, but these pastries were too tempting to wait, so we tucked into them there and then!

Suitably fuelled, we headed out into the gardens, where Jason asked us to clear a patch of ground near the children’s playground. Straw-like Foxtail Barley had taken over, some weeds too, and leaves had piled up from the overhead trees. For the next relaxed hour or so, we pulled up the straw and weeds by hand to avoid disturbing the soil too much, and raked up leaves. Hopefully - when we get some proper rain - the grass can grow back and blend in with the rest of the lawn.

This was one of those lovely GoodGym sessions where the task was almost secondary to the setting: sunshine overhead, a friendly robin coming to see what was going on, plenty of chatting and a chance to enjoy being outdoors together while doing some useful work.

And, as always, the time flew by. While a couple of people headed home, the rest of us and Jason landed back in the canteen, for lunch or another bun and a cuppa.

We’ll be back again next month, and if you spot Ivar on the sign-up list, consider his sweet treats an extra incentive to come along!

Six GoodGymers met at Sweet Fig Coffee Lounge this morning, ready to take a colourful message out into the local community. Our mission was to deliver postcards promoting Demelza’s Rainbow Run, helping spread the word about this brilliant fundraising event.

We had two young helpers along for the fun, plus Jay the dog, so our delivery team had plenty of energy and four-legged enthusiasm! Three of us had already clocked up local parkruns before meeting up, so there was certainly no shortage of miles in the legs.

With the sun shining, we headed out around the local streets, popping Rainbow Run postcards through letterboxes along the way. Our final stretch took us through The Goat Field (the local name for Holy Oak Tree Park) making for a lovely end to our route.

Then it was back to Sweet Fig for refreshing drinks and some sweet treats. Sam the owner always makes us feel so welcome.

A colourful morning all round!🌈🏃‍♀️🐕

Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church has lovely grounds that are enjoyed by parishioners and public alike.

Last summer we made a couple of visits and cleared most of a very overgrown flower border - pulling up a weed membrane and removing unwanted plants and brambles. The area has now been planted out by the parishioners and it looks really great 🌱.

This evening we were back to finish off the final patch that we'd run out of time to tackle last year.

Some of us met early for a lovely walk around nearby Lamorbey Park, getting some extra steps in while catching up, while others headed straight to the church.

It didn't take long for everyone to get stuck in. Working together, we collected litter, wrestled up the last stretch of stubborn weed membrane and cleared away the remaining weeds, finally bringing the project to a satisfying conclusion.

But we weren't quite finished. The church had also asked if we could pop across the road to their hall, where bushes had started poking through the railings and out onto the pavement. Fifteen minutes with shears and loppers and we soon had everything looking neat and tidy. Much better to have the pavement back to full width!

With the cuttings and weeds added to the church's compost heap and their tools packed away, our reward arrived in the form of refreshing ice lollies – definitely appreciated on a warm summer evening 🍦🍦🍦.

Just as we were about to head our separate ways, someone suggested a quick drink at the micro-pub opposite. It was an unexpected but very welcome way to round off another productive evening of doing good together.