7 GoodGymers yarn-bombed the Community Centre this week, continuing work on the Craft Coop's stunning poppy masterpiece.

We've spent many weeks supporting this project and it's fantastic to see it all coming together, one poppy and one stitch at a time.

Diya and Kanika took on the challenge of sewing together the next section of canvas, the netting that the poppies are attached to. After a couple of false starts, they settled into a rhythm and worked steadily from opposite ends. With the finishing line in sight and just a few stitches left to go, they discovered they'd sewn the pieces together in opposite directions! Thankfully, all was not lost. Diya quickly came up with a clever workaround, leaving Michelle with an easy fix to complete the following day.

Meanwhile, Mike, Sol, Jess, Anne-Laure and Roberta got stuck into attaching poppies to the prepared canvas. These were the larger poppies, and Michelle's top tip was to have one person tack everything into place before the rest of the team secured them properly. Jess took on tacking duty while everyone else got busy stitching. Sol developed a brilliant system that allowed the whole team to work on the canvas simultaneously, making the process much more efficient.

A huge amount of work was completed during the session, and the finish line is now beginning to loom into view. We have one more crafting session on 14 October to help complete the masterpiece, before returning on 21 October at St John the Baptist Church to assist with the installation. We can't wait to see the final display in all its glory!

Seven Goodgymers spent a happy and productive hour at the community centre adding to the poppy artwork organised by the craft coop. The numerous poppies were carefully placed and sewn in place on the backing material, each was individual and unique. Many hands made light work! We all enjoyed the joyful singing and lively discussion from a community group sharing the building making for an entertaining evening. If anyone missed the fun, we will be back to carry on the task in a couple of weeks!

11 GoodGymers met at the Community Centre to continue the good work of tacking crocheted poppies to a 3 metre net panel. This panel will be part of the 21 metre memorial piece that Craft Coop is putting together for Remembrance Day.

So what is this Le Coquelicot Tapestry, you ask? Well, it's French for The Poppy Tapestry, inspired both by the topical Bayeux and our resident French GG-er, Anne-Laure. Sol jokingly suggested we should charge £2 for people to see this Poppy Tapestry and we thought it'll be more appealing if it sounded French. Enter, Anne-Laure and may we present, Le Coquelicot Tapestry. Voilà! :poppy:

Many hands made good progress as we chatted and laughed, resulting in just another social and productive GoodGym mission.

Six GoodGymers met at Ray Mill Island for another round of cutting branches from the now diminishing pile of bush. Both large and small branches are being used to form a 'Fern Forest' on the side of the stream on Ray Mill Island.

The log barrier will both prevent people from going into the stream and the wood and fern will provide a habitat for insects and little creatures to flourish.

Regulars Mike, Georgeta, Sol and Diya knew the task on hand. New to Ray Mill - but not GoogGyming - Mohamud and Louis quickly joined the group, sawing and cutting branches. We filled two loads of the trolley placing the thin branches under big ones to create a tapestry (and stop kids from throwing sticks in the stream).

A nice physical activity after a day of desk work for most of us!

Five GoodGymmers, one solar eclipse, and a truly heroic amount of extension cables — that was the scene at the Green Skills Library today.

While the sky dimmed to an eerie twilight, the team lit up the indoors with some top‑tier tidying. Stairs were vacuumed with gusto, floors were swept into submission, rubbish was cleared with precision, and the cable chaos was tamed.

As the moon slid across the sun outside, inside it was all brushes, bags and banter — a neat little eclipse‑themed clean‑up that left the Library shining brighter than the sliver of daylight overhead.

Massive thank you to Jen for stepping up and leading the task.