(with thanks to Bekah and Claire for pun inspiration)

It was a classic GoodGym Liverpool winter session, cold, dark and raining, but a determined group of us were not going to be put off just by weather when we had pruning to do and milestones to hit - tonight we celebrated Amina's 20th task, Leo's 10th task, and welcomed Colin back for his second session - a huge well done to all three. Amina, Sallyann, Colin and Bekah met at the suitcases and ran through the rain to meet the rest of the group (Sian, Leo, Lucien and Jess) and Adam from Friends of Everton Park at the gorgeous Prince Edwin Street community gardens to receive our briefing and tools. We carefully counted out all our loppers and saws so that we could be sure to count them in again and not leave any unattended blades behind! Our mission today was to cut down the poplar saplings that had sprung up on the grassy banks of Everton Park. For many GoodGymmers it feels really wrong at first to be cutting trees down in the name of environmentalism, but as you visit Everton Park over a longer span of time it becomes apparent that it's important to prune back some growth to allow others to flourish, and also that the saplings pop back up again whenever you turn around!! The rain had made the bank muddy and slippy so we had to move very cautiously especially carrying our tools and cuttings.

A passerby stopped to talk to us who was learning English and natively spoke Brazilian Portuguese - well in a beautiful moment of serendipity, Leo who shares the same mother tongue was at the task tonight and able to lead the conversation and help interpret. The man was really keen to join in with us on the spot and in the GoodGym ethos of nobody being left behind we really wanted him to be able to, but after some consideration and discussion Bekah made the excellent call that it wasn't a good idea on this particular task as it would mean handing a saw to a passerby and sending them up a slippery bank in the dark! We did encourage him to come along in the future so hopefully we will see him again.

The poplars were all cut down with such speed and efficiency we still had plenty of time to start on the brambles in front of the wall with LOVE painted on it. This had at one time been completely covered up but a previous GoodGym session had, aptly enough, revealed the LOVE, meaning that it was a much more manageable task today to prune back the new growth and we just reached the end of the sign at the end of the session. In homage to Dan's penchant for creating a playlist for each task, my suggestion for this one is Dance (Prune) Me to the End of (the) Love (Sign at Everton Park) by the Civil Wars! We returned our tools and said goodbye to Everton Park for the rest of the year. We will look forward to returning next spring, hopefully to meet a fit and healthy John. We send John our love and best wishes for a full recovery.