Our final visit of the year to St Botolph’s Church garden was upon us, and there was no time for holly-dollying about! We were back in the poppy garden, continuing the clearance work we started last week, determined to get things looking shipshape ahead of Remembrance Day.

Elvira kicked things off by tackling the ivy and brambles before joining Julia in the somewhat prickly business of cutting down two holly trees. She pulled and pushed and nearly lost her feet on tackling the first one - the photos give the essence of that particular situation!! The bigger tree one needed a final bit of pulling and pushing from John to persuade it to give up its place. It seems our holly was no longer jolly, and the ivy was definitely getting ideas above its station!

Meanwhile, Belinda was working incredibly hard to get the ivy under control, showing impressive determination and an eye for every last detail. No sneaky tendril was going to escape her attention!

John and Stephane were busy digging out brambles, enabling Julia to collect the prickly spoils and ferry them off to the compost heap. A proper team effort, with everyone rooting for the same result!

Having already clocked up an impressive 7k run, Ricky pitched in to give Stephane a helping hand . Plus there was an extra reason to celebrate, as tonight marked Ricky’s 7th GoodGym anniversary! Seven years of running, volunteering and being part of GG Worthing , Brighton and parkrun — now that really is something to crow about. A lucky seven for a thoroughly deserving GoodGym member.

As a special 'end-of-term treat' we were invited inside the church to see the memorial wall in the Lady Chapel, bearing the names of the fallen servicemen. It was a very moving moment and a reminder of why our work in the poppy garden matters so much.

By Remembrance Day, there will be one poppy in the garden to commemorate each of the 89 men who lost their lives. Sadly, one of those named was recorded as a boy. 😪 A poignant tribute to those who never returned, and a lovely way for the garden to help keep their memories alive.

And, of course, no end-of-term celebration would be complete without a little appreciation for our efforts. We were presented with thank-you cards signed by members of the parish council, along with enormous homemade ginger and fudge cookies baked by Rik. Yum yum!

A huge thank you to everyone at St Botolph’s for making us feel so welcome throughout the year, and to our wonderful GoodGym gang for another evening of graft, good company and community spirit.

We may have reached the end of our gardening year, but the memories — and hopefully not the weeds — will keep on growing!

It was a calm, dull September evening as the GoodGym gang gathered for a litter pick along Windsor Gardens, the lawns stretching out beside the sea.

Tonight’s clean-up crew was Belinda and John, Barbara, Stephane, Julia, Roxy and her four-legged companion Mali the Malinois.

Although there was a slight hitch before we even got started, when I managed to go to the wrong meeting place. 🤦‍♀️

After a bit of backtracking and a gentle reminder that the task leader really ought to know where the task is, we eventually all converged in the right place and got cracking.

Armed with litter pickers and bags, we worked our way along the lawns, clearing up the usual assortment of rubbish that somehow finds its way onto the grass. We certainly weren’t going to let the litter get the better of us but Southern Water has beaten us to the majority of the rubbish having done an extensive clear up yesterday ( Sunday )

Meanwhile, Mali was doing her own thorough investigation of the area, although we're not entirely sure whether she was helping with the litter or simply supervising playing stick chasing with the humans.

And talking of impressive performances…

Roxy had run an absolutely AMAZING 3:36 marathon just TWO DAYS earlier! 🏃‍♀️👏

So while the rest of us were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves for a brisk evening litter pick, Roxy was recovering from 26.2 miles at a pace that most of us would struggle to maintain on an electric bike!

With the lawns looking considerably tidier, the bags filled and the pickers finally put away, it was time to move on to the evening's real highlight…

The Autumn Social!

Belinda and John very kindly welcomed us back to their house for some wonderful hospitality, where we could relax, chat and enjoy some well-earned drinks and a wonderful selection of savoury and sweet snacks.

And, of course, there was the all-important inspection of the new kitchen! It received the full GoodGym seal of approval — beautiful, stylish and definitely worth having a good nose around. We continued our nosing in Johns iconic Dr Who room ( has to be seen to be believed ! )

A lovely way to round off a peaceful September evening: a little litter lifted, plenty of steps clocked up, an extraordinary marathon achievement celebrated, and excellent hospitality enjoyed.

Wickers Gymnastics Club

Tonight we headed to our local gymnastics club, Wickers, which has a lovely connection to our very own Social Secretary, Tamsin, and her daughter Jemmie, who trains there.

We had been asked to help paint the upstairs room, which has been kitted out as a wonderful dance studio. It was our first visit to Wickers, so it was fantastic to have such a good turnout.

We were delighted to welcome Barry, joining us for his very first GoodGym session. He received a very warm GoodGym welcome — and we were particularly grateful for his height later on in the task! 😄

It was also lovely to welcome Roxy back after a few months of being a very busy person, and it had been a while since we'd seen Stephane too, so it was great to have them both back with us. We were also very grateful to see Belinda and John (Mr & Mrs R), Gill and Ricky joining us tonight.

We entrusted Roxy with the important job of pouring the paint into the various receptacles, before we all chose our preferred roles. Gill, Roxy and Barry took to the rollers, while Belinda, Stephane and I tackled the cutting-in with paintbrushes.

There was plenty of painting, chatting and teamwork, and after just an hour we stood back and felt very proud of what we'd achieved. The room is already looking much fresher, although there is definitely more work to do.

We'll need to return to finish the job, but unfortunately that will have to wait until half term when we'll be able to gain access during the holidays.

A brilliant first visit to Wickers, made even better by such a lovely GoodGym turnout. Teamwork really does make the dream work!