A return to St. Paul's Community Hall and Church tonight. But first, time to ask one of the strangest questions at a bar......

did you find my watering cans last week?

Some 13 goodgymers tonight, so plenty to get done. We welcomed to their first task, Bruno

CROESO

And back for their second helping of volunteering, and this week joining the runners Abdullah.

Sneaking in at the last minute, and thinking he'd bypass the tradition by not signing up! Dylan arrived, but unbeknown to him we had already planned for this. Thanks Rosie 😁

And so without further delay.. Congratulations on hitting 100.

Hope you enjoy wearing the wings for the evening.

The walking group made their way on a slightly more direct route, led by Emma.

The runners took a route following the river and getting a wonderful breeze, and arrived to meet our organiser and a couple of goodgymers who had made their own way there.

We had a bit task tonight, as so much of the grounds had become overgrown... Even in a drought. We split into groups to get as much completed as possible.

• Group 1 were on fence clearing
• Group 2 were clearing in between the paving slabs
• Group 3 tackling the side
• Group 4 around the back

There was cutting of the ivy around the fences, before the crew got their energy and started ripping it off. The tree saplings that had taken root were also cut back, leaving a nice clear site. The pathway was cleared using some tough wire brushes, before being sprayed to keep those weeds at bay. We may have broken a brush or two, but our organiser had admitted to buying cheap online....

The side had the a lot of misplaced plants, so they were removed before the whole area was swept and made all spick and span again.

And then came the back.......Everywhere you looked there were plants to be pulled. Rosebay willowherb and buddleja where just a couple. Due to the drought conditions of late though, they were a little easier to pull up, but the seeds and pollen certainly got up noses. And so, the conversation got onto the conga - Standard.

The original by Miami Sound Machine and Gloria Estefan, and the childhood / wedding party delight from Black Lace.

Distraction out of the way, we downed tools and made our way to the front for our standard group photo. We achieved a lot more than our task organiser expected, meaning our next trip could be something a bit different. Thanks team for a successful evening, see you next time.

On a glorious day in the sunshine, goodgymers got together for the long overdue task of Orchard watering..

The community orchard in Bute park was in need of a good slosh o' water. After heatwave after heatwave, those trees were rattling the fences for us to come in.

Due to all of the events in the parks recently.... The orchard had to be fenced off for its own safety. This had meant a cancelled water session last time, but no more. Finally as the people of Cardiff get their parks back, goodgym can get to the orchard.

We met at Glassworks as usual, and welcomed our first timer Darcey..

CROESO

We set off on our run, a light jog due to the heat.. A slight detour due to the get out for the events crew as they disassembled the monstrosity of the stage and walls, but we made it to the orchard gates. Our organiser, Mel messaged to say she was running a little late so we got comfortable in the shade relaxing after our run.

David decided to try to break the code for the gate lock, but with no success.

As Mel arrived, on her bike with 2 water browsers and a watering can (Michael had run with 2 from his allotment), it was time to get into the orchard to get volunteering.

There are over 60 trees in the orchard, so our task was a big one tonight, the plan of action was simple....

• fill up the 2 browsers (60 litres each)
• decant water to the cans
• give each tree 1 FULL can of water

We rotated, giving everyone time for a different workout. Running back and forth to fill up the browsers, they were quite a workout on their own once full, but fun to roll. Lifting and pouring the water into the watering cans, a great upper body workout. And last, but by no means least, running to water the trees.

We were even lucky enough to see a green spotted woodpecker, but not in time for Jonathan to get it on the merlin app.... Maybe next time...

Speaking of which, we will return in 2 weeks for another watering session as we head into a big ol heatwave....

Join us won't you.....

Sign up here

On a run-derful Tuesday evening, 8 Goodgymers ran, walked and cycled to Global Gardens to work in the kids area of the allotment.

Chloe joined for her first Goodgym group task - welcome! Hopefully we will see you again soon at a task and/or social. There was also a welcome return to Lew who has vowed to come back to more group runs, I think mainly for the pub mind! ;o)

We split into to groups for the task to make the most of the space. Darren, Chloe, Flo and Su spent time clearing the seating area and climbing frame of any weeds and overgrowth. We got to hear all about Flo's amazing effort completing the VOGUM ultra in testing conditions on the weekend. Well done again Flo.

Rewind the years

Lew, Dylan, and Dylan dug out a cordoned off patch to be ready for planting. If you look through the pictures they managed to dig deep and find some interesting items from the earth:

• A full bottle of Stella Artois!
• A cassette tape by Youssou N'Dour - this only took 7 seconds to find! ;o)
• A handwash bottle
• A big old stubborn root

The before and after pictures show what a big difference was made in just 40 minutes!

After disposing all the weeds into the compost pile we headed off - some headed home and some headed to the open mic night at the pub.

11 goodgymers were raring to go, eager to help out another community project.

It's Tuesday, it's goodgym

A short run from our start location, Darren led to run out, a nice easy jg along the river Taff on a Spring evening. As we arrived at the Church and community Centre we met with the task organiser. Unfortunately the gold paint had been forgotten, so that task was off the table, but there was still plenty to do.

Welcome back Wendy, glad you've chosen to return.

We split into 2 groups, one to weed and tidy up the back of the Church and one to complete some garden maintenance at the front of the Church.

But before we got to work on the weeding it was time to embarrass Rosie with her badge. She had hit a milestone last task, and hit her 50th good deed. As it was missed we decided to give her her giant 50 badge on this task.

Well done Rosie

The back of the church was hard at work, removing those weeds and clearing moss dropped onto drain covers. But still time to stop and give us a pose for a good photo...

gilet Su

Around the front was the bush cutting trials. As Julian, our organiser was clearing the roof of moss, we were cutting back Hebe, tidying planters and sweeping like we were in Mary Poppins....

Helo Teddy

As we were clearing we thought we'd found our new goodgym mascot, in a bush of all places.

Winnie the Pun!

As we closed down the Volunteering, it was decided that the Bear looked better in the bush.

It's the new mascot for the Church.... A quick group photo and it was time to head back yo the start location for a nice social. Goodgymers, you rock... Always Bear-lieve in yourself!

Back at the Glassworks we were joined by Flora, there for a DBS check in order to start older people missions. She decided to join the party and stay with the group, hoping we see you soon at a group task too.

Join us next week as we return to the wonderful grow Cardiff in Grangetown to help with their community garden at the medical hub.

Sign up here