The Everton Community Garden Autumn Auction is a GoodGym fixture, and for good reason. Steph was so keen to get to the auction that she arrived on Thursday night mistakenly — a whole day early

GoodGym takes us all over the city, working with lots of different community groups and projects. At Everton Community Garden, we’ve done plenty of work over the years, so it’s lovely to be invited back — this time not to work, but as guests at their annual autumn auction. John and Hilary, have always been incredibly welcoming and supportive of GoodGym. Together with all the volunteers, they’ve created such a special place, and it’s lovely that the relationship we’ve built through doing work there means we’re now able to come along and enjoy evenings like this too.

After attending a number of open evenings strangers have become familiar faces, acquaintances, and friends, and every time we return we seem to know more people. Couple this with Jo unexpectedly meeting an old friend and it gives a sense of the warmth of the atmosphere.

The garden was looking glorious: a lush oasis, bursting with fruit, vegetables and flowers. Although the day had started with rain the evening was dry with a warm breeze bringing a breath of autumn with it. There was music, conversation, burgers and hot dogs being cooked and delicious homemade crumbles made from the fruits of everyone’s labours. Jo became the Crumble Ambassador, on hand to direct everyone towards the delicious offerings.

Bekah discovered a jostaberry a cross between a gooseberry and a blackcurrant and promptly bought some homemade jam made from it. After time for an amble around the garden and lots of chat it was time for the famous auction.

Brio, the auctioneer, swapped his informal shorts and top for a dapper top hat and tails — and kept everyone entertained while the GoodGymers did their bit: getting the bidding started, nudging prices higher and throwing in the occasional extra pound causing some good humoured bidding wars. It’s important to have people willing to get things moving, but it’s equally important to have people who get completely carried away and start enthusiastically bidding for things they perhaps didn’t know they wanted, needed or even realised existed. I may have fallen into that last category.

Among the goods being bid for were crock pots, wooden bench and planters and the Goodgym famous tromboncino a ridiculous shaped squash that resembles a trombone a swan or a question mark dependent on how you hold it. But, as Jo pointed out, tromboncinos are 'so last year.'. The Turk’s Turban squash absolutely outran it in the beauty stakes. Of course both had to be gained by someone.... not to be named

Once the auction was over, there was still plenty to enjoy. Aatefa picked grapes straight from the vine — 20p a bunch. How much fresher can you get? Steph and I went trombocino spotting, Bekah was busy organising a social diary date and Jo talking to old friends and new.

How quickly the night went. Aatefa left with her grapes, Sally-Anne had her auction haul safely escorted home by Bekah via Uber yes there was that much, Jo cycled off into the night and Steph retraced her journey home from yesterday's unexpected dry run

What a lovely way to spend an evening. And that’s what GoodGym is all about: turning up, getting stuck in, building relationships with communities across the city, and becoming part of something bigger than ourselves.

If you’ve never joined us, come along. You might arrive feeling like a stranger, but that feeling doesn’t last for long. And you never know, you might even get to play a trombocino.