Four Goodgym runners met up on Saturday morning to help Ms G with potting some plants and preparing her raised bed so that she can enjoy home-grown vegetables again.

Khara, Becky, Marie and Bianca arrived at Ms G’s place and were greeted by Ms G who was happy to see them. She explained that she had not been well recently and has therefore not been able to look after the communal garden which made her sad. But help was at hand and Khara and Bianca started straight away turning the soil on the raised beds while Marie, Becky and Ms G herself got on with removing last years dead plants from the pots to replace them with fresh ones.

The raised bed crew struggled a little with the turning of the soil as the key to the store room could not be located and the only tools that were available were two little trowels (one of which had a tendency to bend). However, a good chat and some helpful watering of the solid soil by Becky helped. An hour later, all was well and the soil was sufficiently prepared for the fresh compost which was mixed in with the old soil.

Marie and Becky meanwhile were busy watering the garden and following precise instructions from Ms G on how exactly the new plants should to be potted. It was lovely to see that Ms G herself got stuck in and how she enjoyed being able to do a bit of gardening herself while safely resting on her rollator. Marie in particular learned an awful lot about exactly how much soil needs to go into a pot.

After an hour of hard work Becky had to go to work and then there were three.

While Marie continued to assist Ms G, Khara and Bianca were sent to the local church (!) to fetch some more compost. Khara was initially a little worried about the legality of that particular part of the task but she needn't have worried: it was all legal and no crimes have been committed at any stage of the mission.

Then Khara had leave and then there were two. Well, three, actually…

The look of her transformed garden seemed to have boosted Ms G’s energy and enthusiasm and she started planting her spinach in the newly turned-over raised beds and sowed some broad bean and sweet pea seeds. After almost 3 hours the remaining 2 Goodgym runners tidied up and helped Ms G carry all the tools back up to her balcony. Ms G kindly offered a cup of tea and repeatedly declared her gratitude for the help she had received. Overall a very successful mission resulting in a very happy Ms G.