What a fabulous Community Mission This evening!

Firstly, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to our wonderful Maurice who tonight hit his 100th task! What an incredible achievement. We are so proud of you Maurice and all that you do for Goodgym and for your community. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to have you as part of the team and Goodgym tasks just aren’t the same without you (which let’s be honest, there hasn’t been many you haven’t been to! ;-))

4 Goodgym devotees, Karen, Hazel, Maurice and Nicola went along to a local community allotment last night to help with the overwhelming task of clearing some Himalayan Balsam which is overtaking the allotments. The weed has spread through from the neighbouring field and although it might look pretty, it’s considered to be an invasive species that grows rapidly, spreads quickly and smothers other vegetation as it goes.

If you were to see the allotments, you would understand the huge sense of pride that the people who manage them clearly take in them. They are the most beautiful allotments I have ever seen. They are overflowing with flowers and produce, and they currently have a scarecrow contest running, so lots of beautifully decorated scarecrows are scattered around the plots. It's a sight for sore eyes.

Tonight was a real team effort, with lots of allotment owners coming along to lend a hand! They were such a lovely, welcoming group of people. It was lovely to chat and learn more about the allotments (that none of us even knew existed – they are well hidden!) The work that goes into them is incredible. It was a pleasure to be able to help in some small way and clearing the weeds was therapeutic (they were easy to pull up) as well a great form of exercise.

At the end of the night, we celebrated Maurice’s wonderful Goodgym milestone with cake (a caterpillar cake seemed completely appropriate tonight!) under the apple tree. It was a truly lovely evening.

At the end of the evening, the lovely Margaret who is on the allotment committee presented us each with a box of homegrown tomatoes and a jar of homemade jam. We felt thoroughly spoilt.

Thank you for having us. Hopefully we can come back again soon (don’t worry, we won’t expect jam and tomatoes every time!).

xxx