Three GoodGymers made light work of preparing Floyde's flowerbeds in Noel Park Saturday lunchtime.

Jodie & Hazel arrived at the cafe in Noel Park at 11am & had a good chat whilst we waited for Floyde, the task owner to get to us. It was Jodie's first GoodGym of any sort (shout out!) so we talked a bit about to sorts of tasks we've been doing & what a generally good idea this all is!

We figured out who Floyde was from the cheers from the cafe volunteers when he arrived - something of a local legend around Noel Park, he's been keeping the park tidy, flowers planted & vegetable gardens growing pretty much single handedly for years! With the support of the council & local charities he'd been able to obtain a lockable toolbox so we gathered up what we needed & he took us for a tour of the various projects he's been working on at the park this summer.

Today he wanted help getting a flower bed prepared for planting bulbs in a few weeks time. Not put off by the unexpected rain shower we all got stuck in, Floyde breaking the soil with a massive pick axe, while we followed behind tidying up the holes & leaving the soil nice & loose for planting. (After some lessons in good use of fork & spades from Floyde - learning & doing good - double win!) Varon pitched up on his BMX about 11.30 & took over the soil breaking for a bit, after getting a couple obligatory photos in.

Floyde kept us all entertained with tales of his life in Antigua & London, his family, and plans for his holiday in Atlanta over the winter. He let slip that he was 80 last January & we all dropped tools in shock (figuratively speaking, safety was not impaired) as this seemed impossible (roll back to the massive pick axe a sec....!). What a legend!

We were making good progress & soon we'd made it all along the fence line, including replanting some of last year's bulbs that had been pulled up. Varon had to head off at this point to run a GoodGym stall at a Black History Month event in Wood Green Library, though it took a him while to get out the park because he knows Everyone and Everyone wanted a chat!

The rest of us continued on for another half an hour, digging holes around the flag pole & getting some bigger ones ready for the cherry trees Floyde is hoping to get hold of. These will go with the apple trees he put in earlier in the summer. Beginnings of a community orchard!

Holes all dug & tidied we headed back to the cafe to tidy our hands - the lovely volunteers there made us free tea & we stopped for a chat with some regular park users on the work Floyde's doing & what a difference it's making. The volunteers are there every Saturday & run the cafe as a free community facility to provide a centre point for local residents & encourage people to use the park. They had hot chocolate ready for the regular group of kids & their coach who play football there each week. How amazing are they!

There's loads that GoodGym can lend a hand to, from digging new flowerbeds and planting bulbs & trees, to a general tidy round & litter pick - so hopefully GG Haringey will be back there soon!

Report by Hazel =)