Working on a small and perfectly formed pocket paradise

Well done to the GoodGym Trafford crew who ran 7K last night to help tidy up a little pocket paradise - Stephen Street Community Garden in Urmston, Trafford. Special mention to Helen aka Aggie who joined us for her first ever GoodGym run, well done!

After meeting at our base location of St Matthews Community Hall, Stretford (M32 9AJ) at 6.30pm we had our welcome natter (including a reminder about our social on 18th September after our Group run that evening at Head Bar, document check and warm up from Kate (at points both at the same time!), the team took off at a fair clip led by Lou and kindly backmarked by Cassie. Big thanks to you both and also to our tech consultant for the evening, John who helped us with some Strava connections!

Once all assembled, resident and fellow GoodGym-er Jo who was our task owner for the evening, explained some of the history of the plot and how it had been a dumping ground a few years back until the local community decided to take it over and transform it. The result is a lovely little green spot that has fruit, vegetables and flowers for the community (including the nearby Carehome residents) to enjoy.

Of particular focus is the end of summer party which is in a few weeks, so with that in mind and after we had been briefed and were suitably tooled up, the team set about weeding, raking, tidying and clipping like nobody's business to make sure the garden is looking its best for that!

Whilst we worked we admired the crop of frankly whopping raspberries and abundant apple tree which has already yielded sufficient a crop for crumble for the whole street! We all got into the party mood with some of Kate's tunes and even Freddy our mascot paid us a visit to lend a paw.

This GoodGym Trafford task is not to be sniffed at...

Even though Jo has been on Group tasks before she was still surprised about the impact the team had in less than 45 minutes.

This is fantastic, look how much better it looks already!

After taking a good group shot (Kate's photo skills are slowly improving!)

we divided ourselves into two teams to run home, one team taking a longer route and running at a faster pace with the second team pacing ourselves.

On our return we stretched off and congratulated ourselves on another task well done. Next week our Group run is helping a small children's mental health charity to clear down after their event on 11th September. Click the link to register!

Thanks to all who joined us and see you next time!

Happy running, Kate x