5 Goodgymers got a great strength workout this evening supporting Kairos WWT with a complete overhaul of their outdoor space.

After a short jog from our meeting point we arrived at Kairos to be greeted by Hannah and Lisa, along with the familiar face of Esther from team Springboard CIC. We were shown the courtyard area that was currently covered in slabs and fake grass which the team have aspirations to turn into a garden sanctuary where the women who Kairos support can relax, as well as learning new gardening skills.

Today's task was a real display of girl power, with a few different tasks taking place simultaneously. Lil, Laura P, Deb and Katherine worked with Esther to lift around half of the slabs in the area and piled them up out of the way. Laura D helped with lifting the fake grass, rolling it up and then moving it out of the way before doing her best Edward Scissorhands impression, trimming back all the buddleia and bushes that were hanging across the alley along the side of the building.

With all the required slabs lifted and the grass cleared in record time, we were able to get going on the next part of the task which was to start clearing the rubble that had been laid underneath the slabs. This involved first picking up bits of concrete/hard core that had been used as a base and transferring these to a big pile in buckets/plant pots/supermarket crates. Next came the shoveling of the rubble which again was transferred via containers into the big pile we had now created, before finally removing the weed control barrier. We then placed a cover over the top to protect the soil ready for when the next part of the project can be completed.

It was great to see that the soil underneath the slabs was actually looking quite healthy and there were certainly lots of worms enjoying it, including what can only be described as a mini snake - the fattest and longest worm that we had ever seen! Fingers crossed some great plants and vegetables can also enjoy that soil one day soon.