After being greeted and let into the house by Ms S's carer, we got talking to Ms S herself. A very lovely lady who was very grateful for our visit, as she loves animals, wildlife and gardening, but sadly the size of her garden has become too much for her to maintain. However, when she asked if there was anyone else coming to join us we knew we were going to be faced with a big task!

Upon seeing the garden we quickly realised this task would require a whole team of Goodgymers, not just a couple of visits from the two of us.

We discussed with Ms S what would have the biggest immediate impact for her and we all decided to take on the task of clearing and weeding the side of the house and the patio. This meant she could get outside in her wheelchair, without the worry of getting stuck or having a fall, and feed the birds and a poorly fox she is currently feeding and caring for. In a matter of seconds of Ms S telling us about the fox, we saw it! As the fox is familiar with Ms S, when it hears her voice it comes out to find her - she clearly has developed a very trusting relationship with this fox.

We got stuck into the task feeling spurred on that the local wildlife would also benefit from Ms S being able to access a bigger area outside her house - we weeded, we swept, we poop scooped, we cleared a lot of wet leaves, we made the wheelchair ramp more accessible, we dug up large rooted weeds to make the path wider and we enjoyed talking to and listening to Ms S - she used to be a fond runner herself and she shared lots of stories about her adventures and PBs she was proud of. We also learnt that if the garden could have a bit more time invested into it that she may be able to get a much needed support dog that she longs for.

We left Ms S after spending over 2 hours working on her garden wishing we could have done that bit more, but that only made us more determined to make a return visit with more hands to help. She thanked us and said that she was grateful for the start we were able to make, as she was beginning to think she might have to move house and give up the garden she loves.

On the way home we realised one error we had made, we hadn't check the tide times! This meant we were stuck on Mersea Island until the tide started to go down and we could cross the bridge.

Our Goodgym community efforts didn't end there... once back in Colchester we found ourselves stuck again, as a tree had fallen in the road! Not one to pass up an opportunity to help, we jumped straight into action when we witnessed others passing by and driving on the footpath instead. We quickly realised we underestimated the job at hand, but our efforts spurred others to stop and lend a hand too. Within a few short minutes we had the road cleared and cars no longer needed to pass by driving on the footpath.

A good day in many ways, but now we feel we would like to rally up a task force to go back and make even more of a difference to Ms S and her garden.

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