Apologies to anyone who loves the folk song Scarborough Fair, and to Simon and Garfunkle

Are you going to Hockwell Job Fair ?
Goodgymers gave up their free time.
We gave our help to those who lived near there.
Registered and helped them to sign.

Ali and Abdo had arrived their first.
Goodgymers giving lots of time.
Without no fuss they got straight to work,
Tables organised in straight lines.

Gill and Musa arrived with Omar.
Goodgymers are rays of sunshine,
They helped set up - their work was 5 star.
Every thing was ready in time.

People came to Hockwell Job Fair.
And we signed them up in the line.
Then folded tables, stacking the chairs.
Hall was tidied in record time.

At the end of the Hockwell Community Fun Day, there were lots of happy smiling faces, but also lots of rubbish to clean up. Gill and Susannah soon got stuck in. Gill was busy disinfecting the table cloths and collapsing tables while Susannah didn't mind using the tiniest broom ever to start sweeping up the café area. Chairs were moved and stacked, dishes washed, and the main hall swept to perfection. We were so busy tidying up we forgot to get any photos of us in action. Another clean sweep by GoodGym, and much appreciated.

A fun way to spend the afternoon at Hockwell Ring Community Centre Fun Day.

Mayra Suzannah and Gill were on the second shift of the day, helping to serve refreshments and welcome people to the café. There were lots of teas and coffees served and we all did a great job of hosting, clearing tables and basically being on hand for any tasks that needed doing.

Our efforts were really appreciated. Well done team.

When I visited Ms D only my social visit yesterday she was very distressed as despite having limited mobility and visual impairment, the hotel where she lives said she had to move rooms from a first floor room to a room on the ground floor the other side of the car park. Fortunately I managed to get her referee to make a referral so that Goodgym could help with the move. I was the only one available , but with help from a worker from the Stroke Association we managed to pack up her things. I was then up and down the stairs collecting the boxes, cases and bags, carrying them down and getting them into her room. Ms D was overwhelmed but together we worked out how to organise her things and eventually got the room looking comfy and homely. I also helped her do a little decluttering too and by the time I left Ms D was feeling so much happier about her new “home “.

This week it was a return to the Brown Books shop for another session pushing this community bookshop one step closer to re-opening.

On the way there, David and Chrisshane worked together on Chrisshanes week 4 of Couch to 5k, doing a loop with four 5 minute runs with walking rests in between. Chrisshane is doing fantastically at building her running stamina!

Completing the run on arrival at the shop the rest of the gang were hard at work sorting the space out. All the books and other stuff had arrived from storage and needed putting out on shelves. Masking tape needed peeling, paint splashes on the floor needed scrubbing up and the whole floor mopped clean of all the building grime from the last week.

We soon transformed the shop from what looked like a junk shop of piles of boxes and bits, into a clean, spacious area ready to be arranged to entice readers in to browse the books.