Special announcement: change to GoodGym rules - all tasks must now include an axe!.

That’s a joke of course, and we take health and safety very seriously, but it certainly felt good to release some energy with the axe on some very overgrown and stubborn ivy today!

We were back at the Home Group supported living centre today where we’ve recently done a couple of tasks cleaning windows for residents. Home Group is a charity linked to Gateshead Council that offers accommodation to people over 55 with health issues. As you can see from the photos, today we were in the garden clearing away lots of ivy.

We were well-equipped with various tools, but for most of the time it seemed like hands and brute force were most effective! The two hours flew by, aided by conversations including the safety of vaccines and different types of microorganisms! I think the topic was triggered by coughing caused by the spores coming off the ivy. Although I’m no botanist so feel free to correct me!

I think it’s fair to say we made quite a difference. We filled twelve bin bags (including about twelve years worth of cigarette butts - ugh) but the before and after pics tell the story! More work will be needed before the residents can sit in the garden - perhaps another task for GoodGym!

It was great to see Marie back for her second task - you’re a regular now Marie!

Another gardening task on Saturday when we’re back at the Greenhill allotment clearing Magret’s plot. See you then!

It was a day of meetings today. We met Marie who joined us for her first GoodGym task - welcome Marie! We also met task owner Sue and perhaps most importantly we met Magret who has been allocated the garden we were working on today. A delay in starting caused by a very reluctant, rarely used very large padlock allowed us to learn that Magret arrived in the UK from Zimbabwe around 14 years ago, worked for years as a carer for people with learning difficulties until her eyesight began to fail around five years ago. This is the reason that Magret needs our help with clearing the overgrown garden so that she can benefit from it. We discovered that Adam was able to say hello in one of the languages spoken in Zimbabwe! Together with Marie being French we had a lively conversation about learning different languages!

After a quick trip home, Sue came back with a can of WD40 which did the trick with the padlock so we were able to get started. Two hours in the spring sunshine, discussions about various TV programmes and lots of digging and raking later, and we had cleared the first section of Magret's garden. There’s a lot of work still to do and we’ll definitely arrange more sessions, but for now, Magret was very happy with the start we made and is looking forward to growing some onions! We look forward to seeing the progress in the garden. For now, marvel at our before and after photos!