The weather could not make up its mind on Sunday morning when 7 GoodGymers (plus Pascal!) headed out to the Serenity Gardens in Highfields Park. Thankfully, by the time we had arrived, the sun was out and we set to work on planting a row of new shrubs which will create a boundary for the garden. The idea is that this will direct walkers around the path so that they do not trample across the grass area and near to the trees and plaques which have been lovingly installed by bereaved families.

For the most part, we found digging the holes fairly easy but did come across a few troublesome stones, manhole covers and bricks to work around. Some of us also helped remove an old kerb stone which took a fair bit of digging and levering. After the bushes were planted, we also helped with weeding some of the flower beds and strimming around the trees and plaques.

We had no first-timers today but welcomed back Sehrish, Gaurav and Andrew to their second tasks - thanks for coming back guys!

The Serenity Garden is a beautiful space owned and run by Forever Stars, a local charity dedicated to supporting families who have suffered a stillbirth or infant loss. Thank you to Daniel and Martyn for hosting us and to the charity for allowing us to come and be part of something so special. We would love to return and help out some more soon.

What a perfect setting for our latest GoodGym Nottingham task!

It was our first visit to Green’s Windmill and Science centre (although some people had visited in their non-GoodGym life) and we had a beautiful evening for it. Jamie met us on arrival and, after explaining a bit about the windmill and its surrounds, set us to work weeding around the garden. In places, the weeds had started to cover the paths and we all enjoyed the satisfaction of pulling up the pesky weeds to uncover the path underneath.

We all know with weeding that once you pop, you can’t stop, so we could easily have whiled away the whole evening until the garden was (mostly) weed-free; alas, hunger got the better of most of us and we headed off after an hour. Not before a group photo and one last chance to appreciate what a wonderful space the windmill occupies. We hope to come back in a few weeks’ time to continue where we left off.

We welcomed two new members to their first GoodGym task - Sehrish and Gaurav. It was lovely to meet you and we hope to see you again!

Also well done to Peter for doing a run before the task. The rest of us couldn't make it on this occasion but we will be introducing more pre-task runs in the coming weeks for those that wish to partake! :)

Thank you also to Leah, Gaurav and Peter for their photos.