Shout-out to Peter for the egg-cellent pun!

We were back at the AMC Gardens last night for an evening of tussling with weeds, compost and some rather worse-for-wear wood.

All six of us arrived under our own steam, with a trio running from town, two on bikes and a solo runner! Great work, team!

After a tour for those of us who hadn't been to the Gardens before, we got stuck into shifting compost from the main bins to some tarps as Katie and the team felt the bins had seen better days and needed reconstructing. Nigel, Aj, Peter and Leah got stuck in with spades, pitchforks and wheelbarrows, managing to clear most of the ready compost and some that was still rotting down into separate piles. Their work clearly had an impact on the local wildlife, with the chickens inspecting every barrow-load for tasty treats and a rogue frog scaring the bejeesus out of Leah (stronger language may have been used, but this is a family website). Katie thankfully moved it out to the pond area for a good drink and a splash. Finally, Leah and Peter began the process of dismantling the old bins, ripping out the old liners and some of the wood.

Meanwhile, Bozena and Tom were over in the gardens proper clearing out some of the beds to make space for planting. The proceeds were then donated to the compost piles the rest had been creating.

We finished our evening with some delicious freshly picked apricots and some well-earned water. What a way to spend a lovely balmy evening!

Leah headed up to Walter Halls School to help out at their annual Dig Day.

She arrived towards the end of the event, but Adele quickly set her to work helping to create planters out of tyres. The soil was bone dry, so she used the GoodGym muscle to lug watering cans down to the tap.

Just before she left, she got a glimpse of the new pond we helped dig getting filled with water! We're all so impressed with how it turned out!

Eight GoodGymers headed to the Carrington Community Garden in Nottingham to help tidy up the area. Nestled between two residential streets, this hidden gem has been a little neglected in the last couple of years and had become overgrown, littered and had also attracted some rough sleeps recently.

As GoodGym, we had been aware of the gardens for some time but did not know who to contact about helping there. So when we saw Peter, whose daughter had just moved nearby, asking on social media for help in sprucing it up we jumped on board, along with some other local residents and councillors.

Now, all GoodGym tasks are great, but you know it's going to be a good one when you are greeted on arrival by a) a dog and b) an ice lolly and muffins, even before we had done any work (although some had run/cycled in the sun so were more deserving!). This is what happened when we arrived and met Local Councillor, Nayab, who brought the treats and Mark from the Council who was accompanied by little Jack the jack russell. Jack kept a watchful eye on us as we worked and was particularly interested when someone rustled the paper of a muffin case (sorry, Jack, they were chocolate). We were also joined by some local residents and Councillor AJ Matsiko stopped by to have a chat and admire our work.

Peter had already made a bit of a start on the garden the previous week, but we carried on with the clear-up, spending an hour removing weeds and brambles from the path area and litter picking around the gardens. We filled two green waste bins and more, and after the hour the area already looked more open and the path more accessible. There is a still a lot to do, though, so we will be putting in more dates to return very soon.

Thank you to Mark, Nayab, AJ, Kees and his family for such a fun evening, and thanks to Peter for getting this project off the ground.

Four Goodgymers headed back to the Windmill Community Gardens to tackle the second half of the brook

Peter, Nigel, Rosemarie and Neville ( for his GG debut - welcome aboard!) armed themselves with sturdy gloves, loppers and rakes (the scythe stayed in the shed - probably for the best!)

First job was to actually get in amongst the brambles and, with the help of Linda from gardens and a bit of crawling under the bridge we were in!

What followed was 60 minutes of hacking, lopping, raking and generally trying not to get scratched and gouged as we managed to clear most if the other half of the brook.

So satisfying to see our hard work pay off, especially as it seemed an almost impossible task. We can't wait to see what they have lined up for us next..!

Rachel spent a few days dodging the showers to deliver leaflets for an upcoming Cat Patrol fund-raising event. Aided by two honorary GoodGymers from home, 11 roads in Mapperley Park were covered, taking in plenty of hills, steps, long driveways, dogs and finger-pinching letter boxes.

We were back at Walter Halls School last night for another incredibly fun task. This week, we moved away from the pond and garden area where we have worked previously to focus on one of the storage cupboards underneath part of the school (although Peter and Tom did start off with a quick 10-minute pickaxe session on the pond area to warm them up, or was it a cool down after also running from Market Square to the school?).

Our job was to help clear out an enormous amount of ‘stuff’ from the storage area so that it could be sorted through and tidied. We set to work with Adele and Emma from the school, taking all the items outside so that we could assess what was worth keeping and what would, sadly, need to be disposed of.

There was such a random mix of equipment, toys, tools, boxes and much more…plus a wheelchair. However, most surprising was a huge pile of pushchairs which had been donated to the school by East Midlands Airport. Emma went through them all to check them and see if they were still functional, and we all helped with some of the trickier ones to see if we could work out how to put them up and down – we managed most of them, but some had us stumped!

Once all the equipment was out, we swept and cleaned up the storage area ready for the salvageable items to be put back in. With the cupboard repacked in a more orderly fashion, we finished up by wheeling all the broken pushchairs and taking all the rubbish to the bins at the rear of the school ready for collection.

It was lovely to see Tom back after a break and also well done to AJ for completing his 5th GoodGym task.

Thank you to Adele and Emma for once again hosting us at this amazing school. We’ve enjoyed every visit so far and we always leave feeling satisfied and impressed with all the amazing projects going on at the school.