Full commitment from six GoodGymers as we tackled painting the kitchen at Sherwood Community Centre. With shoes off (Matt and Peter) and overalls on (Nigel and Pete) we rolled up our sleeves and got stuck in
Somehow we kept out of each others way and managed to get a coat on all the way round the kitchen. We also welcomed Lisa for her first ever GoodGym task, hopefully the first of many!

Florence, Jules and I went along to help clear up after the annual Cat Patrol Christmas event at St Jude's Church.

As was the case last year, the event volunteers had a lot of the packing up under control, but we were glad to be able to assist with sweeping the large halls, emptying some of the bins and giving a bit of love and attention to the star of the show, Darwin the cat.

Darwin had spent the afternoon greeting visitors alongside Santa himself, so didn't seem too keen when we asked for a photo, but it had to be done.

We returned to Sherwood Community Centre last night for our latest task. Under skies filled with pretty fireworks, loud bangs and other sounds (more on that later), we met Louise on arrival who set us to work on various exciting jobs around the centre.

Leah, Florence and Tom started off by moving books and radiators around the maze of the building. The books included a diverse range of titles (as shown in the photos), although most were about steam trains and the wars. Once they had finished this job, they moved onto dusting and painting the hallway area, and Tom had the honour of hanging the welcome sign in the foyer.

Also inside the building, Matt turned his hand to a spot of painting while Nigel celebrated his 50th good deed with the important task of painting over the ‘Barbie’ pink wall in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, outside, Peter, Khiltee and I tackled the leaves in the grounds, sweeping, raking and bagging as much as we could in the hour. As well as being treated to a soundtrack of booms from the fireworks, we also noticed that we could hear two very distinct hoots of owls coming from the trees above. As we stopped to listen, along with some of the centre-users who were leaving after their exercise class, we caught a glimpse of one of the owls swoop from one tree to the next. What a privilege!

Thank you to Louise from the Sherwood Community Centre for hosting us and, as always, giving us lots of fun tasks to do. We will be returning next week for more (sign up here).

Now, to the milestones. Congratulations to Nigel on his 50th good deed, Peter on his 60th and Leah on her 80th. Oh, and it was my 150th! 😛

It's been a while since we helped out at Sneinton Primary School's allotment, so it was lovely to be back on a sunny Autumn morning for our first task of November. Kathryn met us on arrival and set us to work on various tasks, including litter picking the path, clearing the raised beds and ground of leaves, trimming the lavender (which smelt beautiful!), and cutting back some of the brambles at the back of the allotment.

We were joined by three mini GoodGymers who were a great help until the lure of colouring in took over and a craft station was set up at one of the tables. We also met Waliyah who joined for her first GoodGym task - it was lovely to meet you!

For our latest task we headed back to the Edwards Lane Community Centre (home to the Chayah Development Project). Florence, Hannah, Nigel, Leah, Peter and Rachel met Hya on arrival who, after taking everyone's tea orders, set us to work painting the back wall of the sports hall which needed a little refresh.

After 'coveralls' and 'overshoes' were donned, we opened the large tub of brilliant white paint, only to find that it was looking a bit less than brilliant. In fact, some might say it was looking distinctly bluey-grey. We checked and double checked that we were to use this paint and were given the go-ahead. So, off we went with our brushes and rollers, debating amongst ourselves whether we were painting with grey/blue paint or whether it was, in fact, the kind of paint that turns white when dry. At times, we did start to think that the wall was turning white, but weren't sure whether it was just our eyes getting weary or wishful thinking!

Once the hour was up, the whole back wall was covered and we finished off by washing our tools and cleaning the floor which had become a bit paint splattered in the process.

This was the perfect task for a chilly, dark autumn evening and, after a quick photo, we departed very satisfied, although we are still none the wiser as to whether the wall will be white when we next return! (ok, so looking back at the photos afterwards it definitely looks grey, doesn't it...?)

Thank you to Hya for hosting and for the tea, and to Councillor Nayab Patel who came to provide support and treats once again.

It was back to the food bank in The Meadows for eight Goodgymers last night. Mark from the food bank soon had us organised and so we set to work. Hannah, Bozena and Aj set to organising stock. Meanwhile some generous donations meant a number of pallets where stacked higher than Peter so Matt (six at a time!), Scott, Tom and Kevin got stuck in to moving tuna, mandarin segments and rice puddings by the dozen upstairs. Some would say this was good Hyrox training if anyone had somehow got themselves roped in to one (not looking at Tom in particular!) but was definitely a good workout for everyone there!