It was a bumper turn out at this week’s task as 11 Nottingham GoodGymers headed to the Meadows Foodbank and Pantry. Mark greeted us on arrival and, once he found his to-do list, he set us to work on a variety of tasks.

Dayna and Elspeth took on the task of sorting and tidying the clothes in the foodbank. Matt, Bozena, Rafe, Nigel, Rosemarie and Vytautas did a huge clean of the floors, shelves and fridges. Meanwhile Peter, Tom and Rachel headed upstairs to tackle a flat pack Ikea table and a clothes rail.

As some of these jobs proved quicker than others, a few of the group then turned their hand to dating some of the food, and photographing and cataloging some toys and baby items which are going to form part of the foodbank’s Christmas campaign (see information poster in photos). Finally, as if we hadn’t ticked off enough different activities this evening, Nigel took on the important job of folding bits of paper for the foodbank’s raffle which was due to be drawn in the coming days.

We welcomed Rafe to his first GoodGym session, and also Elspeth who has recently moved to Nottingham from Leeds where she used to do GoodGym.

Also congrats to Dayna who has now done 10 tasks, and a big well done to Bozena who did the Robin Hood Half Marathon at the weekend!

Five GoodGymers headed to the Edwards Lane Community Centre in Sherwood recently to help out with tidying their garden and grounds. This was our first visit to the centre, which is home to the Chayah Development Project, and we were warmly greeted on arrival by Hya, Chayah’s Founder and CEO.

Our main task was to mow the lawn at the front of the building, a job which had Matt’s name written all over it. We all held our breath while Matt and Hya’s husband attempted to get the mower started, but once it was up and running it was full steam ahead as Matt attempted to mow the lawn before the light faded.

Meanwhile, Leah, Peter, Nigel and Rachel did some general pruning, weeding and tidying of the area around the carpark and driveway (Nigel is missing from our group photo as he needed to make a dash to the airport for a pick-up).

We very nearly completed this task in the daylight, but as the sun started to go down just before 7.30 the mower also ran out of petrol. There wasn’t time to refuel and so a small patch of grass remained un-mowed for the time being. However, this was still a job well done and we hope to return to the community centre for some indoor tasks over the darker weeks.

A big thank you to Hya, her husband, and to Councillor Nayab Patel who also came out to support us.

GoodGym Nottingham recently decided to mark various milestones within the team with a task and pub quiz combo.

The group congregated at the Carlton Hill Sensory Garden (Garden for the Blind) to do a spot of tidying and litter picking. We had expected to pick up where we left off last time and get stuck into more of the overgrown bushes, however someone had beaten us to it and the garden was actually looking very clear and tidy. Leah managed to find one patch which still needed a bit of a prune, whilst the rest of the group split up and looked for litter and anything else that needed a little chop.

The group did still manage to fill a bag of cuttings and get quite a bit of rubbish from the surrounding streets, so it was still time well spent.

After the task, we headed to the nearby Brickyard Pub to eat pizza and do the pub quiz where we placed fourth. Not too shabby, although we have realised that our knowledge of James Bond themes and Thomas the Tank Engine needs work.

Jules and first-time GoodGymer, Gabrielle, attended a recent volunteer day at the Forever Stars Serenity Garden in Highfields Park, Nottingham. They were part of a team helping to prepare the garden for it's next petal installation day. Find out more on the Forever Stars Facebook post..

Forever Stars is an East Midlands charity dedicated to supporting families who've experienced stillbirth, infant loss, and perinatal or neonatal death. They provide a range of services and facilities, including the Serenity Garden which opened in 2021. The Serenity Garden currently has two sculptures within the grounds. These sculptures have been designed for petals to be added to them when families wish to have a remembrance petal for their baby.

Well done to Bozena who went along to help tidy up after the Nottingham Green Festival 2025. Despite some last-minute changes to the event and extreme weather conditions, it looks like a great time was had by all who attended. Check out the Green festival Facebook page for more about this year's festival and up-coming events.

Eight intrepid Goodgymers returned to Sherwood Methodist Church to tackle more of the overgrown garden.

With loppers, secateurs, brooms and wheelie bins ready we all got stuck in. Peter and Rachel finished off the cutting down at the front to finally reveal the Methodist Church signage. And no branches fell on any heads at all (sorry Rachel!)

Elsewhere, high roses were cut back and wheelie bins were filled to the brim with cuttings and branches and Matthew!

Huge thanks go to Tony and Janice from the church who supervised us so expertly and even made us a cuppa after before we all left as the heavens opened!

Massive congratulations to Tom for hitting his 100 good deeds - Goodgym gives you wings!