This evening five GoodGym members from Woking helped out at the Dramatize community centre. For the pre-task run Nadia and Wayne met so that Nadia could do her run leader assessment and be observed by Wayne A quick 1 mile to the task and Katie was already waiting, and then we were shortly followed by the rest of the gang, Julie and Alys.

We were greeted by Karen who gave us the briefing with Julie and this was to pull up some old lining and replace it with wood chippings. The team quickly got into gear and had some very satisfying lining pulling progress. We stopped for a quick chocolate cake and water kindly provided by Karen. 🥮

Then we made our way to the chippings heap which smelled of almonds. Some of us were familiar with this from our previous WWF tasks where we knew that Laurel cuttings smell of almond apparently due to cyanide content. It’s so great that we can learn new things about nature with GoodGym. 🌲

We had some nice conversations about what people were getting up to, upcoming holidays and big life events and it was good to catch up with the gang. 💬

Finally we finished the path and it looked completely different and we were chuffed with our work. This garden will continue to be improved so that people who attend Dramatize can benefit from a pleasant outdoor space. 🌾

We said farewell to Karen and the community Centre and spoke about our upcoming tasks, one of which is Knaphill community fridge which we all love and will double up as a mini social for those that can make it. 🍔🍻

Wayne and Nadia ran back to their cars and everybody else went home. Great task well done everyone and see you next time!

*White Rose Lane Nature Reserve *

This morning i joined Charlie from We Act 🌍 and a few of his volunteers at white rose lane nature reserve to pull up Himalayan Balsam which had overgrown in the reserve.

In Total there were 6 of us all gloved up and we were surprised at how quickly it had grown from our previous visit to the reserve, the recent downpours definitely had an impact The Balsam was quite easy to pull up and in no time we had cleared an area and had cleared a pathway 😊

This Wednesday we are meeting at the St John's Lye where we will be running to the Vyne. Nadia will be leading the group run as part of her Run Leader Training run 🏃‍♀️

Have a great weekend all. 😊

*Millmoor Common *

This mornings outdoor task was part of GG's x WWF Work Out In Nature calibration. 🌎

Big welcome to Jemma who joined us for her first GG task, hopefully the first of many 😀

Wayne & Luan met up with Jemma & Charlie and his volunteers from We Act 🌎 at a new location Millmoor Common in Old Woking.

Todays task was to find an area which could be turned over to so wild flowers could be seeded and hopefully grow 😀

Charlie as always brought all the tools that were required to carry out the task. The area was marked out and then we all git stuck in pulling out the weeds and turning over the soil. Millmoor Common is prone to flooding and the common itself is quite large and the spot we found would be one of many.

Luan who loves an outdoor task was telling us how she has been getting out and running regularly even doing a 6k run last week, keep up the good work.

After an hours work of clearing the area we all scattered the wildflower seeds that Charlie had brought, we then moved over to the other side of the common to find another suitable area. Before we started to dig up a well deserved coffee and biscuits were given out. Once fueled up we got stuck in and in no time had the 2nd site ready for the seeds to be scattered 😀

What a great morning doing this great task 🌎

All Aboard Club 🚂

This morning Wayne & Priya met Richard at Brookwood Memorial Halls to assist the All Aboard Club with building the big train track for the SEN kids to enjoy 😀

Along with Goodgym volunteers we were joined by young DofE volunteers were volunteering for their awards.

It was great seeing Priya again at a task and was great to catch up. First thing we had to do was place about 20 chairs around the hall for the parents to sit and chat while the kids played.

With so many helpers in no time the train track was taking shape & was looking great, lots of twists and turns, every time we build the track it looks different 😲

Just as the last track was placed in position the kids were coming in to have a fun playful morning 🚂💨

Tonight we were back at Woking food bank at The Lighthouse, giving it a good old spring clean.

Anne, Karen & Laura ran from the Leisure Centre, whilst Katie, Phil, Julie and Alys made their own way to the task.

In less than half an hour, we had the place hoovered, mopped and organised! Many hands make light work as they say…

If you couldn’t join us today, there are two tasks available this Sunday - one indoors helping build a train set for All Aboard’s sessions for autistic, ADHD and SEN children, and another outdoor sowing wildflowers on Millmoor Common.

James, Karen and Becky took a short pause from eating chocolate eggs to volunteer at Junior parkrun on a crisp easter morning.

With well over 100 juniors it was a busy parkrun. Must be the parents getting the kids out to burn some energy before a day of feasting on sugary treats.

James did a superb job as Run Director and did GoodGym proud, knowing most kids by first name, including lots of kids in the warm up crew and learning from the kids how to use the loud speaker.

Becky accurately did her job as time keeper, maybe for the first time ever, while Karen was a marshal on the course encouraging the kids and keeping them safe.

Certainly an eggcellent time had by all.