Louise and I spent a beautiful summer's evening in Birmingham Vineyard, bathed in the sounds and scents of this famous region and chatting with the team as they prepared to welcome cultured visitors back to the friendly space.

Despite the name, the large building not far from oenological destinations like Wine Freedom is actually a community church in Digbeth. It's been closed for in-person events and community services - with the exception of a food bank - for over a year due to Covid, but is getting ready to open its doors to the congregation this weekend.

The carpark, across the road from Birmingham Vineyard Church, along with the surrounding pavements, were looking pretty untidy so GoodGym teamed up with Jess and Olive from the church to pick litter, clear weeds and sweep pathways. Next came buckets of soapy water to wash signs and the bike shelter. Thanks to the motivational soundtrack emanating from the martial arts gym next to the carpark, within 90 minutes our four-strong team had made a noticeable difference. Cheers!

We made our way in the heat to the Vineyard Church, where they had building works done which had left a fine layer of dust all over the furniture in their congregation hall. It turned out to be a great task for social distancing. Ben hoovered the chairs while I wiped the dust off the legs. Yvette had invited her friend and they made a great team as they switched roles. It looked like a tough task to complete at first, but after two hours of cleaning we had cleaned all of the chairs and put them back neatly where they started. With the hoovers going all the way through, it wasn’t the easiest of tasks to chat through, but it was great to meet Yvette for the first time nonetheless. As we left, we found that we had missed the big downpour while we were working together inside.