Another chilly evening in town and another task on the board for Goodgym Colchester. This time meeting Colchester in Bloom's Pam to collect some bedding plants and walk them up to the High St, we were joined this week by new member Christian.

Splitting into groups, we were able to swap out dead plants and sparse areas of the flower beds with fresh spring flowers, whilst clearing some gum and ciggarettes too. The town was alot quieter than our last evening task here before Christmas, but that meant we avoided any accusations of vandalism and could move more quickly.

Gathering outside the town hall for a quick picture, we then walked back the bags and dispersed, satisfied with a job well done and brighter evenings on the horizon.

Tonight was a warm and humid mission to even out the flower boxes on the High Street. A couple of boxes looked bare whilst others looked full.

We managed to even them out, without changing the aesthetics too much!!

As we dug and planted Frazer mistaken as an expert gardener by a passerby! Well I guess we are pretty good at planting and deadheading!!

Goodgym, like many, want Colchester city centre to be green and cyclist and pedestrian friendly. Maybe we should bring back the horse and cart?! What would you change in Colchester?

On a bright but eventually rainy evening 4 Goodgymmers made their way down past the station to help Pam and Colchester in Bloom. Helen and Stu met us at the allotment already stuck into thick brambles, where it was rumoured some fruit trees once planted by Goodgym years before dwelled.

Some exciting news from Sophie following her holiday whilst Helen advocated the importance of protein, we took on some truly gnarly weeds before breaking them down for stashing in waste bags. Eventually, beyond the many thick layers a gorgeous cherry tree emerged, bearing some ripe and delicious cherries!

Despite trying to wrap up the task our volunteers were too keen to stop, insisting everything be cleared despite the falling rain. Once getting ourselves away finally we parted ways with a sense of great satisfaction. Another task cleared, with literal fruits to show for our labour.

A muggy evening, our 5 GoodGymers arrived ready for a blooming good task! We were welcomed at the town hall by Pam from Colchester in Bloom along with a group of other volunteers all ready to get stuck into the flower boxes. Our task was to empty the boxes of old flowers and weeds, saving the ivy! Plenty of digging, weeding and forking was carried out.

We had time for a little hill running fitness session with three uphill efforts increasing in distance and ending with some well-earned cool down stretches. Well done all and see you next time!

After a day of torrential downpours or April power showers, the sun shone for our task with Colchester in Bloom at the Bergholt Road allotment.

It was slightly chilly but we warmed up as we 'Jeffed' for 3km to the task where we were met by Pam. Our task was a very good arm work out emptying roughly 30 hanging baskets and boxes ready to be replanted and hung across the city centre. We completed it, even saving some of the plants in boxes and saving Colchester in Bloom loads of time!!!

Off we trotted into the sunset, another task complete and looking forward to seeing the flowers in the coming weeks.

Good luck to Frazer for his 5k on Wednesday and we'll done to Sophie for performing in a BSL choir in Chelmsford to a large crowd!

It was in Spring and Summer 2017 when I realised the inpact Goodgymers had in Colchester. We had planted bulbs and gardened around the city centre and then the colourful flowers appeared! Very satisfying!

Spring is again starting to show and the evenings will be lighter still in two weeks when the clocks change, so whatever help we can give our flowery friends is worthwhile.

The gardens outside Firstsite, like so many in Colchester, need tending to regularly and tonight we cleared the way for the green shoots of spring to shoot up.

Thanks Pam and well done Frazer.