6 Goodgymers helped Northleigh House School with a spring clean and spruce up of the grounds.

Upon arrival we were warmly greeted by Viv and the school therapy dog Benji. There were lots of different jobs that needed doing, so we split up into different groups to get everything covered.

Jackie got going on cleaning the outdoor chairs and tables, Nigel tackled the overgrown back lawn, Laura and John swept the paths around the garden and Lil and Katherine did some dusting and cleaning in the science lab and teachers' office.

With these initial tasks ticked off relatively quickly, we moved onto the next round of jobs.

Laura and Lil got green fingered weeding the borders, whilst Nigel, John and Jackie tidied up the edges of the paths, trimming back the grass, removing any weeds or moss and sweeping the entire long drive leading up to the school.

Towards the end of the session we were all starting to wilt (probably aided by the beautiful sunshine), so we must have had a really good workout today! It was also great to welcome John to his first ever task with Warwick and Leamington Spa.

Viv then gave us some more information about the creation of Northleigh House School 10 years ago and it was lovely to hear the inspirational stories about some of the pupils that have been able to turn their lives around by the wonderful supportive environment that the school can provide.

We look forward to future visits and more strokes with the lovely calming Benji :-)

What an amazing first group run back!

We had a lovely time doing a quick gardening job for Northleigh House School this past Wednesday. James and I started off with a 3km run from a nearby primary school under the threat of some ominous rain clouds and were met by Viv and David who had cycled. After a quick chat and some belly rubs for the dog, we went to work clearing the school's garden.

Our main tasks were the heavily overgrown path into the garden and the perimeter bushes which hadn't been tended to since the start of lockdown. Viv was extremely thankful and came out to show us some photos of students who would be moving on from the school at the end of the year.

After multiple wheelbarrow trips to the bonfire pile and a few nettle stings for good measure, we had made some considerable headway on the garden. Viv came out once more to thank us before we headed out for a 3km run back. A very big thank you to James for slowing the pace right down to drag me there and back!

The work being done at Northleigh is truly amazing and Viv's story was extremely inspirational. If you would like to hear more about Northeigh, please visit the school's website here

7 intrepid GoodGym members took on a voyage of discovering crossing canals and main roads to get to a new task today in Hatton.

James and Iain even cycled there and back to keep up the theme of fitness.

We welcomed two new participants today as well, who bought lawn mowing skills and shifting stuff skills.

There was plenty to do including paining over a tree which due to the Depth of the colour now looks like a tree in foggy weather - we will be back to completely erase it soon.

There was decking to be scrubbed, soil to be shifted, lawns to be mowed, things to be cleaned and oranges to be squeezed.

All of these tasks were watched over by the school dog Benji.

It was great to be back at a proper task again and we can’t wait to return.