Ashley, Naomi, Tracey, Gwyn, Rachel and Paul joined Carole at Oakwood Community Centre for part 2 of the summer garden tidy up. As always, it was a beautiful evening in Oakwood ... booking a task here always guarantees the sunshine!

We've been here a few times before, so Tracey, Gwyn and Ashley came armed with their hoes and scrapers, knowing they were the perfect tools for clearing the weeds from the patio. Paul brought along a selection of tools, including some very much appreciated kneeling pads, and Naomi brought some terrible trowels that bent and snapped with every move! This, along with a split pair of gardening gloves, led to a conversation about repairing rather than replacing. Tracey's resourcefulness and skill impressed the group as she showed us her patchwork gloves; holes repaired with pieces of material, determined for them to stay out of landfill. Naomi's next mission is to use the label from her new GoodGym t-shirt (the labels being the most indestructible material) to patch up her gloves ready for the next gardening task!

Another super evening with our lovely volunteers who all did a wonderful job with the community centre grounds.

Ashley, Naomi, Tracey and Gwyn met up early for a group fitness session before the task. We ran 3 laps (1.3 miles / 2.2km) around Oakwood Park as a brilliant warm-up for our task and then joined Pete and Oakwood Community Centre's Chairperson, Carole, ready to tackle those weeds.

Carole was thrilled to have us back again, and wanted to show us the recent developments to the Centre - a newly refurbished function room which provides more space for the groups and events they host. It's a fabulous facility for the local community and we were very happy to play our part in making it even nicer with a bit of weeding! I say a bit, because the grounds are really well maintained and at first it was hard to spot any! But lurking amongst the plants and in the patio cracks we managed to find and remove plenty of small weeds and grass.

It was great to hear that Gwyn and Ash are training to become Run Leaders as we are all excited about returning to Group Runs! We talked about upcoming tasks, including the cheering opportunity at this weekend's SHOUTaboutSEND event and next week's Group Run to St Matthew's Church ... plenty in the calendar and something for everyone! There's also still time to sign up to Plantlife's No Mow May - the opposite of tonight's task - where we will be embracing the weeds and wildflowers in our lawns!

Our GoodGym superstars do lots to support our local community. Tracey and Gwyn had done a double GoodGym mission today, having volunteered earlier at Elvaston Castle ... well done and thanks to you both! Pete volunteers at The Hope Centre's Food Bank and mentioned the rising number of people who need support while at the same time donations are decreasing - a very sad reflection of the rising costs of living. A simple thing we can all do to help is to pop some food into one of their collection bins when we go shopping, which will go a long way to helping local families who are struggling at the moment. You can also support their Hope Store Sale on May 14th from 11am - 2pm - perhaps pop along after SHOUTaboutSEND.

Huge thanks to everyone for their hard work and brilliant company at tonight's task. We'd love to see you at the next task at Oakwood Community Centre.

On a pleasantly warm evening, four GGers set to work attacking weeds and moss in the gardens of Oakwood Community Centre, led by Carole, the community centre's chair.

Gwyn attempted a Santa impression with his hoe-hoe-hoe, and Ashley and Pete sought out every last weed in the flower beds and between the setts whilst Tracey prodded the cracks between the paving stones for pesky dandelions.

It was lovely to catch up with everyone, and we're all enthusiastic about the return of parkrun on the 24th July (not to mention the associated cups of tea afterwards - Masala Chai for Ashley and April Snow for Gwyn).

Thanks to everyone for an enjoyable evening.

On a glorious summer's evening, six of the team tackled a gardening challenge at Oakwood Community Centre.

Carole, the Centre's fabulous Chairperson, gave us a warm welcome and told us all about how the facilities support people from the local area. We had a tour of the renovated and beautifully decorated hall and the fanciest Community Centre toilets we'd ever seen!

Their lovely newly planted borders were sadly already being invaded by weeds, so on went our gloves and the fun began! With the sun shining down on us and the sights and sounds of the local community enjoying the adjoining park, we could see why so many people want to use the Centre for their groups and events. It was our mission to clear as much as we could to neaten up the borders, as well as digging out those pesky weeds that fill every crack in the path!

It was great to see that the litter picker wasn't needed because the area was so clean and well looked after ... just those weeds to tackle. After an hour and a half, with lots of chatting and hard work, it looked brilliant! So much so, that Carole has invited us back .... every week!

Huge congratulations to Gwyn for achieving his 25th good deed last night and to Tracey who completed her 50th good deed last week, making this one her 51st!

Thank you to everyone who supported with tonight's mission.