So it's been more than 6 months since we've been able to join our lovely friends / pen pals at Prince Rupert Court sheltered accommodation and they sure appeared happy to see us. 3 GoodGym ladies attended on this fine evening and we were met by Dominique who explained the 2 jobs that were awaiting us: a tidy up of the veggie patch and a change of use for one of the raised flower beds to a water feature. Tracey tidied the vegetable patch alongside Leslie who is one of the residents. The cabbages were pulled up, the strawberries looked ready to eat then uh oh!! No, the cabbages didn't need to be pulled just a good trim of the outside leaves to be left in the kitchen for the residents use. So the cabbages were duly replanted, trimmed and everyone was happy. In the meantime Lily and Gina were directed to the garden along the side of the building where another resident, Shirley, wanted our help to change a raised bed into a water feature. Lily got stuck right in wasting no time in grabbing the wheelbarrow and removing the conifer and Gina assisted with the removal of 2 other shrubs these we replanted into empty containers outside the laundry room. Back to the raised bed with the wheelbarrow we then removed bulbs and weeds in readiness for the membrane to be laid and a covering of small stones. Shirley appeared with said water feature and the destructions were read out loud uh oh!! So, Shirley thought she had bought a solar powered water feature but it was actually an electrical one so with no power supply the job was aborted and poor Shirley was dismayed but we did agree to go back when she sourced a new product and complete the job. A small gathering of residents were there to oversee our good work and we discussed how it is usual that when we attend PRC we are all drowned by a deluge of rain so it was a pleasure to leave dry this time.

Yes, yes, yes, how great to be back as a group doing a task, and such a wonderful sunny evening for it. Just lovely for this first task back to be at Prince Rupert Court too, where we could see how our previous gardening work still looked good. We could also catch up with old friends, including pen friends! Maureen was the main supervisor again. Two teams were formed, one at the planter and another tackling some larger shrubs. Nobody managed to tame Jason's beard.

GoodGym were asked along to judge the window displays at a local care home. The residents are unable to meet anyone or even visit their communal lounges, due to Covid. The home therefore had the idea of a competition for the best decorated Christmas window display. So some residents spent days making snow stencils, robins, putting lights on trees and knitting NHS toys. So I decided to turn up as Judge Santa to make them laugh, complete with cushion and beard. 😂🧑‍🎄 Alethia, another GoodGym friend had just delivered some cakes to the home so joined me on our window rounds. 🍰 We chose the top 3 (not easy, they were all lovely) and handed out a certificate and prize. Was great to see some old friends that we met on previous tasks.

The howling Halloween wind and torrent of rain did not stop eight GoodGymers from attending one of our favourite haunts: Prince Rupert Court, part of the Guinness Partnership who provide supported housing. We split into two groups with Tracey, Sam, Kirsty and Dom building a flat packed picnic bench and table set while Jason, Adam, Becky and Gina attacked the brambles that were attacking the hedgerow in one of the gardens. 6 bags were filled and not a zombie in sight. Sadly, we did not get the usual chatty banter with the residents due to the weather but Mrs M popped out under her umbrella to keep an eye on the bench builders and Gina got a brief chat with her penpal Mrs J who was admiring Gina’s choice of headwear. No tricks today but plenty of treats in the shape of Halloween cup cakes provided by Dominique who is the Independent Living Adviser at PRC and also one of our GoodGym members and I understand she was instrumental in the building of the bench. We ate the cakes, drank some juice and departed, a right soggy lot in our different directions.

Another round of post has made its way to our friends at Guinness Care in supported living in Swindon. More cards, art work, and photos from GoodGym community missions and we've heard that our creatively decorated envelopes have been going down a storm too!

Residents continue to shield with limitations on their social activity so it’s lovely to hear that the letters have helped them to feel more connected to the outside world.

We hope the letters brought some cheer and are a reminder that although we haven't been able to visit to help out with their gardens, we are thinking about them and looking forward to visiting just as soon as we can!

Missing our much loved group runs, Gina and Tracey met up early and squeezed in a quick run to the home of our local parkrun but were a little ambitious in how much distance they could cover in the allotted time (and got a bit distracted by taking selfies with the horses). Tsk tsk!

Meanwhile the rest of the team were gathering back at Prince Rupert Court which is part of the Guinness Partnership who provide supported housing. We last visited in January during storm Brendan, when we got drenched and our gardening task was called off so we played indoor games instead while trying not to drip on their carpet. Then along came Coronavirus. So we’ve been really looking forward to the day when we could safely go back, and that day finally came after eight whole months. Hurrah!

They are working on a project to improve access to one part of the garden which is rather nice and catches the sun but is not so easily accessible to those with limited mobility. Our task was to clear the space of bushes and weeds where a lovely new path and maybe some benches will go. Being fans of the fresh air we were happy to help out on a task that encourages outside activity. There was a lot to remove including some particularly sharp shrubbery, and bushes to dig out. Being the caring lot we are, we also rescued a Fusia and replanted it in a pot. Fingers crossed it survives!

We’ve been writing to 11 of the residents of Prince Rupert Court during lockdown, while they’ve been shielding. So we were thrilled when some of our penpals popped out to see us for a socially distanced chat! It was great to hear from them how much cheer our letters have brought and some lovely connections have been made. They also commented on the efforts we’d made to decorate the envelopes. No half measures here! Gina and Mrs J had a good old chinwag, while Tracey and Mrs L seemed unaware that they’d unconsciously chosen matching outfits for the unplanned catch up! Sadly Teresa was unable to see Mr M as he’s been in hospital – we wish him the speediest of recoveries.

On to task number two, to tidy another corner of the garden that had been taken over by the dreaded brambles and other prickly bushes – who knew there were so many types of dangerous bush! After the incident with the quince on an earlier task, Jason wasn’t allowed near the prized rose tree that’s outside the window of one of the residents but he was given special permission to remove another tree that was entwined with the rose, so everyone was happy!

In the end we filled four large industrial bags with garden waste! A very productive morning.

It wouldn’t be a GoodGym task at Prince Rupert Court without a little bit of rain, so when predictably it arrived, and having run out of time, we had a quick tidy up and waved goodbye. For now. We’ll definitely be back!