The Paulsgrove Wilder event was unfortunately hindered by wet weather, so we weren't able to encourage many families to move between all the different sites.

We were able to bring the GoodGym spirit by having a very soggy litter pick whilst moving between venues.

There were so many activities to do, so mini-GGers Alice, Betsy and Patience had lots of fun! (As did Jen and Samantha - check out our face paints and bouncy boots!)

Judy was our champion networker of the day, making new contacts and advertising GoodGym to other community groups.

Three GoodGymmers and one mini made the most of a sunny autumnal morning and helped plant some winter shrubs around Fawcett Road. Dave and Julie helped repot some larger plants and hang up some signage whilst Alice and I planted some bulbs ready for next spring. We even had epic success in a game of potato spotting, bringing enough home for our tea!

Today, Katie, Bleachy and Mel were helping out at the Hampshire & Isle of Wight wildlife trust. they were having an open day with other groups all complementing each other and with a shared purpose generally of saving our planet. Helping visitors to understand how they can help and giving examples of small things they can do to make a huge difference. At the event were:
Charles Dickens Community Orchards RSPB Bird Aware Solent Hampshire Swifts Friends of the Earth Jetsam Story telling by Michael O'Leary (also an author). He had the kids, and some adults completely enthralled by his different voices, percussion and flute playing. He'd have made a great pied piper! It was easy to see how they were all connected, including Goodgym, as we'd been involved with them all at some point helping out. Bleachy spent time talking to all the stall holders, learning more about what they were each doing, Katie was tasked with hanging pictures of bees, birds and butterflies alongside the plants, bushes and flowers that would encourage them all into gardens. We had various conversations with Catherine who ran the nursery discussing how to get rid of slugs using Nature rather than salt! Mel also got tips on using Scoot to keep a resident fox away from her car. By this time, the birds, sensing activity were all calling for their food, and we used an assorted collection of containers hanging, or placing them near the hedgerows and filling 3 containers with fat balls. The food mix included seeds, meal worms and porridge oats (especially for the Robin, who apparently was mad for them). We had a slow start leading to a steady flow of people, and managed to avoid any rain, apart from a few spots, in spite of an enormous dark cloud circling around us.