It was the first time we had held a starter session for Goodgym Poole!

We all met in the walled garden of Upton House, the lovely country park that hosts parkrun on a Saturday and the junior parkrun on a Sunday. It was more chilly than anticpated despite no morning frost as we huddled together waiting to go.

Firstly great to welcome our newbies to Goodgym! Jonathan had been brought along by our very own biker girl Fiona. He is a maths teacher at a local senior school, so perhaps best not to mention the error on the head count pre run ;). Our other new face was Andrew, brought along by Goodgym advocate Christine! We hope you guys join us again on either our Tuesday runs or community missions!

Usual briefing with Fiona giving us a show and tell - Her heel with a hole in it! :)

Fiona headed up the warm up with a run around the walled garden and a few drills. There was time for a quick go at 'meet your neighbour' with the aim to keep pace on return leg - the groans that arose when we had to repeat the exercise was almost music to a coaches ears! Needless to say, the pacing was more accurate on the second effort!

It was onto the run, out via the parkrun route of down the steep hill (relax!), along the incline up and the benefit of getting to power up the hill on the return of the loop - Bonus! Out the park after the route down and then another incline up as we headed into Turlin Moor and past the train station into Willow View.

We were met by one of the residents, Alan, who has been working in the garden when he is able. We had previously been to the scheme last year but the distance had proved difficult so we had not been back. Good to see that our work last year helped however as it was clearer than before with the bushes and trees.

Fiona and Anne paired up and soon jumped onto the job of the pond. The dead reeds all needed clearing as well as the ivy around the back. It wasn't long before Fiona was deep in the bushes, pair of scissors in hand, hacking away with satisfaction.Anne meanwhile was fishing for ...um....leaves!

Sian took on an area outside a residents flat, where it was overgrown where he was unable to manage it anymore due to his mobility. It was a big job and it was all hands on task to finish it all at the end. But the result was worth it as it was looking significantly better and ready for more planting if wanted.

Fiona was busy clearing plant pots that were just looking like grass, with a result of planters ready for new bulbs! Andrew and Tim, being the pro's they are, found some dead bushes and cut back and swept up and bagged up.

Jonathan was eager for anything that required power so he had a couple of heavy duty tasks - pulling up a tree, moving a rotten bench and pulling on the ivy with Fiona in an almost chuckle brothers sketch!

Lisa joined us today for her 3rd Goodgym Poole run, living in the New Forest she supports us when you can. Lisa also was off to her coach today, having met her a few months ago she now regularly visits Irene as an isolated older person, at her home. If you are interested in becoming paired, then check out the details online www.goodgym.org/coach-runs for more details.
Christine and Lisa both tackled the moss around the pathways that needed clearing, it was unsightly and a trip hazard so great to have clear paths once again.

35 minutes later it was time to move the bags to the side, take a quick piccy and head off back to Upton. Everyone was pushed out the back gate so less muddy shoes inside, Sian even took off her shoes to wash her hands inside, being the considerate person she is.

Back up the incline path to Upton House and time for a quick stretch before we could all head onwards, pleased with ourselves for a successful run and task on a Sunday morning. Only a little damp with a shower but all good spirits!

So tonight was a slightly longer run for Goodgym Poole and our longest so far. For some this was the appeal of a slightly longer run in whilst doing the task still, a good way to get a few extra miles in!

Great to be joined by Caprice from the Bournemouth Goodgym - please do visit again as a pleasure to have your company and weeding skills!

The Supported Housing unit were desperate to have some work done on their garden which had become overgrown and unkempt. Many of the tenants are elderly or have physical disabilities so struggle to manage themselves and housing budgets now only cover the bare essentials such as cutting lawns and hedges, not actual gardening.

We were met by Alan at the task who lives at Willow View, despite his own disabilities, he tries to do some gardening work himself. He directed us to the essentials of cutting back a bush on one bed area so wheelchairs can easily get round. The wall plants were all over the floor as well as up the building so they needed a lot of cutting back. Finally the paths were covered in weeds and looked unsightly so these were prioritised as well. This was pretty therapeutic actually, getting all the weeds out from the cracks. Caprice was heard in the background saying how much she was enjoying tackling the weeds, she would have happily stayed I think! Paul after a hard day grafting in the building trade, quietly got on (yes really!) with clipping back a bedding area so there was no overhang. (Great to have you along for first task Paul!)

Liz and Nicki tackled the wall climbers (sorry no idea on plant names!) and turns out Liz also works in Housing so will be sharing what we do with her housing contacts for future tasks.

Due to the long run, one of the tenants brought us out some squash which was appreciated after the incline up the Blandford Road! Ann did great to keep a solid pace up the Blandford Road following a few weeks of not much running. Sian, (sure we heard you ask if we were nearly there yet!) despite her uncertainly, made the mileage look easy!

Half an hours work and 12 bin liners of garden waste later, the improvement was very obvious! As well as visually looking better, the garden can be accessed more easily for those using their wheelchairs around the planters. There is definitely potential for a lot more work to be done, however due to distance, I feel this will be a future mission to go back and do some more work!

Dan on the return leg felt the dodgy runners knee and took the last mile or so steady with Caprice as backmarker. Dan really hope after RICE that you are fit and ready for tough mudder this weekend - Good Luck!

Great to have Heather join us for the first time and she made the pace look easily, looking fabulous and doing a great job in the garden.

We were later than planned back to base so we were all glad to get back home for our dinner and a cuppa.

Next week we will much closer to home!