7 Goodgymmers met at the Mencap Society hub in Highview House.

Colin, our task owner, and hardworking volunteer at Mencap showed us the front garden which needed tidying up. There were trees to trim, shrubs to shear, weeds to wrangle and leaves to sweep, plenty to keep us busy!

Tony set to work tackling the bigger trees and brambles, while Ben took charge of sweeping the leaves from the paths. Viv took aim at the front of the garden cutting back the overhanging plants. Didem, Anna and Anne-Laure and Jess set to work on the weeds, all not entirely sure what should be pulled out!

In just 30 minutes the team had made a huge difference to the area and the change was clear to see. The rest of the time was then spent tidying up the clippings and getting more of the pesky weeds out! Two full green bins later the team had done a superb job.

Colin invited us in for tea and cake and to see the members who were their for their Wednesday night club. It is such a lifeline to many people in the community and it was great to be able to help them.

9 Goodgymers and 1 head of the PTA made their way to all saints school for a round of hole digging for the planting of trees by the children, bin emptying followed by the collection of nearly 2 hippo bags full of leaves!

It didn’t go unnoticed that it was the first task Louise has lead where it didn’t rain! which has clearly now jinxed the coming tasks

A play on the scooters found in the bike storage ensured that we were entertained and warmed up nicely before we all made our way home to warm up frozen toes and noses!

4 of us were walking to the task this evening so we parked in the (very dark) Butterfly Trail car park and walked through the creepy thicket to Burchetts green school to meet the others and clear leaves from the playground. We created huge piles (of leaves) and posted them over the fence, leaving the playground looking spick and span. After a very nifty fitness session we made our way home.

The team assembled on site, with a small group having walked together and everyone else making their own way.

We were met by Jon who showed us the stacks of bulbs for planting and instructed us to fill the areas with as many bulbs as possible and then with any left put them in the flowerbeds in the playground.

Everyone armed themselves with tools and bulbs and got to work making a whole lot of holes and bedding the bulbs in!

Although all our work was hidden below ground we hope we will be able to see the fruits of our labour in the spring!

Last night, Sophie and Anne Laure met at the community centre and set off for the 1.2km run to the task location whilst Jess and Jen were already en route walking. The other Goodgymmers all met at the task location of All Saints Church who mostly ran, walked or cycled to get there and we were greeted by Jo who was one of the Church volunteers and directed us on what we needed to do.

Our job was to remove ivy and bindweed from the fencings along the A4. There was a LOT and we spent an hour making it look a lot better and removing multiple bags worth into the church grounds which will be disposed of at the tip in the coming weeks. We also swept and raked to make the pavement look at clean as possible. Thank you Jess for remembering to take before and after photos!

It was a great evening with good company, thankfully only a bit of light drizzle and passers by thanked us for our efforts. Well done everyone!