It was back to the food bank in The Meadows for eight Goodgymers last night. Mark from the food bank soon had us organised and so we set to work. Hannah, Bozena and Aj set to organising stock. Meanwhile some generous donations meant a number of pallets where stacked higher than Peter so Matt (six at a time!), Scott, Tom and Kevin got stuck in to moving tuna, mandarin segments and rice puddings by the dozen upstairs. Some would say this was good Hyrox training if anyone had somehow got themselves roped in to one (not looking at Tom in particular!) but was definitely a good workout for everyone there!

It was a bumper turn out at this week’s task as 11 Nottingham GoodGymers headed to the Meadows Foodbank and Pantry. Mark greeted us on arrival and, once he found his to-do list, he set us to work on a variety of tasks.

Dayna and Elspeth took on the task of sorting and tidying the clothes in the foodbank. Matt, Bozena, Rafe, Nigel, Rosemarie and Vytautas did a huge clean of the floors, shelves and fridges. Meanwhile Peter, Tom and Rachel headed upstairs to tackle a flat pack Ikea table and a clothes rail.

As some of these jobs proved quicker than others, a few of the group then turned their hand to dating some of the food, and photographing and cataloging some toys and baby items which are going to form part of the foodbank’s Christmas campaign (see information poster in photos). Finally, as if we hadn’t ticked off enough different activities this evening, Nigel took on the important job of folding bits of paper for the foodbank’s raffle which was due to be drawn in the coming days.

We welcomed Rafe to his first GoodGym session, and also Elspeth who has recently moved to Nottingham from Leeds where she used to do GoodGym.

Also congrats to Dayna who has now done 10 tasks, and a big well done to Bozena who did the Robin Hood Half Marathon at the weekend!

Well done to Bozena who went along to help tidy up after the Nottingham Green Festival 2025. Despite some last-minute changes to the event and extreme weather conditions, it looks like a great time was had by all who attended. Check out the Green festival Facebook page for more about this year's festival and up-coming events.

Nine Nottingham GoodGymers returned to the Bridgeway Hall Methodist Centre for our latest task. We met Paul on arrival who greeted us with open arms and explained what our task would be for the evening.

He also excitedly told us about the new heating system that had recently been installed in the centre by a fantastic group of volunteers called Warriors of Warmth – a team of experienced plumbers and engineers who provide heating systems to charities and organisations across UK (a bit like a more skilled and professional version of GoodGym!).

Whilst installing heating systems may be beyond our capabilities, we can still do our bit, so we all set to work with our jobs for the evening. The hall is also benefitting from a brand-new kitchen very soon, so AJ, Bo, Lindsey, Marta, Vicky and Rachel started by emptying the kitchen cupboards and transporting the contents to a store room upstairs. Paul requested that we just leave enough plates, bowls and cups in the kitchen for the forthcoming community meal, so an element of brain power was also required (or ‘plate maths’ as Vicky described it).

Whilst this was going on, Leah, Nigel and Khiltee worked outside in the garden, clearing an area of overgrowth and weeds. A somewhat less delicate operation than the crockery-moving going on inside, the long trailing branches required a lot of heavy-handed pulling and tugging to get them up. Although they did need to pause for a few moments to try and rescue a couple of bees which had been un-earthed in the process (see pictures).

After half an hour and several trips upstairs with various plates, cups, bowls, cutlery, jugs, slow cookers and a microwave, the kitchen team had finished so also joined in the gardening outside. This included moving some picnic benches and a spot of weeding.

It was a pleasure to return to the Bridgeway Hall where we have done tasks in the foodbank on a number of occasions. It was also great to hear about all the new developments and to chat to Paul who we had not met before. We hope to see you again soon!

Shout-out to Peter for the egg-cellent pun!

We were back at the AMC Gardens last night for an evening of tussling with weeds, compost and some rather worse-for-wear wood.

All six of us arrived under our own steam, with a trio running from town, two on bikes and a solo runner! Great work, team!

After a tour for those of us who hadn't been to the Gardens before, we got stuck into shifting compost from the main bins to some tarps as Katie and the team felt the bins had seen better days and needed reconstructing. Nigel, Aj, Peter and Leah got stuck in with spades, pitchforks and wheelbarrows, managing to clear most of the ready compost and some that was still rotting down into separate piles. Their work clearly had an impact on the local wildlife, with the chickens inspecting every barrow-load for tasty treats and a rogue frog scaring the bejeesus out of Leah (stronger language may have been used, but this is a family website). Katie thankfully moved it out to the pond area for a good drink and a splash. Finally, Leah and Peter began the process of dismantling the old bins, ripping out the old liners and some of the wood.

Meanwhile, Bozena and Tom were over in the gardens proper clearing out some of the beds to make space for planting. The proceeds were then donated to the compost piles the rest had been creating.

We finished our evening with some delicious freshly picked apricots and some well-earned water. What a way to spend a lovely balmy evening!