This Evening we are going to see some strong blustery winds coming in from the east, with large downpours of rain… everywhere!

Luckily for us, they got the weather forecast wrong (nothing unusual there!) Well… mostly! We did get hit by a little bit of rain, but it lasted no more than five minutes!!

Tonight we were back with at the wonderful charity that is Motherwell. We were asked if we’d tidy up their garden in preparation for the winter. This involved mostly getting rid of old plants and shrubs from the raised beds and generally clearing up the plants that died/finished flowering.

Before getting set to work though, Karen, Nigel, Maurice, Phil, Ian, and Nicola, set offl on a brisk walk to blow off the cobwebs and get the heart rate up!

We set off from the estate where the Motherwell building is, and headed down to towards the park at a pretty brisk pace (Karen, most definitely leading the way on this). We had a lovely walk which included one lap of the Crewe Parkrun route. As always, we had a good natter as we went and before we knew it, we’d clocked up quite a few steps!!

Back at the task, we kitted ourselves out with gloves and a few tools and then Nigel took responsibility for picking the tomatoes while the rest of us got stuck in clearing the raised beds and having a general tidy up. It was strangely therapeutic to pull the dead plants up from the root and get rid of them .

We did have a puzzle to be solved this evening but unfortunately, we didn’t succeed…. Ian lost a bright red gardening glove somewhere, and despite searching for it, it wasn’t to be found anywhere!!! 🤷‍♀️ No idea where that was hiding!! No doubt it will turn up when it’s least expected!!

And finally…. Drum roll please… a BIG shout out to Karen who this evening achieved her 200th Goodgym task!! What an utterly amazing achievement!!! We are so proud of you. You are so dedicated and committed to Goodgym. Thank you for everything you do!! ❤

Well done everyone on another fantastic task!

Have a great week and see you all soon!

Loads of love Nicola Xxx

Tonight, the splendid 7 we're back on the Sherborne estate to help support with some weeding and digging in preparation for some wildflowers to be sown. We hope that these will really improve the local area and give people something lovely to look at and appreciate.

It was wonderful to have Emily back with us tonight. We've missed you Emily and it was great to have you back with us again.

Before getting stuck into the task, we set out for our weekly exercise. Tonight, we did a circular route setting off from the Sherborne community hub, heading out down towards the crematorium and back round. It was lovely to catch up as we walked and the weather stayed dry for us which is always a bonus.

Back at the task, we were greeted by the lovely Hazel, who always gives us a wonderful warm welcome. Hazel led the way to the area that we were working on and explained what needed to be done. We split into two groups. Karen, Emily and Maurice took one section and Hazel, Ian, Nigel and Nicola took another section. Armed with our trowels, rakes spades and forks, we commenced our work of weeding and raking. The soil was quite rich which made the task much easier. We saw lots of insects... spiders, woodlouse, worms, snails and a beautiful red admiral butterfly.

Quite a few local residents passed us by as we were working but we couldn't manage to persuade any of them to muck in lol :) Hopefully once they see an improvement to the area, it might encourage them to help keep the place looking nice or to maybe even get involved in future volunteering...

We achieved a fair amount in the time we were there this evening and we all felt that the area looked much tidier once we'd finished. It's definitely a work in progress and will probably need some more support, but at least we helped a little this evening.

It was great to have 7 of us there tonight!!! I really enjoyed being with you all and catching up with you all as always!

A BIG shout out tonight to Nigel for this week’s pun!! You’re a star!

Have a great week everyone and see you all soon!

Lots of love Nicola xxx

Who’d have thought September could be so hot?!!!

It was wonderful to be back with Kimberley, Ian and Maurice this evening at one of our favourite tasks, My CWA. It’s been a while since we did a task there, and we were excited to be back again.

Before we started our task, we headed out for our weekly exercise session. With the heat as it was (28°!), we mutually agreed that we’d all prefer a walk!!

We decided to have a walk out towards the park in the hopes that this would be a slightly less busy route – perhaps it was, marginally! As per usual, we had a lovely chat as we did our 2 miles. It’s always good to catch up with everyone and find out about their week.

Back at the task, we met the lovely Maria, who is the new volunteer coordinator for My CWA. She gave us a lovely warm welcome and some well received glasses of water. Our task this evening was to move some furniture around in the various rooms of the building. My CWA support victims of domestic abuse and this involves providing many services including counselling and other support services. It was our job this evening to create a quiet room by moving some of the furniture around and improving the space. It was a simple but lovely task to undertake and it was really rewarding to see the rooms looking so lovely when we’d finished. We had a few issues with squeezing tables through doors but we managed to resolve this with a bit of creative thinking. I think Kimberley was in her element with the interior design aspect of the room and did a great job of dressing rooms with lovely cushions and throws– Kimberley, you’ve missed your vocation!

The task was soon completed and the rooms were looking lovely. Maria was thrilled with our efforts, and we’re excited to be heading back there again very soon!

Thanks for having us, My CWA, it’s always a pleasure to help and we can’t wait to be with you again soon.

Well done everyone on completing another fab task.

Lots of love Nicola Xxx

PS hope you’ve all cooled down now!!

It was a wonderfully warm and pleasant evening to be out with our lovely Goodgym friends! After a rainy start to the morning, the afternoon and early evening brought perfect weather to lighten anyone’s mood and to enjoy a lovely evening walk and a good physical Goodgym task!

Tonight, Karen, Nigel, Ian and Nicola opted for a brisk walk before getting stuck into our task. We did a circular route which took in some delightful sites including Crewe Alexander Football Stadium and the old Police Training College - which was originally a convent founded by the Ursuline Sisters - a French order of nuns. It was built in 1911 (thank you Ian for that insight!). See, Goodgym isn’t just about exercise and good deeds – it’s an education too!

We were delighted to be back at St. Andrews Church in Crewe this evening. We haven’t done a task there since before COVID and it really was a joy to be back there again. We were given a lovely welcome by Andrea who explained about the task and why we were there. The playgroup that is run by the church needs to move out of the church hall and into the main church but to do this, some things needed to be transferred from the church to the church hall in to make space for the group to meet.

We set about carrying chairs, drawers, a wardrobe and one or two other bits and pieces from the church at one end of the street to the church hall at the other end of the street. It was a good physical task and was easily achieved with 4 pairs of hands! We got plenty of steps in and did some good work on our muscles too!

Andrea was chuffed with what we did and we’re looking forward to being back there again next week!!

As we had a little spare time at the end of our evening, we headed over to hops bar for a cheeky drink and few nibbles – it was a perfect end to another fantastic Goodgym task!

Well done everyone – another fantastic evening!!

PS - Loved seeing you rocking your fantastic new Goodgym T-shirt Ian! PPS - Thanks for the pun Karen - you've saved me hours of brain wracking!

Tonight, the fantastic four were back visiting Crewe’s Tiny Forest. It was great to be back there once again and helping to get stuck in with getting rid of those pesky weeds. (there were certainly plenty of them to keep us busy!!)

Before getting stuck into the task, Karen, Nigel, Maurice and Ian set off for a brisk walk around the local area. Just like last time, we somehow managed to get lost again! Luckily, it didn’t matter because the sun was shining and the company was lovely as always. It was great to catch up with everyone, especially Maurice having been away on a recent holiday (we missed you Maurice!).

Back at the task, we got stuck into the weeding. With all the recent wet weather, the weeds certainly have made their presence felt!! We spent an hour clearing the weeds but also admiring the thriving trees while we were at it. We spotted Birch, Cherry, Oak and Hawthorn amongst others.

Although it may not have looked like we’d made a massive impact, we know that we certainly made an impact to the trees that we tended to. It’s great to know that this Tiny Forest is contributing to the environment and the community and it’s great to be a part of helping out with it.

Well done on another great task team! You were amazing as always!

Have a wonderful week. Can’t wait to see you all soon.

Loads and loads of love. Nicola Xxx