10 GoodGymers braved a rumbling thunderstorm to help maintain the lovely secret garden at the Quaker Burial Ground.

The task at hand was to clear overgrown ivy that was blocking the entrance way and strangling the trees.

Picking a tree each made social distancing easy, just watch out for the frogs underfoot!

A very satisfying and therapeutic activity, peeling the ivy from the tree trunks and walls was a bit trickier than it looked, but in around 50 minutes we’d completed the task.

With a few minutes left Jan from Arundel Avenue Community Garden, who maintain the garden, led us on a quick walk around the garden and a peek into the bee hive.

Thanks to Jo for the pun inspiration, and great to see Kate again for her 3rd Good Deed.

Good job everyone on a task well done!

Nettle, groundsel, alkanet, greeted us when first we met,

At Tiber Football, in the city, GoodGym magic would make it pretty.

Christine pulled and Pauline dug,

Ben hoe-hoed, and Rowan did tug.

Creeping thistle and common ragwort, we'll soon pull you up...or so we thought!

Jo was bending,

Kate crouched low,

All working hard, but progress slow.

Bindweed bound and couch grass grew, broad-leaved dock and brambles, too.

Tim cleared plants that stung and scratched,

Chris pulled grass, the weeds were matched!

Roots went deep, there seemed no end, tools were few, when used, they'd bend!

But Laura heaped the pulled weeds high, could it be...the end was nigh?

Serena filled the bins, and then... we filled them once or twice again.

And in the blazing summer sun, we all stood back, saw what we'd done.

The ground was clearer than before, we'd done three tasks, but needed more...

So, for today, our job was done!

GoodGym, you're fab! Thanks, everyone!

After a day of incessant wind and rain, the skies cleared just in time to give us a beautiful, if breezy, evening for our community mission in Everton Park. This area was, back in the Victorian era, a maze of small terraced streets, which were demolished in the 1950s to make way for high-rise flats, razed in their turn in the 1980s to create the park that occupies the space today.

We were met by John from the Friends of Everton Park, and armed ourselves with loppers and saws to tackle a large number of self-seeded saplings which were threatening to take over a bank of wildflowers. We soon had a large pile of greenery stacked at the bottom of the hill. Speaking of hills, Char naturally took the opportunity to fit in a short sharp fitness session of steps and slopes for us all, with the reward at the top of fantastic panoramic views of Liverpool's city centre and beyond to the Welsh mountains. GoodGym might mainly nourish the body and spirit, but often it also provides a feast for the eyes.

A huge welcome to newbies Kate and Serena - we hope you had fun and will sign up again very soon. Welcome back also to Ben who is on loan for the summer from GoodGym Ealing! It was also great to see Farnaz again who is fast becoming a GoodGym Liverpool regular!