3 Goodgymers managed to dodge the drizzle on Sunday afternoon to help The Gap with making their fire exit route easier to maintain.

When we arrived at the centre it was clear that the plants lining the centre's fire exit route had benefited from the rain over the past week as they had developed into their very own rainforest. This was making it very difficult for the centre to maintain the exit route, particularly as it needs to be wheelchair accessible.

After Bronwyn had explained the task, we set to work with spades, forks and loppers to try and clear all the brambles, weeds and some larger plants that needed to be cleared from the borders lining the path. Despite the recent rain, the ground was relatively dry with some of the roots being determined to stay in place, so this was a good work out for everyone. Once all this was cleared everything was transferred into hippo bags for disposal.

With the first part of the task completed, we were rewarded with lemon drizzle cake to go with a nice cup of tea. It was lovely to get the opportunity to chat to everyone that was helping with the task during the break and learn more about each other.

With batteries recharged we took up our tools again for part 2 - digging out and removing some of the soil from the borders to make room for the bark chippings that will be put down to keep weeds under control in the future and provide an area for some of the play groups that use the centre to play outside.

Unfortunately we ran out of room in the hippo bags to dispose of all the soil that needed to be moved, so the task came to a natural conclusion, to be continued...

It was great to meet the lovely staff at the Gap Centre and we welcomed back Madusha after a break from Goodgym - hope to see you all again soon!