Tim, Nigel, Tom, Peter and Rachel headed to Queens Walk Recreation Ground in the Meadows for our task this week. This was a new location for us, just down the road from the Meadows Foodbank where we have spent many-a-Wednesday evening.

Keen beans Peter and Tom had met a little earlier to do a 5k run before this task, while the rest of us walked and trammed our way to the meeting point.

We met Emily from the Clean Champions on arrival who gave us our litter pickers and hi-viz, and after donning our head torches we set off around the park to see what we could find. Emily joined us too, so between us all we managed to fill 6 bags.

Thankfully the weather was a little bit kinder to us on this task and we didn't get too cold or wet. But we all agreed that the clock change and warmer days cannot come soon enough so that we can enjoy some lighter tasks and get back into some mid-week gardening!

Well done to Tim and first-timer, Laura Jayne, who completed this task with Guidance and Growth.

Laura-Jayne said: "I really enjoyed it, I’m glad I went. I got stuck in straight away raking. I probably could have stayed longer in the green space if given the option".

This morning I took a little cycle down to the Salvation Army William Booth Complex to meet with Ian Young, Community Mission Manager (that's the Salvation Army's 'community mission', as opposed to GoodGym 'community missions'!).

We had already completed a task outside the centre back in November with Kathryn Cooper (see report here), and a big thank you must go to Kathryn for linking us up with Ian.

Ian talked me through all the amazing activities and projects the centre is involved in and gave me a tour of the extensive premisses. This includes the fantastic William Booth Birthplace Museum and a former care home - this is currently unused but Ian and his team have plans to try and repurpose it in the near future.

It was lovely to meet Ian and talk through all the potential things that GoodGym Nottingham can help with, including the forthcoming Nottingham Light Night at the end of February.

The William Booth Memorial Complex at the heart of Sneinton (Nottingham) is home to a thriving Community Centre and the William Booth Birthplace museum which attracts visitors from all around the world. The William Booth Birthplace Museum is dedicated to telling the story of William Booth, his wife Catherine, their family and the role they played in the formation of The Salvation Army.

A mighty GoodGym trio returned to Hyson Green to help the Shifting Your Mindset volunteers serve up another delicious meal for local people. This time it was chicken, chips and coleslaw, with a vegan fishless finger option too.

Amid the crackle and spatter of the deep fat fryer and hustle and bustle of the dining room, Tom and Nigel were back on their waitering duties, taking requests as people arrived and serving up the boxes (and cleaning up the odd squash spill). Meanwhile Leah was more behind the scenes dishing up meals and washing up the trays ready for next time.

As things started to wind down, we headed out to wipe down tables, sweep the floors and stack the chairs, helping with all the little jobs it takes to leave the main room and the kitchen ready for the next users.

In fact, we were all so busy that we completely forgot to take any photos until hairnets were off and coats were on, ready to leave, hence the single selfie 😂

Well done to Matt and first-timer, Debbie, who helped out at the Sneinton Primary School allotment this morning. As ever, Kathryn was over the moon with what was achieved - Matt laid the wood chip on the nice new path and Debbie did loads of cutting back at the rear of the garden. Well done to you both!

Also, congratulations to Matt who has now achieved 10 GoodGym tasks!!

So this was my second Good Gym mission, and I’m happy to say I’m feeling very accomplished. Even though it was only me this time from the Good Gym team, I had some other lovely volunteers (passionate gardeners) from around the area to work along side. With only a few of us, we managed to get A LOT of work done, and none of us were afraid to get stuck in. Team work makes the dream work!

The space will now be levelled out and have some wood chip placed over for future use (whilst keeping some much neater brambles up around the perimeter for crumble & pie purposes🥧)

Tea and other hot drinks were provided for our efforts in their beeeautiful shed, thanks to the lovely people at the Windmill Community Gardens.

Looking forward to helping out again in the future!

(Many a ladybird and one worm were rescued during this task)