GoodGymers love a showy before-and-after photo opportunity and this task didn’t disappoint. Outside Mr A’s front door, the grimy state of the paving slabs – dangerously slippery during rainy weather – meant that the patio area was overdue a good scrubbing with soapy water. We worked as a team, me doing vigorous broom work to loosen surface mould and Mr A handing out buckets filled from his kitchen tap. Bish, bash, bosh, I soon had the pathway looking much cleaner! And now Mr A is happy that he can go out without fear of falling.

So much so that we're busy arranging a second group run to move another pile of mulch that is being delivered - keep your eyes peeled!

It was a shorter run to Ladywell Fields and then a bit more of a run to get to the mulch pile. The mulch needed to be 3 inches deep and 1m around the saplings. This is to make sure the ground retains as much water as possible to give the saplings the best chance of survival.

We split into groups, one group tackling the furthest away saplings with the wheelbarrows and the other group ferrying buckets of mulch to the nearer saplings.

We soon got into the groove and soon the pile of mulch was no more but the saplings well mulched.

Loads achieved for nature in Ladywell Fields this weekend… Emma helped shift barrow after barrow of wood chip as nutrient-rich mulch for young fruit trees in the community orchard. And Linda got to fulfill her dream of creating a ‘dead hedge’ from interwoven branches — this now forms a natural wildlife-friendly screen between two areas of Iona Orchard nature reserve, and will allow the local volunteer team to put prunings to good use by adding to the structure over future months.

Nothing goes to waste in Ms D’s lovingly created front garden where discarded furniture has been reused to provide a welcoming space surrounded by planters upcycled from unwanted bowls, tubs, buckets and even an old wheelbarrow. It was a pleasure to help tidy up and add a few more bulbs ready for springtime. We worked as a team, me doing the bending, lifting and sweeping while Ms D made trips to her back garden to collect compost – being a sustainability champion, she of course gathers all fallen leaves, twigs and plant trimmings to rot down as a useful nutrient-rich additive for her soil. A couple of hours work and everything was looking much more pleasant for herself and her neighbours!