Well done to Matt and Hannah who spent the morning helping out at Sneinton Primary School's allotment (aided by mini GoodGymer Ava).

It was beginning to feel a bit like Christmas yesterday as GoodGym Nottingham took part in a very special task for the charity, Bags of Blessings.

Matt, Rachel W, Vicky, Rachel L and first-time GoodGymer, Jess, met at 11am and were greeted enthusiastically by Chris and Cathy. They gave us an introduction to the charity’s work and the amazing things they do and, after a quick Health and Safety briefing from Mike, we were ready to start work (but not before Cathy had made a round of tea and coffee to warm us up!).

Our job was to pack toys and gifts into bags which would be distributed to young people in need around Nottingham in the run up to Christmas. The items had already been sorted into age ranges and either male, female or non-gender specific, so we split these between us and worked our way through various age and gender groups. As well as toys, the bags were packed with things like books, soft teddies, stationery sets, crayons, some items of clothing, stocking fillers and a Christmas card (items varied depending on the age of the recipient).

At one point our pile of Christmas cards started running low, so Vicky took on the task of composing and writing festive messages in a pile of cards. Matt and Jess also finished up by stickering a pile of stationery sets that had already been put into bags.

Once the bags are packed, they go off to another team of elves who wrap the gifts and pop them back in the bag. In early December, the amazing Bags of Blessings volunteers then distribute the bags among local foodbanks and projects who pass them onto the children.

We spent 2-hours on this task, but the time flew by. It was so much fun and a great atmosphere working alongside Chris, Cathy and Mike. All of our tasks are fun, but this one really felt like we were having a clear and direct impact on those in need, and whilst packing the bags we could literally imagine a child opening their bag on Christmas Day.

Before we left we did a quick calculation of how many bags we had packed – an impressive 270!! Credit to Matt who contributed over 80 of these (and was the only one of us to keep a personal total!), but overall we were chuffed with our efforts. The charity has managed to increase the number of bags given out every year since they began, and in 2024 they have plans to distribute well over 2000 bags. We are delighted to have contributed to this total!

A huge thank you to the GoodGymers who took part in this task and welcome to Jess.

See the photos for a list of items you can donate to Bags of Blessings and a list of donation points can be found at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19Rq7G6jTP/

About Bags of Blessings

Bags of Blessings are a charity, local to Nottingham, which distributes donated gifts to deprived young people in the Nottingham area.

They put collection boxes in local schools, churches, and businesses, with the request for small, pocket money toys, stationery, books, or items of confectionery. They then sort the donations into age groups, gift wrap each item and put 4 or 5 gifts into a red cotton bag to be distributed to young people aged 0-16 via food banks, homeless and refugee charities or organisations which support disadvantaged children.

They believe that every child deserves to experience the magic of Christmas and Bags of Blessings steps in to help Father Christmas do this for thousands of children each year.

For our latest task we returned to The Place Activity Centre in Sherwood to help with their renovations. We were hosted by Kirsty and Lauren who greeted us on arrival and provided us with tea and coffee during the task – amazing! It was a few weeks since our last visit and we were really impressed with how the transformation of the downstairs rooms was coming along.

The room we were painting last time was almost done, so on this visit we turned our attention to the second room where the painting was underway. Matthew, Hussein and Tom started by giving one of the walls another coat of white paint. Nigel and Leah took on moving some big shelves and all their contents into the centre of the room so that the other wall could be accessed. Once they had done that, they started scraping off the old paint on that wall in preparation for its paint job.

Meanwhile, Rosemarie took on the satisfying task of pulling up a load of tape from floor in the foyer area. Remember during the pandemic when we had to keep 2-metres apart? This tape was a relic from those days. Finally, Rachel took on scrubbing off the paint stains and sticky coating from the sink in the room which had seen better days (taking a ‘before’ photo but completely forgetting to take an ‘after’…).

The hour whizzed by and before we knew it, it was time to down tools, drink up, take a photograph and head off home.

The team behind The Place are working to a tight deadline to get their renovations finished by the end of October, so we were more than happy to agree to go back next week to help some more. It’s the perfect place for a task on a chilly Autumn night, and with friendly hosts and tea and coffee, who can resist?!! Sign up here.

It’s been a little while since we celebrated any milestones, so here is a little update on how this lot are getting on:

We welcomed Hussein to his first GoodGym task – lovely to meet you! Matthew has now done 4 tasks (plus the all-important pub quiz). Rosemarie is on 9 so will be hitting her 10th very soon, and Nigel is now on 21 – we missed your 20th, but congratulations on that milestone! Leah has just hit the big 40 so the countdown is on to her half century, and amazingly this was Tom’s 80th task – will he be the next to 100?!