Tonight 12 Goodgymers ran or cycled 6km to support the Catton Grove Community Centre.

A few months ago the venue had received funding for a new meeting / event space within the community centre. The work has now recently been completed, and the new space is ready to be officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Norwich in a few weeks time.

So the task tonight was sprucing up the grounds outside the venue, so that it was fit for a Lord's visit!

Everyone got to work in different areas pulling up weeds, sweeping leaves and cutting back any overgrown hedges.

But of course the main attraction tonight was meeting Clover the 4 month puppy who came to her first GoodGym task for some socialisation!

Kudos to Sophie who achieved her 50th Good Deed recently and wore her new black t-shirt.

After 1 hour a pile of debris had been cleared and the paths and entrance to the venue was looking much smarter. Well done everyone.

Fortified with coffee from task owner Simon, we set to work weeding one side of a garden area, making sure we got the roots out to discourage re-growth.
Then we dug a trench at one side of it. The next step was to lay cardboard (as previously used by Hello Fresh) on top of the earth, adding a good carbon source to balance the nitrogen-rich materials in the compost which was to lay on top of it.
Next we made several trips to collect the compost by wheelbarrow. We tipped on top of the cardboard. So then we had nitrogen-rich materials to balance the carbon source! Having sorted that out, we returned the tools and barrows to their shed and looked forward to our next visit.

Tonight 13 GoodGymer's ran or cycled 6km to Eaton Park in the sunshine.

At the task we met Helen and Linda from the Friends of Eaton Park, who gave out tools to help tidy up the pétanque pitch.

We used trowels and delicate fingers to pull up any weeds, being careful not to tear or pierce the underlying mesh lining. After filling a wheelborrow full of weeds, we used rakes and brushes to level out the gravel.

High Five's to Tom who joined us on his first Good Deed!

After a swift 30mins the pitch was looking in a much better shape. Helen thanked us for our efforts and told us about many exciting events taking place in the park over the summer, such as bands playing, wildlife talks and late licence opening hours of the cafe! Take a look on their website & socials for more info!

20 of us turned up to help Keith at the Norwich Foodbank. Robert led the runners from the Forum, and we welcomed one new GoodGymer, Diana.

We quickly got to work – Keith sent some of us over to the other side of the warehouse, while Bill, our very own GoodGymer who also regularly volunteers at the foodbank, managed those of us that were sorting donations.

We sorted hundreds of tins of beans, spaghetti, vegetables and more, and we only had two spillages!

Time went by so fast. Its such a satisfying task getting everything in order, knowing that we’re playing a part in helping people get healthy, satisfying food – with a few treats thrown in, of course! Rachel even said that she wishes her day job was more like this as you really feel like you’ve accomplished something.

After just 45 minutes we’d achieved so much. Keith thanked us for our help – the donations we were sorting were bought by the Trussel Trust with financial donations, as they’ve seen a drop in physical donations at supermarkets.

After a few group photos, we all departed knowing we’d all done a good job!

Tonight 7 Goodgymers ran 3km to help support a new community space - Milton Close Wildlife Garden.

It was our first time here, at the start of a new project which is really exciting.

The task was clearing weeds and shrubs that were largely overgrown, to make space for a perennial meadow and a wild flower meadow.

We worked as quickly as we could to fill 7 bags while the night was getting darker.

The next steps for this space will be a planting a selection of bulbs - bluebells, tulips, daffodils, crocuses, grape hyacinth and camassia amongst others.

And we will be back next week to continue the preparation for this!

It was a gorgeous evening in Eaton Park as we arrived as the sun was about to set over the park.

Our task was to give the pond area a good clean up, which consisted of cutting back some overgrown bushes, sweeping up leaves and a litter pick.