Last night GoodGym Nottingham paid our first visit to the Carlton Hill Sensory Garden (also known as the Garden for the Blind). We had been given instructions by the team at Hope Nottingham, who look after the garden in addition to many other community projects and foodbanks around the city.

Our task was to do some general weeding and tidying of the raised beds and around the garden, so we got stuck in straight away with clearing the weeds and trimming various overgrown and dead plants. Some of the group also did a spot of litter picking around the garden.

As this is a sensory garden, it seemed that all the plants had been selected specifically for their sensory properties, both in terms of the way they looked and, more notably, the way they smelt. As we pruned away, we enjoyed the smells of lavender, curry leaves and many other scents that we couldn’t necessarily name but were very pleasant. We all agreed that it was our nicest smelling task to date!

It was also one of our noisiest tasks. Usually we are tucked away in a quiet corner of Nottingham such as a hidden community garden or a church yard, however the Carlton Hill Sensory Garden is right in the heart of Carlton high street which was bustling on this warm August evening. There were children playing on the neighbouring park and a crowd of people enjoying an after-work drink outside the Wetherspoons opposite.

This actually came in helpful in two ways – firstly, Peter nipped over to the pub to borrow a dustpan and (very small) brush to sweep up the cuttings as we’d forgotten to bring our own, and secondly, a passer by noticed us hard at work in the garden and ‘papped’ us, posting on the local Facebook group in celebration of our efforts before we’d even finished! This was incredibly heart-warming (especially as some of us were referred to as ‘youngsters’), and gained a lot of likes and several encouraging comments.

After an hour of work we downed tools, cleared up and transported several bags of green waste to Peter’s car as he had kindly agreed to dispose of it for us. This was a great task and we hope to return to the Carlton Hill Sensory Garden soon to continue where we left off.

Thanks to this task's volunteers Dayna, Rosemarie, Hannah, Leah, Peter, Rachel, Tom and Vytautas.

A huge well done to Tom who we had not seen since he recently completed the Lakeland Trails ultramarathon in a massive heatwave!!

It was a first time visit to Sherwood Methodist and a slightly overgrown garden! Secateurs and a variety of loppers were the tools of choice as Peter, Matthew, Rachel, Aj and Nigel (plus a first time guest appearance from Jane, Pete’s wife) rolled their metaphorical sleeves up and got stuck in (and tried to avoid some of the giant thorns!). There was certainly plenty to go at and a good number of wheelie bins were filled to overflowing as the hour flew by. Plenty more to go at and a return visit in September is on the cards!

Nine Nottingham GoodGymers returned to the Bridgeway Hall Methodist Centre for our latest task. We met Paul on arrival who greeted us with open arms and explained what our task would be for the evening.

He also excitedly told us about the new heating system that had recently been installed in the centre by a fantastic group of volunteers called Warriors of Warmth – a team of experienced plumbers and engineers who provide heating systems to charities and organisations across UK (a bit like a more skilled and professional version of GoodGym!).

Whilst installing heating systems may be beyond our capabilities, we can still do our bit, so we all set to work with our jobs for the evening. The hall is also benefitting from a brand-new kitchen very soon, so AJ, Bo, Lindsey, Marta, Vicky and Rachel started by emptying the kitchen cupboards and transporting the contents to a store room upstairs. Paul requested that we just leave enough plates, bowls and cups in the kitchen for the forthcoming community meal, so an element of brain power was also required (or ‘plate maths’ as Vicky described it).

Whilst this was going on, Leah, Nigel and Khiltee worked outside in the garden, clearing an area of overgrowth and weeds. A somewhat less delicate operation than the crockery-moving going on inside, the long trailing branches required a lot of heavy-handed pulling and tugging to get them up. Although they did need to pause for a few moments to try and rescue a couple of bees which had been un-earthed in the process (see pictures).

After half an hour and several trips upstairs with various plates, cups, bowls, cutlery, jugs, slow cookers and a microwave, the kitchen team had finished so also joined in the gardening outside. This included moving some picnic benches and a spot of weeding.

It was a pleasure to return to the Bridgeway Hall where we have done tasks in the foodbank on a number of occasions. It was also great to hear about all the new developments and to chat to Paul who we had not met before. We hope to see you again soon!

Lucy, Robert and Rachel joined hundreds of other early risers at the Run 5.30 event in Nottingham. It was a bit of case of 'where's wally' trying to find each other in the crowd as everyone had to wear the same pink t-shirt, but we all completed the 5k route in good time and were treated to a high five from Nottingham legend and paralympian, Richard Whitehead, at the finish line (see photo of Lucy!).