When Mr Davies, the head teacher at St Peter Chanel Primary School, asked if we could help the Year 5 APT (Air Pollution Team) with some planting, we were very happy to lend a hand.

Working alongside the children, we planted heather, cyclamen, hardy shrubs, grasses and herbs in the flowerbeds outside the school reception, making the area greener and more wildlife-friendly 🐝🌻🌱.

As we worked together, the children explained that the whole project had been their own idea. They told us they had even walked to the local B&Q to choose the plants themselves (with a little help from the shop's staff). Everything was funded by money they had won through the London Children's Flower Society's 'Growing Together Grant', which also covered the cost of compost, brightly coloured trowels and some rather cute penguin-motif gardening gloves!

Once all the planting was done, we helped give everything a good watering and the job was complete.

It was brilliant to see the children so engaged with the task and talking so confidently about their project. We hope they're really proud of what they've achieved – the flowerbeds look fantastic, and it's lovely to know the children have played such a big part in making their school a greener place 🌿🌼

Mr Davies sent us this message:

A huge thanks for the team’s support today - it was greatly appreciated and we’ve already had so many comments about the front of the school!

Thank you Mr Davies for inviting us to be involved.

We also loved having Lisa with us for her first task as a full member of team GoodGym Bexley. (You may remember Lisa and her husband Justin joined us a few weeks ago as honorary GGers in their official capacity as Mayor of Bexley and Consort.) Great to have you with us Lisa 🥳.

Another session for Caroline and me sorting through donated clothes and all sorts of other bits and pieces that come through the system at the Community Hospice Shop. As usual, our three-hour stint passed swiftly enough as we assessed the quality, or lack thereof, of the many items passing through our hands.

It really is a case of everything from the sublime to the ridiculous. One minute we're admiring an immaculate, spotless Gucci dress, and the next we're confronted with a pair of grotty dungarees that someone has presumably used to paint their shed, screwed up into a ball, abandoned in a dusty attic for a year or so, and then retrieved with the thought that they might somehow be worth recycling.

Nevertheless, it's always fun and fascinating, and provides a golden opportunity to evaluate a and perhaps discover a fashionable new look for the coming winter season!

It's not often we're accompanied by a bear, but that's exactly what happened during our task this evening! 🐻

We gathered at Welling Library, where Julie and Alex from Discover Welling were waiting for us. Alex was dressed as a rather large, cute bear. Julie had brought along a big roll of stickers promoting Welling Sparkle, the town's Christmas market.

Our task was to put the stickers on all 72 lamp posts along the high street. We split into two teams, unwound a supply of stickers for each and set off in opposite directions to cover the ground as efficiently as possible.

Working along one side of the road, we peeled the stickers from their backing roll and applied two to each lamp post to create a complete wrap. Once we'd reached the end of our stretch, we crossed over and worked our way back along the other side, eventually meeting up with the other team.

(In case you were worried, the stickers use a low-tack adhesive, so they'll come off cleanly after the event. And the council had sanctioned their application to the lamp posts.)

Our friendly bear was certainly a hit with passers-by, handing out high fives and stopping for photos. It was lovely to see so many smiles along the way!

Welling High Street is a long one, so we certainly clocked up some good mileage while getting all those lamp posts dressed for the Sparkle ✨.

Let's hope our efforts help bring plenty of people along to the event. A bear-y good evening's work! 🐻

After parkrun this morning, we headed to help Bexley Bike Club with their free children's BMX session.

While Johnny swept the colourful autumn leaves from the skills area, I registered the children and ran through bike safety checks with them.

Once the coaches had the children riding around, I was on photo duty - getting snaps of the youngsters in action.

It's so rewarding seeing the riders taking on challenges and growing in confidence with every pedal.

We couldn't stay as long as usual, as we were due at another task, but we left knowing that we'd helped the bike club team deliver a safe and enjoyable session.

This afternoon we joined The Bee Conservation Trust, Discover Welling and Southeastern Trains to plant a host of bee-friendly plants at Welling Station.

With Ivar taking charge of the drill to create holes deep enough for the larger plants, the rest of us worked with trowels and a dibber to settle the seedlings into their new home.

We can't wait to see everything in bloom next spring and summer, when the flowers will be a brilliant source of forage for bumblebees 🐝🌼!

Coming up...

Wednesday 4 November – Putting up the Welling Sparkle stickers

Promoting Welling's Christmas market.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/putting-up-the-welling-sparkle-stickers-063d0797-a0a8-4e07-be10-06c420f143d9

Saturday 7 November – Clearing brambles, cleaning railings and coffee treats at The Exchange

Helping out at Erith's wonderful community venue.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/clearing-brambles-cleaning-railings-and-coffee-treats-at-the-exchange

Sunday 8 November – Lending a hand at Crossness Pumping Station

Helping to maintain this wonderful hidden gem of a museum.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/lending-a-hand-at-crossness-pumping-station

This evening, Andy, one of the activity coordinators at Parkview Care Home, had a spooktacularly seasonal task awaiting us!

Two of us ran there from Crook Log Leisure Centre, while the others made their own way to the home, where a frightfully fun evening was about to begin.

With Halloween just around the corner, we spent a ghoulishly good hour carving pumpkins with the home’s residents.

We each paired up with a resident, and set to work with pumpkin carving tools. We hollowed out our gourds and create a host of wonderfully wicked faces. 🎃🎃🎃

Some of the residents got especially creative, adding ears to their pumpkins and even giving the creepy creations their very own names!

It was a lovely way to get into the Halloween spirit together.

We were also delighted to have Karen and Semira on their first task. Welcome to Team GoodGym Bexley!

More photos to come so check back here soon!