After a scorching hot few days in London, 12 GoodGym-ers were grateful for a minty fresh breeze at the Community Garden at St Alfege's School in Greenwich. An ice (coffee) breaker & game of shark attack and we were ready for a short run from the Naval College to this oasis of calm in Greenwich's busy town centre.

Our tasks were as expected at this time of year: basil-ically tackling some stubborn weeds while preserving the other plants/herbs 🌱 Plenty of volunteers meant the task was shared out nicely, but everyone worked dill-igently with no chiving allowed, digging, sweeping, watering & currying heaps of vegetation to the stack.

O-Kale...so the thyme parsley-ed quickly enough, and soon we had to be tarragone...for a quick post-task social which made for a lovely end to the day.

Thanks all & hope to cress paths again soon 🙂

Gardening at Hervey Road when the temperature is close to body temperature, what can possibly go wrong? For starters, the gate was locked. The first few minutes were spent trying to find someone to contact to get the code or walk along the field to find another way in. We had no luck with either, so we decided to go to Annie’s place to do some gardening instead. Then, out of nowhere, a woman from across the street appeared, who happened to know the code. We were finally in, and the code to the gate is now a secret that a select few Goodgymers are in on.

Today’s main task was to water the trees and plants that were struggling in the extreme heat. Four watering cans made their way across the car park countless times, providing much needed water to the scorched ground. But all this hard work and scorching sun made us see stars in the end. We decided to wrap up a few minutes early, to seek out some shade and a cold drink. If trees can feel gratitude, then the ones at Hervey Road are feeling it right now!

Another glorious Sunday morning and another fab day for junior parkrun — this time with sunshine turned all the way up and smiles to match.

Despite a late sign-up, one determined GoodGymer made it in time to pull on the hi-vis and join the volunteer crew as one of this morning’s marshals. Proof that sometimes all you need is a bit of urgency and a sunny start.

As today’s Race Director Sheralee reminded us, junior parkrun only works because of volunteers — and the best part? No experience required. Just a willingness to cheer, clap, high five and help make Sunday mornings happen. Everyone is welcome.

Today was another reminder that junior parkrun is more than just a run. It’s family time, community time, sunshine time… and definitely high-five time.

From first-timers to regulars, all 29 finishers earned those cheers around the course and crossed the finish line with extra sunshine-powered energy. A special welcome to the 3 first timer junior parkrunners, and huge congratulations to the 8 runners who achieved new PBs.

Another family day called junior parkrun day. Today… in the sun.

• With photo credit to the Hornfair Junior parkrun Facebook page for one of today’s sunny snaps

Till next one…

Cecilia D

A super hot Bank Holiday Sunday sun shone down on 8 Goodgym-ers at Mycenae House & Gardens in Greenwich for today's community mission.

Unfortunately, a mix-up meant the usual team from the organisation weren't there to direct us, so the task couldn't go ahead as expected. Always prepared though, we turned the mission into an impromptu litterpick, both in the garden & surrounding roads, chattering about running, goodgym, ice cream, and of course the inevitable topic of the weather!

Ending our morning at the lovely Greenwich Pleasaunce for an ice cream, it was time to say au revoir & have a great rest of the weekend! A big GoodGym Welcome to Tom on your first task! ⭐

Note from Rachel: Completely my fault, sorry everyone - the actual date for the task is next week: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-at-mycenae-gardens-67018f9d-7640-4245-ae99-dce473021b07

On Wednesday we're gardening at St Alfege's Primary School: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/gardening-at-st-alfege-primary-school-beaa8fad-7bcb-435e-9ef8-58e227127026

Until next time!

Eight GoodGymers headed to beautiful Morden College, a residential home for older people, last night for an evening task that quickly became one of our favourites yet.

Meeting at Charlton House our ice breaker question was: 'If money were no object, where would you retire?' Answers ranged from Australia, Miami, Tenerife and London...and by the end of the evening, several of us had of course changed our answers to Morden College 😎

Special welcome to the crew to Mark on your first good deed with us - lovely to meet you and hope to see you back again soon!

After a 3km run, Meryl and Zoe from Morden College welcomed us warmly as we got stuck into sweeping the pathway and pruning the hedges outside the grounds. Lots of passers-by stopped to thank us while we worked, always a lovely reminder of how much these small acts matter. A section of the pathway is now looking much clearer and we'll be back to continue the job!

After the task, things got even better. Barry very kindly opened the bar specially for us, and we enjoyed a couple of rounds chatting away in the garden as the sun went down. Absolute bliss.

We’d love to come back soon to this haven in blackheath to continue along the pathway and maybe even help out in the beautiful gardens themselves, building planters for the veggies!

Next week we're gardening at St Alfege's School in Greenwich.

This bank holiday weekend, we've got:

• Volunteering at Parkrun and Junior Parkrun

• Gardening at Mycenae

• Weeding at Hervey Road

Until next time, wonderful people!

A sunny Sunday saw Good Gym turn up at Charlton House to help set up the annual plant sale run by Charlton and Blackheath amateur horticultural society (CABAHS). The sale is a popular event and raises money for outdoor projects.

The volunteers were very excited to see the 'muscle' turn up, and 4 of us got down to business ably "assisted" by Caspar the cat. Tables and chairs needed to be assembled, but most of what was needed was moving hundreds of plants from their storage area behind the Old Pond garden to the peace garden where the sale was taking place, We were a super-efficient delivery line and before we knew it all the plants had been moved and the tables were all set up, well ahead of the planned start time of 11.00.

This was a lovely task and Good Gym really helped with getting things ready on time. And no doubt the sale would have been an incredible success.