Five GoodGymmers braved the hailstone tonight to join Millie at Alexander Recreation Ground. Armed with wire wool brushes and safety goggles, we got to work scraping flaking paint off the park railings so that they can be given a fresh coat once the weather is a drier.

Excellent job, team!

Two GoodGymers attended on a sunny Saturday to support the friends of Alexandra and Cator Recs in an orchard maintenance task. Under the expert tutelage of the Orchard Project (https://www.theorchardproject.org.uk/) we received the necessary instructions on best practice fruit tree pruning and were then set to work giving the trees a much needed trim. James and Paul (GG) were able to wrestle out some support stakes that a couple of trees had outgrown the need for and the whole site was left clean and clear. Later in the afternoon was the inaugural Penge Wassailing event, where the trees were given liquid encouragement (beer) for the growing season ahead! Cheers! 🍻🌳🥴

It was a chilly morning, but a nice one with blue skies and sunshine!

Helen (brand new to GoodGym 🥳) and I met at the Bridge House for a jog down to Alexandra Rec, where we met Linda, Kelly and Merrin for some hyacinth, tulip and crocus(?) bulb planting.

When we finally found our way to the bulb's true destination, we got cracking to stave off the cold.

Helen, Merrin and I focussed on the sensory beds whilst Kelly and Linda planted along the railings.

30 minutes later and we were done. It will be nice to see some new flowers there in the Spring!

Top stuff, everyone! 👍👍

Laura, Ed and I all arrived on a lovely sunny day to help plant bulbs along the path and edge of the recreation ground. Plenty of community members wanted to get involved too! No actual tribulations were encountered. We managed to plant out a lot of bulbs and are looking forward to go back and see the results of work in spring!

We had the first of our bulb planting tasks tonight, with nine volunteers making their way to Alexandra Recreation Ground to plant some tulips while the squirrels were asleep. The task almost didn't happen as our task owner Millie wasn't well (get well soon!) but Mark saved the evening by cycling to pick up the keys to the tool shed on his night off. What a legend!

Once we'd got the shed open, we had fun trying to work out which bulbs were tulips. Luckily our resident horticulturalist Rosie was on hand to guide us and give us tips on optimal bulb planting.

Our next challenge was breaking into the soil: as we've had very little rain over the last few weeks, the ground was rock hard, which definitely put the Gym in GoodGym. After a bit of trial and error, though, we perfected our hole digging technique (the spade as a pogo stick approach worked best) and in less than half an hour we had planted all our bulbs. Big shout out to Michelle who was taking part in her first task - I appreciate that digging holes in the dark is a pretty unconventional way to spend a Monday night (and definitely attracted some bemused looks from dog walkers...) so well done for getting stuck in!

After filling in our holes and covering them with leaves to confuse the squirrels, we ran back to the Bridge House for stretches. Excellent work team!

It was huge fun to work with the fantastic team of volunteers running the Paws in the Park dog show in Cator park today. By the end of the event followed by gazebo dismantling and clear-up, we were all happily exhausted, glowing with the joy of being surrounded by cute pooches and knowing valuable funds have been raised for environmental projects to enhance this popular community space. Turns out deaf dalmatian Lottie, winner of Best in Show prize, is a champion in more than one way – apparently her owners are teaching her sign language!