On this fine morn, the brave gardeners of Goodgym — Sir Ivar, Dame Carolin, and Squire Sam — gathered at the enchanted garden of Hervey Road to perform acts of noble horticulture. With secateurs as their trusty swords and a bucket for their spoils, they ventured forth to tame the wild lavender that had grown too bold.

Swift hands and Annie’s keen eyes guided the pruning, filling the air with the sweet, magical fragrance of lavender — enough to enchant any wandering soul. The precious sprigs were carefully gathered, destined to bring joy indoors.

As the sun climbed higher, the trio turned to a few rogue weeds daring to challenge their domain. With courage and a touch of mischievous glee, they vanquished the intruders, leaving the garden orderly and serene.

Thus ended the quest of the day: lavender subdued, baskets full, and spirits lifted, ready to return another day to their verdant realm.

Eight of us hit the streets last night with purpose, energy, and plenty of good vibes. Our destination? The ever-welcoming Hervey Road Playing Fields. But before we got there, we had a very special delivery to make…

On our way over, we helped spread the word about the upcoming Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre (PPMCC) Community Day, dropping leaflets through letterboxes. It's going to be a fantastic event, and you can sign up to help man the GoodGym stall and soak up the community spirit here.

With the leaflets delivered and our legs nicely warmed up, we headed on to Hervey Road. When we arrived we found Jenny, Ivar, and Annie already hard at work, weeding and pruning back the lavender with impressive focus. The rest of us joined in, tackling a good amount of weeding and bramble-pulling to help get the space looking its best. The combination of teamwork, elbow grease, and a few laughs made for a hugely satisfying session.

Thanks to everyone who came along, until next time!

💥 Coming up this weekend in Greenwich:

🌿 Saturday – Gardening at Mycenae Gardens Join us for a peaceful and productive morning of planting and pruning in this much-loved community space. A perfect way to start the weekend!

🚮 Sunday – Group Run & Litter Pick at Woolwich Common We’re heading out for a run followed by a community litter pick at Woolwich Common. A great way to combine fitness with a bit of environmental impact.

Next Wednesday we're back at the Memorial Hospital for a special session with a bonfire, tea and creative session - don't miss out!

A sunny August morning took 2 goodgym-ers to Hervey Road Sports Field Gardens, a haven for wild flowers just off Shooters Hill Road.

We met Annie and were briefed with 2 straightforward tasks: weeding & watering. Some new plants had been put in last weekend so after a few dry days they were a little parched! 3 gentle waterings over the session hopefully revived them a little. The rest of our time was spent clearing weeds & grass from the beds to allow space both for existing wildflowers to grow, and new seeds to sprout, helpfully guided by expert Annie, so now we know our Feverfew from our Alison...! 

The time flew by and we were ready for some final watering & on to the rest of the weekend. See you all soon! ☀️

This evening we gathered at Charlton House (Khai unexpectedly starring in a wedding photo shoot) and shared which gameshows, past and present we'd like to go on. We also did some balance and core exercises - remember to stand on one leg while you brush your teeth, guys - suck your tummy in and squeeze your bum = strengthen your core for the Big Half!

Today we were celebrating Marta reaching the 900 good deeds milestone! 😇😇 She's hoping to get to 1,000 by next march and then she gets a new t-shirt with a sun on it because she will have then been deemed to have reached godly status (I for one think she's already there but the Tshirt will prove it!)

A lovely evening for a lovely task and after a short run and meeting Robert, Annie, Bobbie and Ivar (email not ipad) at the task, Annie got ten of us got to work watering, weeding, planting some fox gloves and sewing some seeds. We got loads done tonight and it makes such difference!

Bobby gave Annie a hand back with the wheelbarrow on the rest of us trundled off back to Charlton House and during a quick stretch we discussed upcoming tasks: we've got the Community Hospice (celebrating Johnny's 500th good deed) and Hervey Road again on Saturday; next week we're back at Brooklands on Wednesday and the following week we've got helping at Horn Fair PARKSfest .

Until next time :)

Rachel

The sun was out and so were Good Gym. An amazing 8 of us turned up to help the team at Hervey Road, where Annie and Richard are working hard to build a garden behind the sports field.

We were met first by Khai who had had the presence of mind and kindness of heart to bring water for everyone, which was really helpful as it was certainly hot. Annie soon arrived and were assigned to a multitude of tasks with some of the team watering some very thirsty trees, others cutting the grass and others weeding the various beds, all the time making sure we didn't cut down or kneel on or otherwise trash any of the beautiful wild flowers growing. And what was also nice to see was that we were joined by countless bumblebees and ladybirds, showing that South East London is a wonderful hot-bed for nature.

After an hour we were all pretty much exhausted and it was time for photos before heading off to enjoy the sunshine,

Finally, I can''t finish the report without a shout out for Sarah, who had completed her 400th parkrun that morning,. This is such a brilliant achievement so well done Sarah.

Wednesday was no ordinary session. Firstly we had two newbies join us, big welcome to Ibrahim and Bobby - it was great to have you along!

Nadirah brought her team of students to film their documentary on an interesting run club- thanks for picking us!

After a quick interview, we introduced ourselves and shared our best binge worthy shows (books for those who don't watch much telly) and then did a little warm up and headed off for our run. We did feel rather important, with Nadirah sprinting ahead to get some action shots of us all. Now we know what it's like to be chased by paparazzi.

At the garden, Annie got us to task, with Robert and Ibrahim watering the trees. Shout out to Sarah for managing to open the padlock, we wouldn't have got far without the hose! The rest of us got to work weeding and cutting back the grass while chatting away and the crew filmed the lot. A lovely evening in nature and a good reminder of the positive impact of exercise, community and doing good- it does us so much good too!

After a group pic, Bobby headed back with Annie to take the wheely bin back and the rest of us headed back to Charlton House for a little stretch and a few shots of us walking away at the end of the session.

Well done team. It makes such a difference for 10 of us to do a load of work at the garden and Annie's always so grateful.

Next weds we're back at Charlton house for a run to Brooklands to do more soil shifting!

Until next time,

Rachel