10 Goodgymmers were suckered into lending a hand in Wood Green for a spot of tree maintenance, getting rid of epicormic growths on the plane trees along Lymington Avenue.

Finger-watch Galore

Big up for Maddie, our newbie at this task, who bravely announced she is a professional violinist just as we handed her sharp tools that could cut through fingers. Cue, of course, an evening of very stressful finger-watching. Maddie was a pro and took it all in good spirits. And no fingers were harmed in the making of this report. Phew. You can come again, Maddie.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

This is a task that we enjoy coming back to every year. As Summer goes on, the suckers on the plane trees in London get a bit out of hand, and we are always happy to lend a hand keeping them under control in this corner of North London. Did you know that London Plane Trees are technically known as plantain trees? No, me neither.

Anyway, while the bulk of our Goodgymmers got on with the task of giving the trees a nice haircut, Neil and Sheril were in charge of a thorough litter pick along the same route. Our litter pickers' conversation was wickedly murderous in their contents which spread through the group like wildfire. So suffice to say it was a lot of fun but probably libellous so unprintable. But it did set us right in the mood for the one bloody incident of the evening when good ol' Gramps failed to spot a very thick and dried up bramble and got a massive cut on his head. Luckily, Latoya jumped into action, got a bunch of splinters out of his noggin, and patched him up real good. Not before giving him a comprehensive telling off, mind. Eeeshka.

Just before 8pm, newbie Maddie made the mistake of saying she was still full of energy, so we all endured a few minutes of wall sits, followed by a session of Sally (iykyk). None of our Goodgymmers even put up a fight, proving that we are all indeed suckers for punishment.

All in all, a lovely evening was had, if i say so myself.

Boom

5 Goodgymmers wiped the slate clean, so to speak, as they helped the Friends of Russell Park get some boards ready for the Noel Park Festival later this month

Tabula Rasa

As the Noel Park Community gets ready for their festival later this month, we were asked to help them get an army of boards ready for the big day.

Armed with white and black chalkboard paint, we were trusted to repaint all the boards without spilling any paint on the floors of the children centre that was hosting us for the evening. Big gulp.

The weather was pleasantly wintry at around 24 degrees compared to the previous few days so all our Goodgymmers were in a happy mood.

Now, picture the scene. Our Mark, happy to have been assigned re-whiting a white board, was almost in a state of zen, applying wide brushstrokes to the wood. A wonderful state of mindfulness that nothing could possibly disturb. Or so you would think. Enter the ruffian.

We won't name the hirsute and loud Goodgymmer but for some reason, this idiot decided to open a pot of black paint right next to Mark's masterpiece with predictable results: a big bad spotifying of black specks all over the white board.

To be fair, Mark took it quite well and only shot the unnamed hirsute Goodgymmer the occasional death stare.

By 8pm, all boards were ready for new artwork to go in them just in time for the festival. Boom.

Join us next Wednesday for a spot of flyering fun.

*5 Goodgymmers cut it close as they hustled to complete the evening's task in time to make it home to watch the Three Lions semi-final tonight. *

It's Coming Home

Busy summer days mean smaller, ninja teams for GGHaringey but we didn't let that stop us from tackling a big task tonight. We were lending a hand to Haringey Council as they get on with their annual basal growth removal programme.

We concentrated on trees in the Noel Park Estate and our Goodgymmers were fantastic. Efficiently and methodical the moved through the road swiftly, as people who were in a rush to get to the pub for the footy.

We had to take a couple of breaks as the suckers on the trees we were removing were covered in dust, causing a bit of grief to a couple of hay feverish Goodgymmers. Nevertheless, we persisted and before you knew, we had completed one of the very long avenues in the Noel Park Estate. WE didn't finish as early as Euclides had promised, our Goodgymmers punished him by adding him to one of the big piles of detritus we collected. Standard.

Fun times!

(Report here)[https://www.goodgym.org/reports/ggh-s-in-decent-expo]

Four Goodgymmers flew the Goodgym flag at the Bridge Renewal Trust's Haringey Expo last Friday.

Dave, Niamh, and Gramps took the early shift. We had loads of interesting chats with potential task owners and also some potential future runners. Gramps even engineered an old school task opp, by volunteering Dave and himself to help the Bridge Renewal's team to transfer a bunch of tables and stalls into the main hall.

The morning breezed by and Louise joined us for the afternoon shift all the way from South of the River. Respect. By the time it came to pack up, we had a list full of potential runners and task owner contact book a little bit fatter.

Boom

Julie and I met outside Lordship Lane Primary School, where the council has trimmed back rather heavily a bunch of hedges, revealing a planting bed full of rubbish.

We arrived ready for a thorough litter pick, and were welcome by the sight of one of the city's canniest mammals - the rattus norvegicus.

Undeterred, but tentatively, we litter picked the bed while passerbys thanked us and complimented us on our bravery. Our bravery was tested when we found Rat City but on we litter picked.

All in all, we filled up a whole road sweepers bag in 30 mins and we have barely scratched the surface. But we will be back!