On a sunny Saturday morning I jogged from parkrun to the Community Healing Garden. My job for this session was to plant dozens of seeds into pots and trays for the greenhouse - cucumbers, beans, and squash. We all enjoyed a cup of tea together at the end.

On a beautifully sunny Saturday, Goodgym-ers from Lambeth and Wandsworth joined forces to help the team at the Community Healing Gardens in Vauxhall. It was especially good to welcome Amy to her first ever Goodgym session!

The Community Healing Gardens is a gorgeous green haven in the middle of an otherwise built-up area, which provides residents with essential outdoor space, and a habitat for birds and other wildlife. The volunteer team have recently planted mixed native hedge whips around the perimeter of the garden and our mission today was to give these freshly planted areas a bit of TLC to encourage growth.

We were given a warm welcome from Head Gardener Hugh, and then joined local residents Hannah, Nehal and Stella, as well as Gareth from Friends of the Earth Lambeth, to tackle the tasks…

🌿 Ben and Michael filled a huge planter with soil

🌱 Tracey and Katie weeded the beds where the new hedges had recently been planted

🍃 Amy filled in potholes in the lawn and collected litter

Once those jobs were completed, we all took it in turns to fill wheelbarrows with mulch to put down in the freshly weeded beds to discourage weeds.

As if by magic, two flasks of tea and a Victoria sponge cake appeared just at the perfect moment for a well-earned break!

We all agreed that many hands make light work, and that we like the Healing Gardens very mulch - hopefully we’ll be back soon!