6 GoodGymers caught the autumn sun and emptied a compost heap!

Nestled in a (large) nook in Chalk Farm sits Adelaide Community Garden. It is huge and wild, and home to a lovely number of carefully nurtured allotments.

This special group – of Caitlin, Helen, Igor (on their first GoodGym trip to Camden – welcome!), Imogen, and Steve – made a wonderful difference yesterday morning.

Amidst conversation and autumn sun, they worked in pairs to dig out the compost heap 👉 wheelbarrow the mulch through the allotments 👉 carefully dispense everything into manageable sacks 👉 and build a stack of bags ready for use on the allotments :)

I know that everything will be put to excellent use very soon – thank you so much, everyone!

4 GoodGymers braved the night and cleared a mountain of weeds!

This lovely group – of Alison, Lydia, Steve, and Alex – arrived at Willingham Terrace Estate in the midst of dusk.

This is a usual and regular haunt of ours and Hilda – our lovely task owner – swiftly got us set up with rakes, hoes, forks, and trowels.

Our target for the evening was stretch of hedgerow that has been competing – poorly... – with thistles and weeds and litter.

Not that they were a match for this group. After 60-minutes of conversation-laden digging and pulling, the stretch was once again clear for the hedgerow to thrive :)

Thank you, everyone!!

11 GoodGymers planted hundreds of bulbs ready for spring!

Amidst blustery gusts – in a beautifully autumnal Waterlow Park – a very friendly group gathered to weather the wind.

Four folk were on their very first GoodGym outing: a big welcome to Ellie, Ella, Helen, and Stewart! And they were joined by a wonderful troupe: Cherian, DaMarcus (on their first GG Camden visit — welcome!), Imogen, Lydia, and Victoria ☺️

Following a swift introduction and tutorial by expert gardener April, we settled onto hands and knees and kicked off 60 minutes of planting. Snowdrops, crocuses, anemones, and more, this busy group sewed hundreds of gorgeous bulbs.

I can't wait to walk by next year and see everything spring to life ❤️

Thank you, everyone! You made a huge difference yesterday!

8 GoodGymers caught the sunset at a woodland garden in Camden!

This wonderful group – Alison, Deirdre (on their first Camden visit – welcome!), Emilie, Imogen, Lydia, Siobhan, and Steve – visited St Paul's Woodland Garden by Camden Square yesterday.

Just a short hop from where Amy Winehouse once lived this special space is a haven for nature and community.

Catherine – our task host – is part of the brilliant Green City Projects team, and they use this space to support people living with mental health difficulties. It was a joy to be there :)

In the race against the dying daylight, everyone kicked swiftly into good-deeding action last night!

The first task was to move a giant pile of bags filled with something called 'hoggin', which Google tells me is a self-binding mixture of clay, sand, and gravel that creates a firm, attractive, and permeable surface, and which I can confirm is very very very heavy!

Not that was a match for this group's muscles, who moved 30+ sacks to a variety of corners in this woodland space :)

Having completed the shifting and the heaving much quicker than anticipated, everyone moved quickly to emptying the 'hoggin', and it really did create firm, attractive, and permeable surfaces!

Thank you so much, everyone! You did a huge and wonderful amount!

5 GoodGymers planted herbs – and herbs – and herbs – and... more herbs!

There is a very special community non-profit called Think and Do Camden, and they have pioneered a lovely nature-bound project over the past 18 months.

Their bee-line boxes are sustainable, hardy, and ethically-sourced herb planters that attach to balconies.

This past week they've partnered with their third Camden estate (in Holborn) and we were there to fill the planters with all the right herbs!

This special group – Danny, Imogen, Majid, and Olga – spent two hours amidst mint, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, and thyme, and they planted tens upon tens of freshly affixed planters :)

It was a joy to see the balconies spring to green life, and everyone made a truly meaningful and material difference – thank you, everyone!!

6 GoodGymers enjoyed the sunset hour last night!

We started in the sun and ended in the dusk, and we made a healthy difference along the way 😊

A happy trio – Lilan, Steve, and Alex – kicked open the evening with a conversation-filled (books, misinformation, moral panics..!) run to Kentish Town.

Where they met another happy trio – Alison, John, and Lydia – who’d each arrived by foot from different corners of Camden.

Our home for the evening was Cressfield Close Sheltered Housing, where a special community lives and a beautiful garden grows.

Alison and Lydia got to green-fingered business in a flash, taking tools and bags to a garden (belonging to a very kind resident) that needed a proper trim. And trim it they did. Three bags and 60 minutes later, everything looked spacious again.

Meanwhile, Lilan, John, and Steve joined the Ivy League. This creeper had wrapped itself around a wall, a tree, and a resident’s garden. Not that it could match the skills of this hard-working troupe 😊

Thank you, everyone! You all did a huge amount! Here’s to next time!