Tonight was a bumper crop of GoodGymers, with not one, not two, but three new Greenwich residents looking to do some good. Welcome to the fold, Yun, Phyllis and Cecilia!

After an icebreaker sharing our favourite pancake toppings, Geraldine led us for a lovely river run to James Wolfe School for our first task with them. On arrival there was, let's face it, ABSOLUTE CHAOS. I for one relied on high levels of initiative and everyone enjoying a nice chat 😁

But d'you know what, after scouting out what needed to be done, we organised ourselves as well as can be expected of 15 people scrabbling around in the dark and in typical efficient GoodGym fashion, we'd soon finished moving all the crates to the side of the shed, recycling a load of boxes and sweeping up all the leaves in sight.

Crate work team!

Next week we're back to Wednesday at the same start location. Sign up here.

This weekend we've got lots of tasks. Saturday morning: Maryon Wilson Community Garden, Rose Garden Action Day Saturday afternoon: If you fancy a trip further out to join our Bexley friends - gardening at the Community Hospice by Bostall Woods. Sunday: Westcombe Woodlands

Until next time!

Today was our fourth GoodGym outing to Horn Park and our third barrowing woodchip to make a less muddy path around the perimeter of the park.

We had a great team, including Louise from GG Bromley, Chloe and Calvin from GG Greenwich and now regular Horn Park visitors Rich and Ali.

It was a bit of a trek getting the woodchip around the path but the pile of chips to deliver quickly disappeared.

Top work, team!

Westcombe Woodland is an amazing open space tucked away behind Maze Hill station. The Woodland is remarkably expansive and is in need of regular maintenance to keep in in optimum condition. And that’s where Good Gym came in, with 4 runners braving the February weather to join the monthly working party. The task was simple, clearing brambles and ivy to give other plants an opportunity to thrive. We went at it with gusto and soon piles of cut brambles had grown quite large and ground that hadn’t seen the sun in years was exposed ready for growth. After 90 minutes or so our work was done and it was time to share a cup of tea with the other volunteers.

*Credit to Khai, the GoodGym pun King

We started the evening at Charlton House, discussing what we would do if we had more time in our lives. The thoughts ranged from more walking, sleeping, reading to traveling, painting and phone free time. Maybe we can try to carve out more time this year to do the things that bring us joy. 🌳📖 ☀️

But, back to the task in hand - one thing that brings us joy is a good old painting session and that's what we got stuck into at the lovely Charlton Manor Primary School after a quick run around the block. Mr Turner-Wing had everything prepared for us and we got to work on three sections of the school restaurant to give it a fresh coat of paint to try and make it look as dashing as the back wall which the team painted last time. It's amazing how a lick of paint brightens up a room! After 45 minutes the tubs of paint were all used up and we'd enjoyed a good chat and therapeutic rolling. Hopefully it looks better than it did before – the morning will tell! We’ll be back for more painting in a month and will have soon got the whole room done.

This weekend we’re back at St Richard’s and next Wednesday we’re at Dee’s nursery.

Until next time!