Last night's task was a true workout, carrying sleeper after sleeper down to the bottom of the garden, ready to be used to construct a stage for the annual Olden Community Garden music festival.

It took 6 GoodGymer's to lift and lug each sleeper, and a lot of good communication and coordination to avoid any disastrous injuries. We didn't quite fulfill Charles' high ambition of relocating the entire pile, but after shifting 9 sleepers, I think it's fair to say we'd all had a good work out and felt pretty pleased with ourselves. I can certainly feel it in my arms today!

Great work to Jennifer for getting stuck in on her first session (welcome!). Aside from some seeing many faithful GG Islington regulars, it was great to meet Denzel from GG HQ, and Ernestas, local coucillor and long-time GG-er.

See you at Finsbury Park next week!?

Last night's session saw 9 GoodGymers roll up at Elizabeth House Community Centre, helping to stack chairs, clean tables, and sweep the floor after their foodbank in record time. Although I'm not sure we managed to rid the floor of every sparkle of glitter!

As is often the case with this task - we were rewarded with surplus bread and veg to take home (has anyone tasted those mustard seeds?! They're fiery!!)

5 GoodGymers took a gentle 2.5 km run to get there too - although we all bailed out of the run back, opting instead to head directly home to cook up our leeks and munch on our bread, much to the disappointment of Luke who really wanted to witness me running laps of the stadium with 2 leeks and a baguette in tow... next time!

For one last time as a Goodgym Area Activator, Simon met at the Arsenal Community Hub on Benwell Road to meet a huge group of keen runners, ready to help at Caledonian Park this evening. It was truly a joy to see familiar faces from years gone by (including awesome folks who attended Simon's first session 6.5 years ago at Mildmay Community Centre - I'll find the link!). Also thank you to Astra for attending your first Goodgym session- I heartly recommend attending more sessions soon- we have wonderful people in this community!

After a short (but necessary) warm up, we ran together up McKenzie Road and the Market Road slopes to the wonderful Caledonian Park Clocktower, to meet up with Miriam and Gail, our local task coordinators.

Our objective for the night (with our 26 volunteers on hand!!!), was to shovel piles of crushed rock fines into wheelbarrows, and then transport the loads over to the forest pathways on the West side of the park. This is a lovely wooded walk, that is often frequented by children, families and wheelchair users, and we want to keep this area as accessible as possible during the Springtime months.

We separated into multiple groups to cover the whole area. Team 1 shoveled the ground fines, Team 2 pushed the barrows across the park and Team 3 raked and flattened the ground around the amphitheatre (carefully avoiding the grassed surfaces and paved sections). We also had a 4th team on hand to transfer soil from builder's merchant bags, ready for Spring planting later this month.

This is a massive task, and our crew did an smashing job over the 45 minutes we had available. 26 hands, all working in tandem, really makes a huge difference. Well done!

As we closed up our evening, Area Activator Simon lead a running group back to the Emirates Stadium, while Emily and Louise lead a walking group to The Tollington Arms on Sobell Road- a great local pub that serves incredible Thai food. Together, we celebrated Area Activator Simon's final fixture as a leader, but not his final Goodgym adventure for sure!

Area Activator Simon met with 4 Goodgymmers (Stephane, Damarcus, Deidre and Louie) at the Arsenal Community Hub last night, ready for a nice run up Camden Road over to Rowstock Gardens (aka Camden Estate Gardens). Our crew did a smashing job running up the slopes (after a dynamic warm up), and we caught up with the rest of the team in good and ample time.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Michelle (the resident coordinator for these community plots), who set us our objectives for the evening. The first task involved snipping down long bamboo shoots using loppers and secateurs, separating the stalks and the branches for gardening canes, composting or dead hedging projects. We then swept up and tidied the space before moving to the next spot.

We then helped to move some rubber slip matting over to the newly swept up areas of the gardens. The plan is to make the space as safe and welcoming as possible for local gardeners to start planting over Spring. Keep an eye out for many more Camden Estate Garden projects in the near future!

Congratulations on a successful evening of Goodgym activities, all!

And a special mention to Goodgym legend Alison, who joined our group for one last time as a London resident. We wish you all the best with the move up North, and Thank You for all of your help and enthusiasm over the years!

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GOODGYM ISLINGTON NEWS

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SESSIONS IN JANUARY

Community Mission - Thornhill Square Gardens Monday 26th January, 7.15pm, Thornhill Square Gardens

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/community-mission-thornhill-square-gardens-bulb-planting

Group Run - Highbury Quadrant Estate Gardens Monday 2nd February, 6.45pm, Arsenal Community Hub

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/group-run-highbury-quadrant-green-space-garden-maintenance-c550b9a7-5238-44bf-9de0-ba87c43d2872

Community Mission - Timbuktu Adventure Playground Monday 9th February, 7.15pm, Timbuktu Adventure Playground, Grenville Road

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/community-mission-timbuktu-adventure-playground-9d2481fd-d49f-4677-abf0-10a9ec7a4998

Community Mission - Everleigh Gardens Monday 16th February, 7.15pm Everleigh Street Open Space, Finsbury Park

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/community-mission-everleigh-gardens-compost-turning-heroes

Community Mission - Sunnyside Community Gardens Week 1 Monday 23rd February, 7.15pm Sunnyside Community Gardens

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/community-mission-sunnyside-community-gardens-composting-5439c0b2-571d-4e44-a751-07d75147db73

Community Mission - Sunnyside Community Gardens Week 2 Monday 2nd March, 7.15pm Sunnyside Community Gardens

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/community-mission-sunnyside-community-gardens-composting-f559dec9-4a24-4648-a1aa-64a10fc267b2

Community Mission - Friends of Graham Street (FROGS) Monday 9th March, 7.15pm Graham Street Gardens, Islington

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/community-mission-friends-of-graham-street-park-frogs

Community Mission - Light of the World Church Monday 16th March, 7.15pm Evershot Road, Stroud Green

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/community-mission-light-of-the-world-church-gardening-and-painting-efb9b4f4-6ee0-46dc-98ab-eaf3d323f215

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The Green Runners x Preloved Sports Running Kit Swap

Tuesday 27th January, 7 - 9pm, The Horatia, Holloway Road

Do you have sports kit that doesn't get used as much as it could?

Or would you prefer to keep your lovely nice running shoes ready for race day, and have a spare pair for Goodgym tasks?

Simon from Goodgym Islington will be hosting an evening for swapping or donating your used running kit for those who need it.

All items can be swapped with participants and sign ups, and anything left over can be taken home or offered to Preloved Sports, an organisation dedicated to keeping sports kit out of landfill.

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/kit-swap-and-runner-s-jumble-at-the-horatia-fbc6d351-7f2b-42db-aef5-f7f20c30b3dd

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Goodgym Social & Area Activator Simon’s Last Session

Monday 2nd February, 8.30pm, The Tollington Arms, Islington

After 6.5 years, Area Activator Simon will be hosting his final group run session with Goodgym Islington this evening.

After our group run to Highbury Quadrant Estate, we will be making a trip to the award winning local pub, The Tollington Arms, less than 200m away from our bag drop location on Benwell Road!

As well as offering excellent refreshments, the pub has been well known for offering delicious Thai food with loads of varied dietary and vegan options available!

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/aa-simon-s-last-session-the-tollington-arms-arsenal

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Achilles International VI Guide Running Sessions

Every Thursday, 6pm, Various London locations

On Thursday evenings, the all abilities sports charity Achilles International holds a group run session at a London location.

Here is a list of our upcoming events and sign up pages. Runners, supporters and guides of all abilities and experiences welcome!

JANUARY

Emirates Stadium (Arsenal underground) Thursday 22nd January, 6pm

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/come-and-guide-run-with-achilles-international-emirates-stadium-a5cf5cde-57c4-4111-b675-5c975e917f82

Paddington Rec Track (Maida Vale underground) Thursday 29th January, 6pm

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/come-and-guide-run-with-achilles-international-paddington-rec-track-c8f069b7-bd22-4b46-8487-2995ff23d1b6

Stratford Olympic Park (Stratford underground station Westfield exit) Thursday 5th February, 6pm

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/come-and-guide-run-with-achilles-international-olympic-park-stratford-route-43cdd678-5685-423a-bb4e-f85a2600a9bc

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Track and Towpath - January Challenge Edition!

Come and join Area Activator and UK Coach in Running Fitness (CiRF) Simon for a fun mixed pace training session

Over the month of January, Simon will be hosting a weekly morning running workouts in various parks in the Islington and Tower Hamlets boroughs.

All paces and abilities welcome!

The intention is to build up fitness together towards the Runthrough Victoria Park 10km on Sunday 1st February.

Thursday 22nd January 7.50am, Common Ground coffee, Finsbury Park

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/track-and-towpath-january-challenge-finsbury-park-kenyan-hills

Thursday 29th January 7.50am, Mile End Climbing Wall, Meath Gardens

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/track-and-towpath-january-challenge-meath-gardens-kilometres

Runthrough Victoria Park 10km Event!

Sunday 1st February, 9am, Victoria Park

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/track-and-towpath-runthrough-victoria-park-10km-february-2026

(Strava group link)

https://strava.app.link/3aQu4W5ISYb

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Caledonian Park junior parkrun- January 2026

Sunday mornings, 8.45am, Caledonian Park

Junior parkrun is a wonderful free weekly timed 2km social running initiative, with events occurring all across the UK (and now the world!).

Children aged from 4-14 years old are allowed to run this safe looped course in Caledonian Park however they like, with the encouragement of friendly marshals, volunteers and parents.

The core team are always on the lookout for:

Course marshals

Barcode scanners

Funnel managers

Course set-up and close down assistance

A tailwalker!

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Upcoming sessions:

Sunday 25th January

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/volunteer-at-caledonian-junior-parkrun-e082674b-e559-41cb-bb6c-8face5a8050b

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Maria's Gardens, Isledon Gardens - Shed Building

Sunday 25th January, 11am - 1pm, Maria's Gardens, Islington

We are planning to lend a hand at Maria's Gardens, a Nature Trail between Isledon Gardens and the Sam Morris Nursery Gardens. One of the key objectives for this session is to build a new tool shed for the regular local gardening team.

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/community-mission-maria-s-gardens-isledon-gardens-shed-building-fun

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Green Guardians- Whittington Park Sessions

Tuesday and Thursday morning sessions, Whittington Park, Archway

We have six really interesting gardening session happening at Whittington Park. We'll be planting native wild flowers, hedging and bulbs, creating a stumper and planting fruit trees.

These are relaxed friendly sessions where the emphasis is on spending time outside in nature, whilst learning and sharing skills and meeting new people.

The sessions are free and open to all, though under 16's must be with a responsible adult. No experience is needed. We provide tools, gloves, guidance and refreshments.

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Session Dates

1. Tuesday 6th Jan 2026, 10am to 12pm ; Orchard tree planting with the Orchard Project (with optional free volunteers lunch at 1pm)

2. Tuesday 13th Jan 2026, 10am to 12pm ; Wildlife hedge planting

3. Tuesday 20th Jan, 2026, 10am to 12pm ; Loggery habitat creation

4. Tuesday 27th Jan, 2026, 10am to 12pm ; Loggery habitat creation

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Next session

Tuesday 20th January, 10am - 12 midday:

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/green-guardians-whittington-park-community-gardening-68de0746-83b9-4d74-b3dc-2b939ca3bb42

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Penn Road Gardens Monthly Open Volunteer Morning

Sunday 25th January, 10am - midday, Penn Road Gardens, Islington

Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road.

Local volunteers will be on hand to direct anyone who arrives to offer their help between 10am- midday. Come on down to enjoy a lovely morning community task!

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/penn-road-gardens-open-morning