7 GoodGymers braved the WINTER chill to make a difference in Camden!

It didn't feel like spring is just around the corner last night... because of... the cold... and the rain... and the smiles that sometimes look like grimaces when the wind shoots through!

Not that that stopped this lovely group of good deeding heroes!

Ariane, Danny, Imogen, Steve, Theo (new to the Camden group – welcome!), and Thierry (new to GoodGym – welcome!) must have been the hardest working group in Camden last night!

Amidst 'the weather' (!) they started out by moving an enormous pile of choc-full bin liners, emptying two crates, and sorting through an assortment of wood and metal 💪

And they then turned their magical clearing hands to a greenhouse, removing everything in the most orderly and quick manner I have ever witnessed ❤️

Before they finally got everything ready for our return visit (SOON!) when we will lift the greenhouse, walk the greenhouse, and deposit the greenhouse in a more permanent home ☺️

Thank you, everyone!

The weather was kind to us as nine GoodGymers gathered at Doynton St Community Garden for an afternoon session to get the space ready for spring. We were working alongside the team from Growing Green who got us set up with gloves, shears, and shovels ready to do what GoodGymers do best - chop loads of stuff down!

We spent a bit of time exploring the area which had a bit of a Secret Garden vibe, then got stuck in. Lots of dead wood and branches were condensed down and tidied up. The pile then grew steadily for the next hour as we cleared the space.

A couple of dead trees were demolished, and a very well established bramble was taken care of to let in lots more light and make the garden safer to use. Paths were cleared to improve accessibility, with ground covering ivy being given a hair cut. A mural which had seen better days was carefully packed up for repair or reuse, and the whole garden received a good litter pick, despite some more unusual finds!

We had lots of visitors through the session, including a couple of cats, a frog, a member of the local constabulary, and a few friendly neighbors keen to see what we were getting up to. Welcome to all the new GoodGymers who joined the session, it was wonderful to meet you!

Growing Green were delighted to have the extra hands on deck - we're looking forward to seeing them again in March.

6 GoodGymers caught some good deeding vibes amidst London’s festive fare!

Settled in the heart of Piccadilly sits St James’s Church.

At this time of year, it is a favourite of tourists and Londoners alike (arriving for carols and services aplenty), and we had to bustle our way through the crowds to arrive on time last night.

Yet we were soon off and away to a peaceful garden, where this special group — of Alex, Charlie, Imogen, Kush (new to GoodGym — a huge welcome!), and Steve — made a wonderful difference.

Huge and bountiful trees border this green space, and they’ve been shedding their summer coats since October. Our task was to rake the lawns and sweep the paths, clearing the leaves for good for another year.

The brilliant Catherine from Green City Projects was our host, and alongside her we turned a leaf strewn garden into a clear, safe, and tidy spot in just 60 minutes.

Thank you, everyone! Here’s to next time!

There was a lot to do for the eight of us, helping set up Kentish Town Farm's Christmas fair. Working as a team, we put up ten rows of bunting: not that plasticky stuff you would buy in a mini-mart, but nicely home-knitted triangles of random colours.

There are a varied selection of buildings in the farmyard: offices, sheds and animal houses, so each row of bunting presented a different challenge: where to hang it from, how to get up to the hanging-from place, and how to stop the things sagging in the middle, where people were walking past, without snapping the thin string

There was much more to do: moving heavy tables to be used for stalls, presents to be wrapped for the £2 children's "lucky dip", and bags to be shifted. DaMarcus and Jackie decorated a whole shed, and we even recruited a potential new Camden GoodGymer!