A team of at least a dozen goodgymers (I lost count) came to help out the lovely Janet and Eileen at Cranbook Community Food Garden. Thanks to the clocks going forward we were treated to some actual daylight for the first time in ages. Shout-out to John for reminding me to take some photos to prove that we weren't slacking off in Laura's absence.

We split off into mini groups, each with a dedicated task. Some performed quality control checks on folding tables, keeping the good ones and retiring the rest. Others sorted out sheds at the back, clearing out any rubbish. Litter and leaves (oh the leaves) were were picked/raked/bagged up. Special mention goes to the new rake sourced by Janet which was red and white - a homage to our Goodgym colours perhaps? Or most probably, just a rake.

By the end of the task, the impact of a hard-working group of Goodgymers was clear with Eileen showing her appreciation by bestowing a bar of chocolate on us (thanks Eileen!)

We parted ways (without a stretch this time) having all enjoyed an evening in fine company.

Shout outs to:

• Vidur and Jason on their first Goodgym task. A very warm welcome to you both!
• Ilana on her 50th task. Congratulations!

Until next time...

Delivered a bread roll and 3 X soup to Mrs N in the spring sunshine. Streets and parks busy with happy people, took a nice longer route on the way back. All was quiet and easy at Humdingers soup kitchen, and Mrs N pleased to get the delivery so a very nice mission all in all.

3x Soup and big loaf of bread delivered to Mrs N on a nice sunny day. All went to plan. Mrs N v grateful and very nice to see her after a few weeks off.

With the morning light beaming, we gathered in Borough Yards (an amazing place to grab a coffee, some food or even a cinema ticket if you're in the area!) and the excitement of a Saturday morning doing good fell upon us.

Our task today was one of utmost importance, sanctioned by the King himself. He decreed the surrounding green spaces of the Tower of London must match the excellence of the Crown stored within.

The King’s decrees aside, the infamous FNL speakers jumped into action and at 10am we set off from Borough Yards for our 6km run to reach our destination, Tower Hill Terrace. The council had called in the big guns (not you Sam), GroundEcotherapy to help transform the area to a space people could enjoy when visiting one of London’s tourist hotspots.

After an insightful intro with Ivo from GoodGym, and Paul from Grounded Ecotherapy we managed to shift 5 tonnes of soil and LECA (a sort of lightweight clay ball) up a few flights of stairs and completely empty 4 huge planters so new drainage could be put in. What we did today allows the planters to finally be fit for use. The next task is refilling them which you’re welcome to join us for.

Imogen correctly identified our group as definitely having the best time of any runners out this morning, mentioning how great it was to put all this energy into something that is also good for the community!

In less than an hour we felt well and truly accomplished. Haseeb even noted how good it’ll feel to walk past Tower Hill Terrace knowing we helped create it once it was all finished. It was still morning, we’d ticked off a sun fuelled run and helped improve a community space for one of London’s most visited locations. Only one thing remained, a quick return journey to our meet point and a surprise non-alcoholic brew waiting for us courtesy of Athletic Brewing.

Hopefully the feel-good vibes have fuelled an amazing Saturday for you. We do this combination of fitness and volunteering a lot (literally every week) and you’re welcome anytime. See what else is happening here

You’ll also find GoodGym at FNL’s upcoming Couch to 50k festival in Battersea Park. We’ll be hosting some exclusive training sessions in the weeks leading up to the festival. Come say hi, don’t be a stranger if you’re going.

A big shout to Borough Yards for hosting us as we met in the morning. Please do check them out here.

We started the evening with lots of sweep talking, sharing something we were looking forward to over the summer months. It turns out, lots of cycling, walking, seasonal vegetables, holidays and spending time with friends. And it certainly did feel like the start of spring on a rather warm evening out and about in Greenwich.

Special shout out to John on his first GoodGym good deed! And special welcome to founder, Ivo - lovely to have you with us Ivo and come back again soon!

After a competitive game of heads, shoulders, knees and ball, we headed out for a short run along the river (always nice on a night like this) and arrived at St Mark's. This church and community centre brings 300 people in each week for lots of different activities and it surely showed a big footfall. We got to work in three teams - team 1 sweeping outside where John and I spent a while trying to reset a loose paving slab. Team two was cleaning inside, with lots of hoovering to be done. And team three was doing a spot of DIY on the door.

The time flew by as usual and the place was looking much cleaner by the time we packed up and Ashton got our his trusty tripod.

Still time for a nice drink on the way home - looking forward to more of these this summer!

Good work team.

Next week we've got a Charlton House start to continue painting at Charlton Manor Primary. Sign up here. On Saturday we're spreading woodchip at Roots4Life and on Sunday Felicity is leading a Charlton litter picking session

Until next time!