When I was a child I think I was middle-aged.

Other children liked Pokemon - or Power Rangers - or other popular past times like playing.

Not for me - I knew what I liked - and what I liked was the 8pm-9pm slot on Monday nights on BBC One: Ground Force and Changing Rooms.

And last night - thanks to the frost-beating efforts of this wonderful group - I felt like my childhood friends (Alan Titchmarsh and Carol Smillie) were present in shaping our very own garden makeover at Cecil Sharp House!

Seven of us - Alex, Gosia, Jackie, John, Rose, and Steve (and me) - met in the King's Cross buzz and we became the only group (of adults) in London to be outside playing Simon Says whilst icicles formed.

Taking our smiles (like Carol Smillie) with us, we started our journey up and through Camden, meeting Emilie early en route!

Arriving at Cecil Sharp House, we met Natalia and Yumei, both of whom were on their first day of GoodGym good-deeding - a huge welcome, both!!

And then our makeover started. I am not certain how it happened. All I do know is that I turned round to find my gardening gloves and a million scattered leaves had already been placed into a neat pile.

It genuinely was miraculous - the lawn and paths were a sea of fallen leaves... and then they were grass and paving again - it could even have been a spring night :)

Thank you, everyone, for your work, time, and fun - it was great to see you!

Here's to next time!

Elm Haven is a unique space for the community to come together to grow fresh produce and learn more about gardening.

It was a cold but dry day as we swept leaves from between the planters to enable volunteer Dave to get to them, as he showed off his skills with a lawn mower.

It was like a conjuring trick, how he was able to make a large pile of leaves vanish into his mower, to be composted for future use.

A special welcome to Yumei, arriving for her first good deed! And if all goes well, she's about to do her second deed the same day. Nothing like hitting the ground running...

It has been many sleeps since we were last at the American International Church's winter shelter. Google tells me it's been 238 sleeps. And yet yesterday felt so easy as we stepped back into our comfortable and warm winter routine.

Six of us - Andy, Gosia, Jackie, John, and Rose (and me) - started our evening (successfully) counting to 25, and we then wove our way through Bloomsbury's bustle and buzz, sharing stories all the way.

Arriving on an increasingly festive Tottenham Court Road, we picked up our remaining good-deeding crew (Ivar, Jack, Louise, Sarah, and Steve) and climbed down to a basement that's always a hubbub of positive activity on winter Wednesday nights.

The C4WS Homeless Project has been making a difference since 2006, and our task (making the evening's beds) was one part of a larger (and quite special) operation.

I had barely finished saying - 12 beds in the big room > 3 in the small room > 1 on the stage - when the sounds of camp beds a-sprining and duvets a-quilting filled our positive air.

It usually takes me 387 minutes to make a bed, but this special group assembled and dressed 16 beds in no more than 20.

With our bed-making completed, the group took their talents to the dining cabin, making swift work of creating a neat and tidy space for the evening meal.

Thanks so much, everyone, for your work and energy last night - it was wonderful to see you!!

Here's to next time!

Last week, we swept the paths at Elm Vale community garden clear of leaves. This week, we were asked to sweep leaves onto the path!

This made sense though, as we were raking leaves away from the planting areas, from where they were mulched by an on-site gardener using a lawn-mower, and taken over to the composter.

Recycling works really well in nature.

The English Dance and Song Society, situated at in the heart of Camden, is a registered charity which relies on wedding hire to make ends meet. Marriage ceremonies rely on good pictures, and the beautiful Cecil Sharp House and gardens, the society’s HQ, needs to be kept looking smart and well maintained.

Which is where GoodGym Camden came in. To clear the grounds of fallen leaves, which look a mess and prevent the grass from flourishing, we used a mixture of a rake, two brooms, a large leaf grabber and – for the first time, in my experience - a leaf blower, as used by the local council and which we’ve all secretly wanted a go on. This meant we could clear the grass of stifling leaves without the rather crude raking which risks harming the turf itself. The leaves were blown onto the paths, to join their fellow fallen, which were then all swept and raked into strong plastic bags.

The six GoodGymers joined over-worked task owner Susannah with clearing the back lawn, but such was our speed and hard work, we had time to clear the front of the building, and then to tackle the side paths as well. By the time we’d finished, we’d filled about twenty bags with leaves, and it only remained to somehow cram them into Susannah’s car, for transporting to the recycling centre.

A special welcome to Rose, taking on her first ever GoodGym task tonight. We look forward seeing you again for many more Good Deeds!

We've got further tasks next Wednesday evening https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/friendly-group-session-setting-up-the-cold-weather-shelter-at-the-american-international-church,

on Saturday week https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/friendly-group-session-moving-timbers-digging-earth-autumn-gardening-at-st-cuthbert-s-church,

and every Wednesday lunchtime! https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/help-a-green-environmental-project-2c4dfb10-3e02-4987-9a2d-a169b836f988