Our friends at Discover Welling have launched 'The Tour of Welling', a series of community tidy-up events during the Great British Spring Clean fortnight, and we joined the first stop on the Tour.

Four of us gathered with the Discover Welling team and a local councillor for an afternoon litter pick at Shoulder of Mutton Green. Just a couple of hours earlier we’d been basking in decent weather at a task at Lesnes Abbey, but by the time we arrived in Welling, the sun had clocked off. The sky had turned an ominous shade of grey and a bitter wind was whistling around the Green trying to steal our bin bags.

Did that stop us? Of course not.

We scoured the Green for rubbish, and there was plenty to keep us busy. Into the bags went the usual culprits: vodka bottles, beer cans, cigarette butts, crisp packets, sweet wrappers, disposable cups and fast-food cartons.

But every litter pick has its surprises and mysteries.

Among the more unusual finds were a tea strainer and a pair of shoes. Were they connected? Was someone once brewing a cuppa on the Green before abandoning their footwear? We'll never know!

After an hour of teamwork and nattering we’d built up a pile of bin bags ready for the council to collect next week.

With the clouds looking more and more threatening, we made a timely retreat home just before the rain arrived.

A good job well done and stage one on the Tour of Welling completed!

Huge thanks to Jacqui from GG Brent for travelling north-to-south to lend a hand.

Linda was feeling her age and a bit under the weather, regretting setting up a mission to celebrate her 200th parkrun when she had only done 199 so couldn't opt out today 😩.

Fortunately Valentines had more than enough volunteers leaving Peter and James free to offer their moral support trotting round with Linda at a much slower pace than they are used to. Ed and Sharon had been given Marshaling spots so were shouting support from their posts. Jaquie stayed behind after her run to encourage Linda over the finish line and take photos/video to prove the run got done (she also provided a commemorative "200" badge), Katherine double backed after her run to add to the support posse.

Not all were official volunteer roles but technically everyone was supporting a vulnerable older person 🤪 which is what goodgym is all about. 🤗

We then went on to "The Spoons" for a celebratory cuppa and a mini Wiggles The Caterpillar.

Today the task was completed by just two of us from the GoodGym team – Jacqui and me. It was Jacqui’s first time at this location, so it was lovely to welcome her. We worked together to organise the space and get everything ready. First, we moved all the Food Bank boxes to their proper place. Then we returned the tables to where they belong in the hall. We also collected the empty crates and loaded them into the Food Bank vehicle. Finally, we arranged the chairs neatly in rows so the hall is ready for the next activity, as shown in the photos. A small team today, but we got the job done! 💪

12 GoodGymers made a difference at the penultimate winter shelter of the season!

We were super fortunate to welcome three lovely new faces this week — a big welcome to Emma, Joe, and Jonny!

And they joined our friendly and fabulous group of Al, Charlie, Emily, Jackie, Jacqui, John, Paul, and Philippa!

Across 35 well-spent minutes, this troupe:

❤️ Assembled, positioned, and dressed 14 beds ready and waiting for the evening's guests

❤️ Set 22 spaces for a (delicious-smelling) volunteer-cooked dinner

❤️ Did everything while connecting and chatting aplenty :)

Thank you, everyone!

Once again, Goodgym was out helping our favourite cultural institution, the Phoenix Cinema, reach audiences and keep going. Tonight, however, we had an extra batch of leaflets from the artsdepot in North Finchley, who are also trying to boost numbers. By chance we met their team in the Phoenix last week and offered to piggy back their leaflets on this session.

And, with another great turn out - eight of us! - we made short work of their programmes. With the weather picking up, we had regulars and newcomers. Great to see Sheela for her first session, after she joined us at last week's allotment session as part of her charity work. And welcome back to Theo, who cycled all the way from Queen's Park, over Hampstead Hill!

Rachel set a fun but tricky topic for us to chat about: name something you used to believe was true, but don't any longer. A couple of us came up with food-related topics that we thought were healthy, like Theodore, who shared the fun fact that frozen-then-defrosted bread is easier to digest that fresh bread.

And then we were off, running a bit further than usual towards Muswell Hill to try and reach some new audiences, with Paul backmarking (sadly no Gus with him). We made short work of our leaflets running around some very nice houses. Jacqui snapped some action pics for us on route. Then, twenty minutes later, with no leaflets left, everyone 'collectively and democratically' agreed to let me choose whether we did more hard exercises or a gentler run. Obviously everyone was up for another sprinting session on the hill path into Highgate Wood, where most of us suitably burned off excess energy, except Subham, who has a bottomless store and led the way back to the cinema, while some of us walked or jogged the last stretch.

Then we all huddled around the tables in the Phoenix for a little social, exercising our 10% Goodgym discount. A lovely close to the evening, and a solid 4km route as well.

Fairway to Go! February’s Fantastic Finds

February saw another brilliant Anytime Plogging Community Mission, with GoodGym members heading out across their local areas to keep streets, parks and beaches a little cleaner.

A big thank you to everyone who sent in photos and reports it’s always inspiring to see what’s being tackled out there.

Peter was out and about but seemed to uncover parts of a van along the way, which understandably slowed progress a little! Jacqui and Sally combined their litter pick with a theatre trip .. multitasking at its finest — collecting an eclectic haul including bottles, papers and some rather curious odds and ends. Paul uncovered what felt like the lost driving range of North London a stash of golf balls rescued from the undergrowth. And I did my own litter pick on Chesil Beach with my niece, gathering an eclectic mix of widely travelled rubbish packaging from Japan, Poland and beyond. A reminder that litter doesn’t just travel down our streets… it travels across the world.

From riverbanks to beaches, from golf balls to van debris, every bag filled makes a difference.

If you haven’t joined in yet, why not give it a go for March? Bring a friend, grab a picker, and head out for a short plog near you — anytime that suits you.

Thanks again to everyone who took part community spirit in action.