It was so nice to be back on Monday evenings! We kicked off our new series with an easy 1k run down to Penge Congregational Church from the Bridge House. The church group were setting up to host a music festival and needed some tables, pews and cupboards moving to create space for a music festival. Our team got to work creating space to move some very long pews, and luckily we had the turning space available in the vast church. The church group were really grateful for our help - we were grateful for the indoor task 😅

As is customary in the south eastern pocket of London known as Crystal Palace, the first GoodGym session of the year was a Christmas Tree Scavenger Hunt - clearing the streets, reducing waste going to landfill/incineration and saving others a job.

Our team of 5 were in high spirits to start with until no trees appeared...

Fortunately, a good 45 minutes after starting our mission, one tree presented itself to us!

And then minutes later, nestled inside someone's garden... another! We nicked it anyway and shifted them up the road to the tree-cycling spot in/surrounding Mayow Park where they will be churned up into woodchip. Nice.

Top work gang. See you next year?

How many GoodGymers does it take to put in a few hundred bulbs? Only 4 apparently.

After a short jog we arrived in a dark Cator Park where Millie and Linda had hundreds of bulbs ready to go underground.

Linda showed us the best technique and we got to work, losing holes in the darkness and having a nice chat.

Doing it at night means the squirrels can't see where to dig them up - perfect.

After emptying a couple of huge sacks of daffs and tulips and some other ones too, we called it a night.

Top stuff.

Read to the end to reveal the mystery!

Tonight we headed up the hill for a task at the St Christopher's Hospice shop on Crystal Palace Triangle. It's a seriously well stocked shop, so much so that a few of us even ended up having a late night spree! Would recommend if you're ever in the area.

Anyway we came from all over to get to the task venue - some direct from home, some up from the Bridge House. We had a series of jobs which were executed with aplomb:

James took on the hoover for his 8th time?! Megan was pricing up some fancy crockery. Mariah was taping up some well stuffed bags so they don't split on the way to the Streatham store. Charlie and Kelsey were cleaning the shelves. Catherine and Cat were boxing up some older bric-a-brac. Jess was on steamer duty and I think that's everyone 👏👏👏

Oh yeah, the brogue. So basically there were a few single shoes, i.e. not in pairs. Me and Kelsey were like "wtf?!" but then we asked Teresa and it turns out it's all part of the plan. If there's some spenny shoes above a certain price, they keep one hidden away so they don't go walkies. Clever eh?!

Well done GG CP. I always have such a nice time hanging out with you. See you next time.