We had a great turn out for our return to the Finchley Charities' community plot at the Fuel Land Allotments. Ten Goodgymmers gathered, half at the Phoenix for the warm up run and half at the allotment gates for the task. We were met by the lovely plot coordinators Brigid and Les, as well as Carmel from the Finchley Charities. (A brief shout out to www.goodgym.org/v3/profile/sheela-guttula, who couldn't make it due to an injury - get well soon!)

With many hands, we made light work of the tasks: carrying logs from the back of the plot to the front to extend the palisade, weeding bindweed, horseradish and oak seedlings and watering the vegetables. We also admired the wonderfully weird icon of Jesus the group found by chance painted on an old slab resting by the shed, as well as a lovely tiger moth spotted on a fence near the plot.

It was great to see Jamie out again for his third session - hoping work commitments will allow for lots of future sessions. And thank you to Richard for suggesting the pizza and popcorn social afterwards for some of us.

Five goodgymers went along to help the local community with citizen science activities at the Tiny Forests near Mutton Brook. There are four Tiny Forests there now, and there is a lot of work to do: litter picking, tree measuring, and various other experiments.

London Climate Action Week could not have come at a more appropriate time, with the whole of Europe baking under record high temperatures. And tree cover in urban areas is a hot topic, as we all battle to keep our cities livable in this new normal.

So it was great to see local citizens caring for their local forest cover: 2,400 trees planted by the community since 2022, with the help of environmental NGO Earthwatch.

Tiny Forests are densely packed areas of tree cover, planted using the now-famous Miyawaki method . The tree cover is all native species and they are ideal for urban environments, where space is at a premium.

We all got busy with different tasks, while enjoying the sight of butterflies and bees coming to feast on the flowers growing alongside the trees.

Looking forward to the next event at the Tiny Forests!

Dark Arts, Woodchip & New Faces 🌙🌲

Last night’s group run reminded us why GoodGym is such a brilliantly odd and rewarding thing to be part of.

We gathered in the welcoming glow of the Phoenix Cinema foyer, chatting and catching up while meeting a couple of new faces a warm welcome to Jack and Jamie who both dived straight into the spirit of the evening. Numbers were handed out and, in keeping with January tradition, we briefly checked in on how everyone’s New Year’s resolutions were going. The verdict? Not much to report but crucially, everyone had turned up, which already counts as a win.

A quick warm-up followed outside the cinema, making full use of the uphill gradient for kick-ups, crossovers and skips ... proof that you don’t need fancy equipment when you’ve got gravity on your side.

Subham kindly volunteered to back-mark… and within about two minutes found himself at the front of the group. To his credit, he noticed before anyone else did, which gave us all a good laugh!

We headed off towards St Martin’s Primary School, only to arrive to a scene straight out of a mystery novel: locked gates, no lights, and a very quiet school. Just as we were wondering whether we’d taken a wrong turn into a spy film, John appeared to open up and set us to work.

Tasks included improving paths around the forest school area particularly near the fire pit and outdoor kitchen with the added bonus that we managed to tackle some extra path work too. A bit of digging, some wheelbarrowing, and a lot of purposeful activity in near darkness: exactly the kind of thing that makes GoodGym feel refreshingly different from an indoor gym session.

Before long it was tools down, a steady run back and gentle stretch.

Running, digging, and volunteering in the dark on a cool January evening turns out to be just about perfect: short, sharp, effective exercise with real purpose. For Jack and Jamie and anyone else wondering whether to come back this is what we do. Different every week, always friendly, and always worth turning up for.

Same time next week?