What a difference 60 minutes can make with 12 GoodGymmers joining forces with dedicated local volunteers at Ridgway Community Garden!

With so many hands on deck, everyone got thoroughly stuck in from the moment we arrived, turning the space around in record time. We covered off a bunch of jobs:

• Alkanet & Weed Attack: Cleared out thick patches of stubborn alkanet and invasive weeds that had taken over the pocket park bed.

• The Wood Chip & Cardboard Combo: Shifted old wood chips, laid down cardboard barriers to suppress future growth, and topped everything up with fresh wood chips and nutrient-rich soil around the plants.

• Hydration Heroics: Gave all the newly mulched beds and plants a deep, well-deserved watering (no hosepipe allowed!) to settle them in.

It is always incredible to see the transformation possible when a group rolls up their sleeves and gets stuck in together. In just one hour, the garden was left looking tidy, revitalised, and ready to thrive for the rest of the summer.

A massive well done to everyone for bringing the energy and muscle to make light work of a big job - especially during such a warm evening!

What a lovely evening for a GoodGym session as the team gathered in the peaceful surroundings of the Tranquil Garden to lend a hand to the Friends of Mostyn Gardens.

There was no shortage of jobs to get stuck into, and once the runners arrived to join the pack, we got straight to work armed with tools, gloves, and plenty of energy to tackle a bit of everything, including:

🌿 Clearing runaway vines and keeping unruly growth in check

🌾 Weeding beds and paths, and clearing dead plants to tidy up the space

🚰 Watering to keep everything thriving on a warm summer evening

By the time we were finished, the plant beds, wood chip area, gravel paths, and fencing were looking thoroughly transformed and suitably GoodGymed! As a lovely bonus to wrap up our hard work, we even had time to harvest a bunch of fresh sage to take home.

Before heading to the pub for our monthly social, there were some incredible milestones to cheer, with Ralph hitting 10 and Steve (back in action) hitting 25 good deeds!

An extra special, monumental congratulations goes to Caroline, who hit an amazing 100 good deeds! This also marks the very first 100-milestone reached for a GoodGym Merton team member since we launched in 2024. Showcasing how far we have come!

Well done to the whole team for another fantastic, high-impact evening 💪 - red shirt power at its finest!

The Goodgym Merton team arrived for tonight's group session at Morley Park to find a massive, freshly delivered mountain of wood chip that was wood-erfully timed for our visit!

We certainly didn't have a chip on our shoulders, quickly forming an efficient shovel-and-barrow convoy and shifting everything from the road to inside the park gate. A fantastic full-body workout!

Meanwhile, a couple of the team tackled a lighter task, snipping back invasive horsetails to keep the pathways looking tidy and protect the local flora.

What amazing teamwork as always - well done everyone!

A moderate sized group of us managed to do a massive amount of work this evening! The jobs ranged from planting seedlings to removing 2 entire bushes! There was also weeding and creating wigwams to support the tomatoes and beans. Well done one and all!

We arrived nice and early at 7am, "all up at a sparrows bottom burp" to help with setting up this huge local event.

This year organisers expected a footfall of around 3000 people to enjoy the Morden Fun Day, held on a spectacular sunny day.

The event provided LOTS of interesting things to look, see, taste and experience.

Family fun with Tombolas/Lucky dips, Fair rides and many local Charitable organisation stalls raising awareness of their causes, and, their ongoing fundraising efforts.

Many stalls offered delicious food and drinks, with Ice Cream Vans providing much needed ice creams and lollies.

All this at this fantastic local event alongside the superb Classic Car Show. This gave young, and those who remembered them from yesteryear a chance to look at some beautifully preserved Classic Cars, rarely seen on the roads these days, all in one place, shining and gleaming away in the glorious sunshine.

A fantastic event to attend and to be able to help out at, with truly marvelous organisation, such a big event with many many people helping to make this a seamless smooth day.

Well done everyone!

On arrival we set to work to ensure the venue looked the part before the doors opened. The team mucked right in with:

• Unloading & Labelling: Flexing our muscles to unload crates of delicious food, followed by putting our best handwriting to use to write out recipe and ingredient labels.

• Table Decorating: Transforming the space by dressing and decorating tables to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere.

• The Inevitable Gardening: Look, we just couldn't help ourselves. Sweeping away summer leaves and digging out unruly weeds near the entrance, we staged a quick intervention to make sure the catwalk looked pristine.

Once the guests started arriving, we switched gears into hosting mode, greeting attendees with big smiles and doing whatever else we could to help.

After all the hard work, we were treated to the live entertainment, but the fun didn't stop there. When the event needed an extra hand, one of the team stepped up to support the fashion show.

It was an incredible, action-packed extended session for a fantastic cause. Well done to everyone involved.

Four of the GoodGym team headed to the William Morris Pub to fly the flag for local fitness and community action.

We were there to support the Rotary Club of Merton and Sport in Mind with the launch in Merton. It was the perfect opportunity to network, share collaboration ideas, and chat to attendees about GoodGym. it seems we are already set to help with the fundraising efforts having already been assigned the Santa sleigh collection for the Sport in Mind initiative in December but hope to get involved with whatever we can in the coming months.

The team did a fantastic job building local connections and reminding everyone why we were recently named Health and Wellbeing Team of the Year! Well done all.