Today's group run started in a new location and a new time - 6:30pm in Finsbury Park. And, in fact, run leader Sarah decided there would be no run as it was still 31⁰ and we were in the middle of an amber heat warning ⚠️.

The first excitement came when a fire truck arrived to douse a smouldering tree stump next to where Sarah was waiting.

Gradually, Team GGH filtered in, clutching various homemade and makeshift eclipse-viewing apparatus. Not being of these isles, Sarah asked - "would you say this is Blue Peter?" Paul confirmed that yes, it was very Blue Peter. "Shame there's no badge though". "We could MAKE them!" Sarah suggested.

The park was full of other people, some of whom also had homemade devices. The group gradually moved around the park, chasing the best viewing angles to see the tiny pinhole (or colander) projections as they changed shape and the sky darkened - and was that the wind changing?

Once the eclipse had peaked it was time to make our way to the task - conveniently located close to the park. The aptly named Olive Tree House is a sheltered housing scheme with a garden dominated by a large olive tree.

No tools, no problem!

Unfortunately today's task owner had forgotten to drop off tools at the task - but as the team were already in a mood to improvise nothing could stop us. Utility knives were found, muscles were flexed and before long the bins in the bin store were full and there was a pile of black bags full of weeds and prunings at the side of the garden.

After some quick refreshments, it was time for our team to leave, with a promise to return to do even more.

On a beautifully sunny evening 5 Goodgymers set out to help the growth of new trees in Lordship Rec. Mike, our task owner, briefed us on the benefits of putting wood-chip around the base of recently planted trees - assisting with moisture retention, weed and grass suppression, temperature regulation, nutrition, etc. However he was very clear that the wood-chip should not touch the tree itself (to prevent moisture build-up and rot at the base). What we need is "Mulch Doughnuts" he insisted. Great fun was had, and the task was completed well within time, of course with the accompaniment of various insect bites. This was Paul's 50th good deed for which he received an endearing hug from Julie. The team, which included The Neil, James, and Mark, decided to do a walk from task, somehow ending up at Woodgreen Spoons! They were joined by Latoya who managed to escape from work, and thirsts were well quenched. Congratulations Paul on your 50th task - see you in black soon!

Our first session at the Harringay Night Shelter and it was a good one. Moya welcomed us, explained what needed doing, and Latoya, Julie and Mark got cracking, with Asan joining shortly afterwards. It's a winter night shelter, somewhat eerily located in out of use church premises, which went in to recess for the summer a few weeks ago. Linen needed to be put in storage, beds folded and put away, the sleeping area vacuumed, bathrooms cleaned, etc .... Latoya demonstrated her interior design skills by re-purposing the sleeping area in to a comfortable lounge space. Congratulations to Asan- this was his 10th good deed, achieved in short time and with great enthusiasm and a 100+% effort at everything he does! There's plenty more cleaning, sorting and tidying to be done (including the kitchen !) so expect to see another task listing soon!

5 runners ran to the Haringey Learning Partnership to prepare the ground for a new shed.

The base for a new shed had been set-out, but needed reinforcing. The ground between the beams needed lowing to allow for further reinforcement to be added. So that called for us to get out the mattocks and swing away and the rocks and roots!

It's amazing to see the changes taking place. The pond we helped dig filling up with frogspawn. The new chicken coop.

Soon we'd dug out a basement level, and had a few minutes to spare, and squeezed in a quick tidy up of old green waste bags, and got a good arm workout moving the pallets ready for construction!