It's not often we're accompanied by a bear, but that's exactly what happened during our task this evening! 🐻

We gathered at Welling Library, where Julie and Alex from Discover Welling were waiting for us. Alex was dressed as a rather large, cute bear. Julie had brought along a big roll of stickers promoting Welling Sparkle, the town's Christmas market.

Our task was to put the stickers on all 72 lamp posts along the high street. We split into two teams, unwound a supply of stickers for each and set off in opposite directions to cover the ground as efficiently as possible.

Working along one side of the road, we peeled the stickers from their backing roll and applied two to each lamp post to create a complete wrap. Once we'd reached the end of our stretch, we crossed over and worked our way back along the other side, eventually meeting up with the other team.

(In case you were worried, the stickers use a low-tack adhesive, so they'll come off cleanly after the event. And the council had sanctioned their application to the lamp posts.)

Our friendly bear was certainly a hit with passers-by, handing out high fives and stopping for photos. It was lovely to see so many smiles along the way!

Welling High Street is a long one, so we certainly clocked up some good mileage while getting all those lamp posts dressed for the Sparkle ✨.

Let's hope our efforts help bring plenty of people along to the event. A bear-y good evening's work! 🐻

This afternoon we joined The Bee Conservation Trust, Discover Welling and Southeastern Trains to plant a host of bee-friendly plants at Welling Station.

With Ivar taking charge of the drill to create holes deep enough for the larger plants, the rest of us worked with trowels and a dibber to settle the seedlings into their new home.

We can't wait to see everything in bloom next spring and summer, when the flowers will be a brilliant source of forage for bumblebees 🐝🌼!

Coming up...

Wednesday 4 November – Putting up the Welling Sparkle stickers

Promoting Welling's Christmas market.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/putting-up-the-welling-sparkle-stickers-063d0797-a0a8-4e07-be10-06c420f143d9

Saturday 7 November – Clearing brambles, cleaning railings and coffee treats at The Exchange

Helping out at Erith's wonderful community venue.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/clearing-brambles-cleaning-railings-and-coffee-treats-at-the-exchange

Sunday 8 November – Lending a hand at Crossness Pumping Station

Helping to maintain this wonderful hidden gem of a museum.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/lending-a-hand-at-crossness-pumping-station

Sunday afternoon, and four GoodGymers headed to Welling to help Discover Welling get ready for Remembrance, putting up poppies along the High Street. We were joined by two local councillors.

With Storm Boelo doing its best to blow us away, it was a bit of a battle against the elements! Each lamp post got a poppy on either side, secured with cable ties, Hopefully they'll stay put in the gale!

We also added a sprinkling of poppies to the Welling cannon, making sure it was dressed for the occasion.

A few passers-by stopped to say thank you as we worked, which was a lovely reminder of how meaningful this task is.

With the poppies in place and a good step count under our belt, we decided to try iCakes, a new artisan café and bakery, for hot drinks to warm up. There we had a lovely surprise: free waffles and ice cream from their trial menu 🧇.

What a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday!