10 GoodGymers completed the final winter shelter shift of the season!

We've been helping build beds and set up dining rooms at the American International Church's Winter Shelter since November, and this week we arrived for our final shift of the season!

And we had a wonderful group for the task 👉 Caitlin, Charlie, Denzel (on their first GoodGym task — welcome!), Emily, Ivar (on tour from Greenwich — great to see you!), Paul, Steve, and Thierry !!

Having been welcomed by our fabulous host (and fellow GoodGymer!), Brooke, our experienced crew knew exactly what to do, and together (and with ease!) they:

❤️ Assembled, positioned, and dressed 11 beds ready and waiting for the evening's guests

❤️ Set 20 spaces for a (delicious-smelling) volunteer-cooked dinner

❤️ Did everything while connecting and chatting aplenty :)

Thank you, everyone! We will be back in the autumn!

Met the local celebrity enforcer, Snoops the dog, clearly the head of garden security. He gave me the official sniff-approval (no tail-wagging bribes required). Solid paws-up from the top brass.

Armed with a spade and questionable digging technique, I successfully excavated 10 perfectly imperfect holes along the wall. These bad boys are now ready for their leafy occupants to move in and start photosynthesizing like bosses. The wall didn't stand a chance — it's officially on the path to becoming way more vertical jungle than vertical concrete. Feeling dirty, accomplished, and slightly watched by a very serious dog the whole time. 10/10 would dig again.

Thanks to the Hoxton Gardens crew for the good vibes and the workout. Green thumbs and PAW’s up!

3 GoodGymers joined volunteers from Olden Community Garden yesterday in their mission to clear the orchard of a pesky invasive species - the dreaded (but very tasty) Three Cornered Leek.

Olden Community Garden is a 2 acre haven nested by the railtracks next to the Emirates Stadium.

The ground around their sunny orchard is covered in this invasive plant, spreading thickly across the ground like, well, a weed, smothering any other life that tries to grow there.

So on Saturday a group - including none other than GoodGym fan and actor Rob Delaney - gathered to convert this pesky weed into tasty pesto. It was a full team effort, with a production line consisting of:

The Weeders: digging up the Three Cornered Leeks with forks and trowels, separating their bulbs into one bucket, their leaves and flowers into another. The Washers: washing the leaves in buckets of icy cold water, separating any stray twigs, roots, or other leaves. The Dryers: drying the leaves out in a salad spinner, and doing one final sift for stray or dead leaves. The Sous-Chefs: blending up the leaves with parmesan, walnuts, olive oil, and seasoning to make a delicious pesto. The Chefs: cooking up hearty bowls of gnocci and slices of chunky Dusty Knuckle bread to be served with our fresh-from-field pesto.

No GoodGymer went hungry. We all got to take home a jar of pesto at the end of the day, and a bag of leaves to make some more. The Three Cornered Leek bulbs will be collected by Islington Council as it's an offence to knowingly let them out into the wild.

The community spirit was bubbling over, with all generations mucking in together. But despite a huge team effort, there is still so much more ground to clear. So we'll be returning for a group run on Monday evening - do join us!