In every job that must be done, GoodGym-ers can find a pun...you find the pun, and Snap! The job's a game. 🎶

8 GoodGym-ers met outside Charlton station this morning for today's task, collecting a huge amount of litter from a particularly messy area of Charlton, involving, of course, our favourite game of matching puns, this time with a musical twist. (I will try to avoid any Eggs-rated lyrics!) We started with a (bicycle) Chain Reaction, disposed of plenty of Cigarettes & Alcohol, crisp bags & coffee cups (someone's not drinking their Black Coffee in Bed).  Making our way up the Mull of Charlton Tyre, we were (coat) Hangin' Tough, piling American Pie boxes & Sweet like Chocolate wrappers into those bags. Ah, Shoe Make me feel Mighty Real...!

Time, in this case, was not On Our Side, so after getting a Photograph of You (and all the rubbish bags - 11 including 4 of recycling!) the task we did undertake, did become a piece of cake (and coffee, for a team debrief).

Thanks all, you must be some kind of Superstars!

3 Goodgymers turned out to this litter-pick-turned-tree-planting session with the friends of Hornfair park. The task was to plant hawthorn, crabapple, dog rose, dogwood and hazel into a nice hedge. After some confusion about the what trees goes where, they were laid out, 30 cm apart, and we started digging holes to put them in. Most holes were dug out easily, others reached rock bottom. But when the hour was up we had planted, fertilised and watered a long line of trees, all ready to enjoy the spring sunshine, whenever that arrives ☀️

Throughout we were also watched by a four-legged furry feline friend 🐈‍⬛

A misty March evening took 12 GoodGym-ers to St Richard's Community Church in Charlton for this evening's group run.

After a welcome & ice-breaker discussing the one food we'd eat forever, it was on to tonight's various tasks. Some of us headed off to do some litterpicking, others bagged up some heaps of cardboard mush left over from the woodchip pathway project, and others continued our ever-present battle with the weeds in the back yard. The vegetation heap was looking a little higher by the time we gathered round for a group photo & farewells.

A big welcome to Naomi on your first task! Thanks all & see you soon 😊

Eleven Goodgymers came along to tonight's task for our 9th birthday. What a great turnout!

We were back at Box3Education, helping transform their unit in Bexleyheath Mall into a community space. Walking through the closed mall to get there was a little surreal!

Professor Levi met us and we soon got started with painting metal shelving units, and there was a lot of them!

We got stuck in with brushes and rollers, being super careful not to get paint on the nice floor. (Thankfully there were industrial wipes available to mop up drips!). While we worked there was lots of talking and banter, with a few jokes and hot drinks thrown in!

I noticed some black paint on my GoodGym top... I only had my-shelf to blame!

The session flew by and it was time to wash the painting gear and make our way out of the mall.

We then headed to the nearby Wetherspoons where Lisa and Graham had secured a large table for us.

The evening continued with food, drinks and more chatter, plus a chocolate Connie Caterpillar cake complete with candles and a rendition of 'Happy Birthday To Us'! Nine years of doing good and social fitness in Bexley - that's a brilliant milestone!

A great night was had by all, thanks for coming everyone. Here's to the next year!

The days are gradually getting longer and we were super lucky with a nice mild Wednesday evening for tonight's task. After a quick warm up and exchange of our favourite things about spring (cue lighter nights & pretty flowers) outside Woolwich station, 1 2 goodgymers made their way uphill, walking, running and cycling, to Dee's Childcare, one of our regular task locations, where adventures awaited us in the huge outdoor space.

Past tasks have involved everything from hanging Christmas decorations to constructing mini-roundabouts, slides and stages. Today's task started with the perfect puzzle being sprung on us: deconstruction of a damaged trampoline & install of a replacement. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the pieces simply did not fit together well enough, so plan b involved making the area safer with boards & barriers to block the pit. (watch this space for future tasks once new parts arrive!) There was also time for some wedding (oh no sorry, let's blame autocorrect: weeding... but one ring at a time here...) and sweeping amongst the borders made up of recycled plastic bottles.

A swift downhill run and a ten minute interval training challenge completed our session. A very warm welcome to Vicky on your first task- lovely to have you with us! Thanks all & see you soon 😊

Next week we've got some outside jobs at St Richards. This weekend Bexley have their 9th birthday celebration and task, gardenjng at the hospice on Saturday and on sunday we have westcombe woodlands. And all the usual parkruns of course!