10 GoodGymers made their way to The Prince Phillip Maritime Centre in Kidbooke for tonight's task, daydreaming of favourite holiday destinations as the sun started its daily descent.

A mixture of tasks awaited us, starting off with adventures in DIY, putting together a potting bench and a shelving unit for the greenhouse. Divided into two teams, we gave TV gameshows a run for their money in a race to be the first to complete their structure (obviously ensuring thoroughly stable and well-connected results).

Out to the garden now, where we put the newly built equipment into place and gave the recently potted seedlings a sprinkle of water. The centre's herb garden is looking in Mint condition 🌱 and hopefully will be joined by the various plants from the greenhouse once they're strong enough.

A spring task isn't complete without a little gardening, so while some got on with some wedding & watering the raised beds, others in the team made a start on our final piece of Arch-itecture. Time, however, was as ever our Arch Enemy, and whilst we made a great start on this last building task, completion is delayed until our next task at this venue. As a wise man once said, 2 out 3 ain't bad (and we definitely managed 2 and a half...!)

Great to see everyone & thank you all! 😊

7 GoodGym-ers met Liz and the team today at a new Community Mission venue, The Pet Cemetery on Shooters Hill, by the Charlton Lido & Hornfair Park. Our mission was a very long way from a Stephen King movie though, with a lovely spring sun shining down on us.

The venue has lots of history, part of Charlton Village Conservation Area. Originally the Blue Cross Quarantine Kennels at Shooters Hill, the site was acquired to house the dogs being brought back home by returning soldiers and families after the first world war. Nowadays, it's looked after by the Friends of the Pet Cemetery,  who work to maintain this as a tranquil space and respectful memorial to the 4-pawed friends buried there.

Lots of volunteers meant we got plenty of tasks completed, including removal of a huge number of Sycamore seedlings, which we were assured would have turned the area into a Sycamore forest if given the chance. Along with this was weeding the beds around the edges to give the flowers more space to thrive, cleaning the wall plaques, sweeping away debris from the tall trees around, and clearing tiny plant growth from between the paving slabs. 

Helped along by a 4 pawed friend, Otis the cockapoo, we were soon out of time but could see we'd made an impact. Thanks all & Have a great weekend ☀️

Wow! A record 16 litterpickers turned out for Clean Up Charlton's monthly pick... with 9 GoodGymers included. Our 16 bags of rubbish were a bit lighter than usual as they seemed to be half full of cigarette ends - maybe the stress of a 2:1 loss for Charlton Athletic yesterday? And Ivar was on shocking form as you can see...

With such a big group we powered round Anchor & (no) Hope Lane, Bugsby's Way (plenty of MacDonald's litter there) and Woolwich Road before meeting at M&S for the usual celebratory coffee. Today, the team was really the perfect blend.

Here's a great joke from one of our sparky junior litterpickers: "What did the egg say to me when I told it a joke?" ..... wait for it.... "You crack me up!". He's got a future as a GoodGym report writer!

Thanks team for making SE7 a lot nicer. Love you a latte.

Presenting this year's Easter Parade - Good-gym style!

12 GoodGym-ers met on a changeable Easter Saturday morning, some travelling from Park run to Bark run, for our Community Mission today at the lovely Maryon Park Community Garden.

We were met by Tim & Edna, as well as a veritable mountain of freshly delivered woodchip, which our task today was built around. The woodchip had to be moved uphill from the entrance to the Forest School area beyond the food growing plots.

Cue lots of teamwork and with shovels at the ready we were soon loading up wheelbarrows and relaying them up the hill to where more of the team were waiting with rakes to smooth over the woodchip in the Forest School.

After half an hour we'd already made a huge dent in the pile, getting it down to a definite hill, at which point resident beetle Ringo decided to make his objections known. Regrettably, Ringo did have to be re-housed, but is hopefully settling nicely in his new woodland home.

Soon the hill became a few scraps & it was time to sweep up the last few flakes, down tools and partake in a much appreciated cuppa ☕️

A very warm welcome to Mayuri on your first task.

Thanks all & see you soon 😊