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 😊

9 GoodGym-ers made their way from various start points between Charlton & Woolwich, along the river at Woolwich, to the outskirts of a retail estate in Plumstead, where fast food, a major roundabout, and several pedestrian/cycle interchanges have contributed to a huge build up of rubbish.

Our task might not have been as exciting as this morning's Lunar Litterpick, but adventures were to be had as we got to see the best & worst of the area, passing through local parks along the way.

Joined by other volunteers, we hastily got to work gathering the usual bottles, cans, coffee cups, masks, water bottles, chocolate wrappers & papers into bags. Some of this involved hedge battles to rescue the captive litter, which in general I think we won, with many bags of waste & recyclables to show for it.

Time made April Fools of us all, and soon darkness was announcing the end of today's task. A final workout taking lots of full rubbish bags to the bins around the corner and we headed our separate ways.

Until next time!

Every day brings a bit more light into our lives this time of year, so evening was only just falling when 13 GoodGymers met in Woolwich for an uphill run to one of our regular task venues, Glyndon Community Centre.

Our tasks this evening included making a dent in the sorting project of the centre's big shed. We found several bags of clothing left over from previous donations, which meant an impromptu adventure to the nearby clothing recycling bank. ♻️ (Big thanks to new recruit Laura and her local area knowledge for showing us where to find this!) Other team members did some moonlit foraging for weeds in the back garden area, something I'm sure we'll be doing on a more regular basis as spring approaches. (Get those Glove puns ready). Some litterpicking & sweeping of the car park concluded our mission for the day.

Job done, it was downhill all the way for a quick intervals training session & au revoir, and very warm welcome to GoodGym Greenwich, to newcomers Hashir and Laura!

*Coming up *

Saturday 21st March: Gardening at Oxleas Woods

Sunday 22nd March: Painting at Windrush Primary School

Wednesday 25th March: Inclusive fitness session

Until next time! 👋🏼

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!