After a week of Water (loo) falling from the sky, we were grateful for a calm, dry day today, when Love Shined a Light on 5 goodgym-ers, meeting the Friends of Charlton Pet Cemetery for a multitude of tasks. Eins...Zwei...Drei...Go 🎵

One Step In rather than Out of Time, one group used scaper tools to clean the borders between the paving slabs, while others followed, sweeping away lots of dust & general debris. The high-powered hedge trimmer singing its Lonely Synphony created swathes of foliage for us to clear away too, giving Edward Scissorhands a run for his money!

Our final task involved cleaning the stones set into the pathways, commemorating the much loved and missed 4-legged friends remembered in the Cemetery. The impact was immediately noticeable, making the inscriptions much clearer after a good scrub and hose down. A reminder that You're Not Alone.

Photo time, and time for us Children of the Universe to move on, after a great community mission. In hectic weekend of cup finals & song contests, it's Just a Little Bit refreshing to be involved with tasks like these. Thank you all until next time! 😊

10 goodgym-ers met for tonight's task at Woolwich Crossrail, and after a hop, skip, & an ice-breaker discussing favourite toys, made our way uphill to one of our regular venues,  Dee's Childcare. We'd hedged our bets on what tasks awaited us, often presented with garden toy-making adventures of our own at this nursery with a fantastic outdoor space.

Once there, while one group got on with weeding the crop- growing beds in the back garden, team Hedge embraced their inner beauticians,  clipping away at a massive hedge growing on on side of the front driveway which had become overgrown & blocking the natural light to the front of the building. Defoliage-ation indeed!

Bags & green bins full of greenery for recycling, we all finished the task in a much better Hedge space.

Welcome to GoodGym Greenwich to Hope and Kevin!  Thanks all & see you soon 😊 

Run report by Sarah M

6 GoodGym-ers gathered at Maryon Park Community Garden on this gloriously sunny May morning for today's task.

After a quick catch up, Tim & Edna briefed us on our tasks for the day: (syca) more weeding, in various areas around the garden, "turning" the contents of one of the compost bins, and pruning away some plant overgrowth affecting the fences on one the side of the area. 

Shovels, Spades, gloves and hedge trimmers at the ready, we got to work & with the encouragement of a family of red red Robins bobbing along.

A constructive hour or so passed, several trugs of weeds were added to the newly turned, rather fragrant compost bin, and we were rewarded with a very welcome tea break ☕️

Thanks all & have a great rest of the weekend! 

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 ☀️