6 GoodGymers caught the autumn sun and emptied a compost heap!

Nestled in a (large) nook in Chalk Farm sits Adelaide Community Garden. It is huge and wild, and home to a lovely number of carefully nurtured allotments.

This special group – of Caitlin, Helen, Igor (on their first GoodGym trip to Camden – welcome!), Imogen, and Steve – made a wonderful difference yesterday morning.

Amidst conversation and autumn sun, they worked in pairs to dig out the compost heap 👉 wheelbarrow the mulch through the allotments 👉 carefully dispense everything into manageable sacks 👉 and build a stack of bags ready for use on the allotments :)

I know that everything will be put to excellent use very soon – thank you so much, everyone!

4 GoodGymers braved the night and cleared a mountain of weeds!

This lovely group – of Alison, Lydia, Steve, and Alex – arrived at Willingham Terrace Estate in the midst of dusk.

This is a usual and regular haunt of ours and Hilda – our lovely task owner – swiftly got us set up with rakes, hoes, forks, and trowels.

Our target for the evening was stretch of hedgerow that has been competing – poorly... – with thistles and weeds and litter.

Not that they were a match for this group. After 60-minutes of conversation-laden digging and pulling, the stretch was once again clear for the hedgerow to thrive :)

Thank you, everyone!!

8 GoodGymers caught the sunset at a woodland garden in Camden!

This wonderful group – Alison, Deirdre (on their first Camden visit – welcome!), Emilie, Imogen, Lydia, Siobhan, and Steve – visited St Paul's Woodland Garden by Camden Square yesterday.

Just a short hop from where Amy Winehouse once lived this special space is a haven for nature and community.

Catherine – our task host – is part of the brilliant Green City Projects team, and they use this space to support people living with mental health difficulties. It was a joy to be there :)

In the race against the dying daylight, everyone kicked swiftly into good-deeding action last night!

The first task was to move a giant pile of bags filled with something called 'hoggin', which Google tells me is a self-binding mixture of clay, sand, and gravel that creates a firm, attractive, and permeable surface, and which I can confirm is very very very heavy!

Not that was a match for this group's muscles, who moved 30+ sacks to a variety of corners in this woodland space :)

Having completed the shifting and the heaving much quicker than anticipated, everyone moved quickly to emptying the 'hoggin', and it really did create firm, attractive, and permeable surfaces!

Thank you so much, everyone! You did a huge and wonderful amount!

6 GoodGymers enjoyed the sunset hour last night!

We started in the sun and ended in the dusk, and we made a healthy difference along the way 😊

A happy trio – Lilan, Steve, and Alex – kicked open the evening with a conversation-filled (books, misinformation, moral panics..!) run to Kentish Town.

Where they met another happy trio – Alison, John, and Lydia – who’d each arrived by foot from different corners of Camden.

Our home for the evening was Cressfield Close Sheltered Housing, where a special community lives and a beautiful garden grows.

Alison and Lydia got to green-fingered business in a flash, taking tools and bags to a garden (belonging to a very kind resident) that needed a proper trim. And trim it they did. Three bags and 60 minutes later, everything looked spacious again.

Meanwhile, Lilan, John, and Steve joined the Ivy League. This creeper had wrapped itself around a wall, a tree, and a resident’s garden. Not that it could match the skills of this hard-working troupe 😊

Thank you, everyone! You all did a huge amount! Here’s to next time!

8 GoodGymers made a wonderful difference in Central London

London is an especially bustle-y city and it is especially especially bustle-y during the rushing hours.

But it is also a city rich with quiet — gentle — calm spaces, such as the American International Church on Tottenham Court Road.

Although... that's true only when the Stranger Things Musical cast aren't using the AIC to practice their screams and yells and best impressions of the Demogorgon...

...which were our welcoming sounds yesterday evening!!

Not that this affected our especially brilliant crew – Brooke (our lovely host!), Emilie, Imogen, Jackie, John, Lilan (on their first good deed – welcome!!), and Steve – who got down to good-deeding business in a flash!

❤️ Emilie, Jackie, and John focused on the lower garden 👉 they pulled weeds, laid fresh gravel, rearranged a greenhouse, and collected all strewn litter!

❤️ Imogen, Lilan, and Steve headed to the upper garden 👉 they planted fresh seed pots, laid fresh compost, and gave new life to flower-filled planters!

❤️ And Brooke coordinated and organised the whole thing — thank you!

Here's to next time, folks!