London's community half marathon went red this year! 🔥

A huge congratulations to the oodles of GoodGym folk who caught well-earned happy mornings under a hot-hot-hot late summer sun ☺️

It was the biggest joy seeing you all!

Please send me your photos (!) and I will pop them up here (alexmurtough@goodgym.org) ❤️

Helping to clear spaces ahead of the harvest festival next weekend

Another summer of keeping on top of the weeds at Luxmore Gardens! This week we had a bumper group of 13 of us ready to tackle the weeds or was it the fact Vic had said she was being a dog!!

Welcome Aisha to your first group run, hope you enjoyed it and we'll see you back soon!

As I'm still not able to run, Paul led the group up the hill to Luxmore Garden. There were rumours of did I walk or get the bus....I walked! And it was perfect timing for us all to arrive together and see what was in store for us.

What was in store was digging up the remaining weeds and the alkinet. As always we debated what was grass we could dig up and what was ornamental grass. Maybe next summer we'll find the answer to that.

Next week we're heading to Deptford to hand out flyers for over 60's dance classes and then heading for some food and drinks in Deptford after to celebrate the big half and recent birthdays! You'll only need to run one way or we could walk together.

Now enjoy lots of pictures of us with Wilfred!

Helping weed some of the overgrown beds at Florence Green

Helping weed some of the overgrown beds at Florence Green

Pruning & Positivity at Mycenae Gardens

This morning a bright bunch of GoodGymmers swapped dumbbells for hedge-trimmers and headed to Mycenae Gardens to give the greenery a good tidy-up. We welcomed Loren to her first session and hope it will be the first of many.

The Dream Team 🌿 • Julian: Our resident hedge fund manager (of the leafy kind), expertly snipping back branches with precision. • Marta: Proved she’s a cut above the rest, mastering the art of pruning with flair. • Vic: Got stuck into the shrubs, proving that many hands make light plant work. - Kerry made it in to those hard to reach spots pruning .

What We Did 🌳 • Pruned back wayward growth so the gardens could breathe again. • Collected up trimmings and left things looking tidy enough for a rake-over.

Final Flourish ✨

The team left Mycenae Gardens blooming with beauty and buzzing with good energy.

We had a brilliant morning at St Richard’s, so absorbed in the tasks at hand that we ended up spending an extra hour finishing our jobs.

A big welcome to Bianca, who joined us for her first GoodGym session – and what a start! She tackled the ivy in the back garden with great enthusiasm, leaving it looking much neater and tidier, just look at the before and after pics. 💪

Meanwhile, Cat and Arthur got stuck into some serious weeding, helping clear the garden of weeds and lopping off the growth round the bottom of the trees. Over at the front door, Ivar and Vic took on the job of sanding it down, prepping it for a much-needed refresh. Once smooth, Vic and I gave it a fresh coat of varnish, with some very important assistance from Arthur – a true team effort!

By the end of the session, the garden was looking clean, weed-free, and litter-free, and the front door had been transformed.

A morning well spent, made even better by a well-earned cup of tea to wrap things up (thank you Rick!) Thanks everyone for your energy and teamwork – see you at the next one!

Next wednesday we've got gardening at Hervey Road . Next Saturday we're back at Mycenae Gardens to help with more weeding.

Until next time 😊

Rachel