On Monday evening, 4 Goodgymmers ran down to the Arsenal Community Hub for our first official winter time group run. Area Activator Simon, Alfie, Victoria and Annikki (on her 2nd task- welcome!) performed a warm up on the Benwell Road slope (up towards the Emirates Stadium), before setting off on a really pleasant social run through Highbury Fields and Canonbury. On the way, we spotted leftover Halloween pumpkins (or "Jack-o'-lanterns" as Victoria refers to them!) and the first Christmas lights up on display. Our destination (after 1.5 miles running) was the Rose Bowl Youth Centre, where we caught up with the lovely Dawn, the local volunteer coordinator.

3 main activities were available for us this time. Group 1 (Victoria and Annikki) helped with cutting out some over grown tree branches around the entrance of the centre, using saws and long clippers. Our intention was to keep the twigs from scratching visitors on their way onto the property. The branches were then chopped down into really small clippings, for Islington Council to safely remove later in the week.

Group 2 (Paul and Anne) picked up brushes and sweepers, and set their targets on clearing almost all of the fallen leaves off the main playground area, where youth groups and local clubs frequently play. The plan was to reduce the potential for slipping hazards where possible, and our duo did a smashing job over course of 45 minutes.

Alfie volunteered to help with a classic moving and shifting task, which involved taking a full room of donated food bank supplies from one location, and over to a safe storage cupboard. Lots of canned goods and non-perishable items in large quantities- quite a workout! Some of these supplies also needed to be stock rotated too, arranged by expiration date, and discarded where necessary.

We finished our evening with another jog back to Drayton Park (a slight variation on our original route), and a few of us enjoyed some refreshments at the Highbury Library bar for our monthly group social. Great job everyone!

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Market Road Gardens Open Day

This Saturday (6th November), Octopus Community Network have invited the Goodgym Islington crew to attend their open permaculture gardening day at Market Road Gardens. This has been a long running GG Islington task, and a great opportunity to meet local resident gardeners and volunteers!

Meeting at 11.30am at the gates of Market Road Gardens.

Perfectly timed to coordinate with a 9am parkrun in Finsbury Park or Hampstead Heath?

https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/market-road-gardens-open-day-november