Ending the Bank Holiday on a High (bury Quadrant Gardens...)
6 Goodgymers helped their local community in Islington
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Monday 28th August 2023
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Report written by Simon Fitzmaurice
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Area Activator Simon caught up with 5 Goodgym runners tonight (including first time attendee Mia- welcome!) for our special Bank Holiday trip to the beautiful Highbury Quadrant Gardens estate. Half of our team had actually attended another Goodgym Islington task yesterday at Penn Road Gardens- a nice recap for this particular can be read here: https://www.goodgym.org/reports/penn-road-is-o-penn-to-all
After a short warm up on the Arsenal Stadium slopes, our crew ran approximately 1.2 miles via Highbury Hill and Riverdale Road to arrive at Highbury Quadrant Gardens - a hidden idyll located near Clissold Park. Following instructions left by Frannie and the awesome folks at Octopus Community Network, we gathered up rakes, brooms, secateurs, leaf grabbers and bags and proceeded to The Orchard and Woodland Gardens.
Our task for the evening was to give the whole community garden area a really good sweep and to tidy up any overgrown bushes, plants and vines infiltrating the public areas of the estate. Emily and Caitlin collaborated with sweeping and leaf grabbing, and did a smashing job! John and Ines also cracked on with very efficient sweeping and gathering, while Mia donned some strong gloves and snipped away at all of the unsightly vines and brambles surrounding the gardens.
Within 45 minutes of graft, we had really made some great progress with fixing up these beautiful community gardens (while being watched by fox cubs in the neighbouring gardens!). Well done everyone!
Goodgym Islington News
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Achilles International VI Guiding Sessions- Emirates Stadium
Thursday 31st August, 6pm, Arsenal Tube Station
Achilles International are an amazing organisation who link guide with blind and particially sighted runners, and they are looking for potential guides for future training sessions.
Goodgym (and parkrun) communities have been very supportive of this team over the years, so we are looking to see if we can introduce more runners to the world of guiding.
Over the Winter months, Achilles International will be hosting fortnightly running sessions around the floodlit forecourt of Emirates Stadium, Islington. Every other week, we will train at Paddington Rec Track.
SEPTEMBER SOCIAL- Medal Monday at Victoria Tavern, Holloway Road
Monday 4th September, 8.45pm, Victoria Tavern, Holloway Road
Come and join us for delicious £7 pizzas and refreshments at The Victoria Tavern, to celebrate our achievements over Summer (especially to those racing at The Big Half!)
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/september-social-medal-monday-at-victoria-tavern
Penn Road Gardens Community Park Party!
Saturday 9th September, 2pm - 5pm, Penn Road Gardens
A lovely get together, hosted by the residents of Penn Road Gardens, one of our most popular local task owners!
Expect the following:
Live Swing Dancing Classes!
Stalls and activities
Live music
Quiz and prizes
Food and refreshments with the neighbourhood!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/party-in-the-park-penn-road-gardens
THE BIG LONDON SOCIAL!
GoodGym London Monthly Social (GG Camden), Thursday 14th September, TBC
The first (of hopefully many) monthly drinks in London. Come and meet other GoodGymers and toast each others achievements. We'll be celebrating those on the Heroes Board from August and maybe even deciding which recent puns are worthy of accolade. The venue is TBC but will be somewhere fairly central with good transport links.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-london-monthly-social
Compton Terrace Gardens Volunteer Open Morning - September
Saturday 16th September, 10am - 1pm, Union Chapel
From the Friends of Compton Terrace Gardens:
A friendly gardening group started to look after the park about 10 years ago. We are always looking for more help - with planting, mulching, pruning, and all the other things a garden needs.
Everyone welcome, no special skills needed! Lots of fresh air and a nice chance to meet local people. We meet once a month on a Saturday morning near the shed in the middle of the Gardens.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/compton-terrace-gardens-volunteer-open-morning-september
Crouch End Open Space (CREOS) Volunteering Day (September 2023)
Sunday 17th September, 11am - 1pm, CREOS meadow or Hanley Tennis Club car park
Join us as we help the team at CREOS, a local conservation charity, maintain and improve a lovely green oasis in Crouch End.
CREOS looks after the meadows and wooded pathways of the Crouch End Open Space. GoodGym runners have been helping them maintain this beautiful patch of land for a while now, and the CREOS team always has lots for us to do.
This month, the CREOS team are planning on playing down a load of hoggin (a mix of hardy sand, clay and gravel aggregate) for new paths along the forest walking routes. It will be a big job, so we can use as many hands as possible!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-september-2023
GG Race Team- Met League Hill Training Sessions!
Friday 29th September, 6.30pm, The Pembroke Castle, Camden
Goodgym Cross Country is back! We will be returning to the Met League in 2023 and 2024!
If you have never tried cross country, it is amazing muddy fun. A definite challenge, but accessible to all who want to give it a go, and are part of a UKA affiliated team (like the Goodgym Race Team).
To coincide with the events, Area Activator Simon Fitzmaurice (who is a UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness or CiRF for short) will be hosting a series of hill interval training sessions at Primrose Hill over the Autumn and Winter months.
The Pembroke Castle, 150 Gloucester Ave., London NW1 8JA, and we will run to Primrose Hill together to start our session.
September https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-september
October https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-october
November https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-november
January https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-january
February https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-february
This task supported
Octopus Community Network is a collaboration between the largest multi-purpose community centres in Islington
We run lots of projects including 'We Can Grow' which encourages food growing on housing estates around Islington as well as engaging with residents to increase environmental literacy and access to outdoor spaces.
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Islington
Friday morning drop-in community gardening sessions with The Garden Classroom
