The rain thunder-plumped on London yesterday afternoon. So much, that I had to turn up the volume on my ‘Rain Sounds’ playlist to drown out the falling cats and dogs. But as I emerged out of Woolwich Crossrail’s (admittedly gorgeous) aluminium-façade-fronted station, I was welcomed into a pretty-perfect Autumn evening, just as the sun was starting to drop.

And that was where us GoodGymmers gathered. We caught up and broke our own ice (as run leader, Sara, suggested), and it felt lovely to be up and chatting after a day of increasing the volume on my ‘Rain Sounds’ playlist. Then we started. Sara welcomed two familiar newcomers to the group, Rhiannon and Zeb (welcome both, really awesome to see you last night!), and then told us the bad news – the task was situated up a very long hill, far away, and hopefully we’d each brought provisions and camping equipment. Dazed by this announcement, we introduced ourselves to the group, and we each answered a question – do we check the weather forecast in the morning? Well, turns out, nah. Some actually appeared anti-weather-forecasting due to their (alleged) unreliability, and others actively checked the weather forecast whilst already outside to essentially libel the Met Office, calling them out for false truths…

After that, we had a quick warmup on the greens around Woolwich Crossrail’s station, and then we headed off, through the throng of commuters. A few of us (Alex, Andy, Sarah, Rhiannon, Zeb, and me) got separated, probably still thinking about the deceitful weather forecasts, and then we found the others who were waiting, probably wondering where we’d gotten to (and also, whether it really was going to rain). And then we plodded collectively as a group, upwards. And up. Higher. A little more. Even further. Not there yet. Some more. At altitude. Dizzy. Low oxygen. Above the moon. Out of orbit. Still not there…

And then we made it, all of us collapsing through the doorway of the very impressive Shrewsbury House, a gorgeous grade II listed early 20th Century building that functions as a community centre for the surrounding population around Shooter’s Hill and Plumstead Common. There, we were given brooms and a hoover, and several started to sweep the foyer and the stairs, and even up the stairs, and all over. Whilst others of us, waiting for dusters and cloths to arrive, took a stroll outside looking for litter. Which we didn’t find much of because Shrewsbury House runs a tight and tidy ship.

But in the garden, in the dark, with headtorches alight, we looked, most of us agreed, like a team of swat burglars. Of course, the temptation to descend from wires through the air vents was strong and we had to hold Alex back from storming through the great windows… And then we (and those sitting just inside the windows) were saved by shouts from Sara: ‘the cloths are here!’ We jaunted back and started to dust, dust, dust the walls, and the banisters, and the staircase, and above and around doorframes. And this allowed us to move around the house, where we saw the busy buzz of activity that goes on here, with some enjoying yoga classes, others playing musical instruments, and many just chilling in the great rooms, enjoying each other’s company, and perhaps also enjoying the sight of us swat cleaners, making our way round the place in search of dust.

Then, the house spick and span, we aligned ourselves along the staircase (with great difficulty) for a photo, and we headed into the night. Alex and I left the group there to catch a bus back down Shooter’s Hill, whilst the others jogged back to Woolwich, this time down the hill, the hard work already done. Thanks for a lovely evening all!

Thank you for the report Steve! If you'd like to join our group chat on whatsapp - let me know and I can share the link. See you all soon for some more good deeds in Greenwich.