24 AWESOME runners ran 3k to help out at Christchurch School Garden!

Firstly, I cannot go any further without admitting sin; yes, ladies and gentlemen of GoodGym Greenwich, I am a thief, a taker of things that are not rightly mine. What’s this? You all collectively shout! Yes indeed, what has been said is true; whilst a thief, I am not a liar. Today’s incredibly punny title was not of my original thought, but that of GoodGym Matt’s. For this, I rightly award 2 good deeds to Matt; a great hoorah all around, I think you’ll agree!

Sadly, I do not have the authority to apply these bonus good deeds, and so these are merely words. But, don’t forget, words can change lives in an instant and say a thousand things with but a look.

And so, we move swiftly onto the run and task. We all gathered on this balmy February evening (thanks to climate change) and welcomed two new runners to GoodGym Greenwich, first timer Jen and Tower Hamlets good-deeder Dave. Welcome to the crew you two, hope you had a good run with us!

Our run leader, Sarah, then began proceedings by asking everyone to introduce themselves to the group whilst saying their favourite colour. Unfortunately for GoodGym HQ, ‘red’ was not the only colour mentioned, with ‘turquoise’, ‘blue’, and ‘yellow’ all getting their 2 seconds of fame. Sarah, sadly, said her favourite colour was ‘grey’, which perked us all up a treat. Even as a bonafide red-green colour blindness sufferer, I’m glad that GoodGym didn’t choose ‘grey’ as their brand colour.

We then dropped our bags off and headed over to Christchurch School which is full of vegetable patches, a learning-Gazebo, and plenty of fresh green space. On a side note, it’s wonderful to see a purpose made green space for children to enjoy right in the heart of grey (Sarah!), smoggy London – keep up the amazing work Christchurch School!

Before we could get cracking, we were led over to a gaping hole in the ground and were briefed on the evening’s to-do list. The hole, it transpired, was a pond which needed some further muscle power to dig to the required depth; classic GoodGym Greenwich fodder. Other tasks included wheel-barrowing sand over to said pond which was to be laid as a foundation underneath the tarpaulin, moving spiky American plants, removing old plant boxes, and a general spattering of flower pot watering and any necessary litter-picking.

Not needing telling twice, the group disassembled and got to it. Alongside Matt and Marta, I helped to transport sand to the ever-deepening pond. I can only wonder what this motley crew of runners looked like from the road, quickly digging their way down into a hole in the ground. Maybe, Time Team meets Grandstand, or rather, a very special edition of Bob the Builder: Can we dig it? Yes we can!

In really no time at all, the sand was put down with Gareth making sure that it was good to go, and the tarpaulin added with Pieter leading the way. Alongside this, other good-deeders rushed about the garden making sure that it was in tip top shape. In fact, we were so efficient that Ben took a few of us out for an extended run, leaving the remaining few to finish up the pond.

We then re-assembled at the Naval Colleges for a final set of stretches before saying our goodbyes and stealing each other’s puns.

Brilliantly wonderful work tonight everyone, your work made a huge difference to the garden, which is fast becoming one of our go-to places to help out and maintain. See you all next week you lovely lot!