Wednesday 9th August 2023
Report written by Sam Lefevre (he/him)
It was a trip back to Galleywall Nature Reserve again, that's twice in a row as Alan, Eddie and Jane needed our help to clear the site as they make headway on the re-development project. Yet, before all that, all the GoodGym runners met at Old Spike and this time, we had a newbie: Elena who came early to meet Sam and discuss all things GoodGym. As the minutes passed by, Steve, Nathan, Nelly, Lindy and then Louise entered the cafe as Sam started his GG intro speech ensuring he did the full speech due to a newbie joining the ranks.
After Sam delivered his intro speech, they made their way onto the Green for their warm-up, but Sam prepared them in advance for tonight's ice-breaker question, which was: This week is National Afternoon Tea week, what is your go-to tea? Also, today is National Day of Singapore, do you have a favourite thing about the country?
Louise, Nelly and Sam were the only ones that have visited Singapore and they all said the same things - the food, architecture and cleanliness - makes Singapore. As for the tea question, people said chamomile, English breakfast tea (with oat milk), green tea, mint tea and berry tea.
80s tunes whilst demolishing
Running a slightly more direct route compared to last week, we ran through Rye Lane into the Surrey Canal Walk and across Old Kent Road to get to Galleywall Nature Reserve. This week, we arrived on time and met Magda at the site as Vic arrived with us. Later, David and Tim came by walking and cycling in, respectively.
At the site, we had one main priority - to demolish the old shed. Alan needed two people with him, so Steve and Tim took on these roles as they used crowbars and mallets to knock down the old wooden planks off the beams they were attached as Elena, Lindy and Nelly transported these wooden planks to David, Louise and Nathan's team who were taking the nails off the planks to make them safe and worthy of the makeshift skip we were creating.
In the meantime, Magda and Vic were digging up soil for the new shed's first step.
Powering through the tasks, the minutes went by with the assistance of some powerful 80s ballads, but as the time hit 19:55, we had to call it a day as the run back would take at least 20 minutes.
We took our group photo and said our goodbyes to Alan, Eddie and Jane as well as any departing GoodGymers including newbie, Elena!
It was a struggle to run on the way back as most of us were tired from the tasks at Galleywall Nature Reserve, but we pushed all the way until the end! Well done team!
Thank You to all the GG-ers
A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Another long run to and from Peckham with some heavy duty work knocking down the old shed, taking apart the shed and lifting / shifting the wooden planks. It is a bit of a hefty job, but we're always up for it!
Also, a thank you to Lindy and Louise for backmarking the runs.
Thank You to Alan, Eddie and Jane
GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Alan, Eddie and Jane for hosting us a second week in a row as we come closer to the end of this re-development project. That is us until the end of September, when we'll be back.
The Galleywall Nature Reserve is a small plot of land which has been owned by Southwark Housing for decades. It was used by the adjacent Galleywall School for some time before the school closed. It has been maintained by a group of volunteers, the Friends of Galleywall Nature Reserve, since 2004, under an ongoing long-term agreement with the council.
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