After parkrun this morning, we headed to help Bexley Bike Club with their free children's BMX session.

While Johnny swept the colourful autumn leaves from the skills area, I registered the children and ran through bike safety checks with them.

Once the coaches had the children riding around, I was on photo duty - getting snaps of the youngsters in action.

It's so rewarding seeing the riders taking on challenges and growing in confidence with every pedal.

We couldn't stay as long as usual, as we were due at another task, but we left knowing that we'd helped the bike club team deliver a safe and enjoyable session.

This afternoon we joined The Bee Conservation Trust, Discover Welling and Southeastern Trains to plant a host of bee-friendly plants at Welling Station.

With Ivar taking charge of the drill to create holes deep enough for the larger plants, the rest of us worked with trowels and a dibber to settle the seedlings into their new home.

We can't wait to see everything in bloom next spring and summer, when the flowers will be a brilliant source of forage for bumblebees 🐝🌼!

Coming up...

Wednesday 4 November – Putting up the Welling Sparkle stickers

Promoting Welling's Christmas market.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/putting-up-the-welling-sparkle-stickers-063d0797-a0a8-4e07-be10-06c420f143d9

Saturday 7 November – Clearing brambles, cleaning railings and coffee treats at The Exchange

Helping out at Erith's wonderful community venue.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/clearing-brambles-cleaning-railings-and-coffee-treats-at-the-exchange

Sunday 8 November – Lending a hand at Crossness Pumping Station

Helping to maintain this wonderful hidden gem of a museum.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/lending-a-hand-at-crossness-pumping-station

This evening, Andy, one of the activity coordinators at Parkview Care Home, had a spooktacularly seasonal task awaiting us!

Two of us ran there from Crook Log Leisure Centre, while the others made their own way to the home, where a frightfully fun evening was about to begin.

With Halloween just around the corner, we spent a ghoulishly good hour carving pumpkins with the home’s residents.

We each paired up with a resident, and set to work with pumpkin carving tools. We hollowed out our gourds and create a host of wonderfully wicked faces. 🎃🎃🎃

Some of the residents got especially creative, adding ears to their pumpkins and even giving the creepy creations their very own names!

It was a lovely way to get into the Halloween spirit together.

We were also delighted to have Karen and Semira on their first task. Welcome to Team GoodGym Bexley!

More photos to come so check back here soon!

Sunday afternoon, and four GoodGymers headed to Welling to help Discover Welling get ready for Remembrance, putting up poppies along the High Street. We were joined by two local councillors.

With Storm Boelo doing its best to blow us away, it was a bit of a battle against the elements! Each lamp post got a poppy on either side, secured with cable ties, Hopefully they'll stay put in the gale!

We also added a sprinkling of poppies to the Welling cannon, making sure it was dressed for the occasion.

A few passers-by stopped to say thank you as we worked, which was a lovely reminder of how meaningful this task is.

With the poppies in place and a good step count under our belt, we decided to try iCakes, a new artisan café and bakery, for hot drinks to warm up. There we had a lovely surprise: free waffles and ice cream from their trial menu 🧇.

What a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday!

Just two of us tonight, but we were ready to get our steps in and get the party started!

After meeting at Sidcup Leisure Centre, we set off on a brisk walk to spread the word about the Community Hospice’s Boogie Wonderland fundraising party night happening next month.

Weaving our way up and down driveways in nearby streets, we popped leaflets through letterboxes to get the neighbourhood in the mood for a boogie. With Halloween approaching, we came across some spook-tacular pumpkin displays on doorsteps along the way! 🎃🎃

In just under an an hour, we’d delivered every last flyer and clocked up nearly 8,500 steps over a 4km route. We might not have hit the dance floor just yet, but we certainly got moving for a good cause. That’s what GoodGym is all about - doing good and getting fit - and we hope that we've played a part in boosting ticket sales to help an wonderful local charity.

Next week we'll encounter more pumpkins when we visit Parkwood Care Home - find out more and sign up to join us here.

Lesnes Abbey Woods junior parkrun #520 was a great success, with 62 young participants and 24 volunteers coming together to enjoy the fun of running, walking and community.

Raghav and l were glad to take part as the tail walker for this event.

(Image enhanced from the original photo using Meta AI.)