What a night! GoodGym Lambeth were back out in force for one of our favourite combos: a proper graft followed by a proper social.

The dream team of Fi, Ben, Katie, Tilly, Michael, Jo, task owner Nicole, and the brilliant Naomi from HTC assembled, ready to take on whatever the evening threw at them. 💪🏼

(A special shoutout to Adam, who had to pull out with an injury before the fun began — wishing you a speedy recovery, mate! We’ll keep a weed-pulling glove warm for you. 🧤)

The Task: Holy Weed-moley 🌱😤 Tonight’s mission took us to the vicarage, where the garden had clearly been taking its vows a little too seriously — specifically the vow of uncontrolled growth. We’re talking weeds. Weeds upon weeds. A veritable congregation of weeds. If weeds could form a church, this would’ve been their cathedral. 🌿⛪

Our lot got stuck in with the kind of righteous enthusiasm that frankly the clergy would approve of. Pulling, digging, bagging — the whole holy trinity of garden clearance. By the time we were done, the vicar could actually see the garden again. We didn’t quite part the sea of greenery, but we gave it a very good go. Check out the pics for proof! ❤️📸

The Social: What Do You Meme? (More Like What Do You SCREAM) 😱🤩 Post-weeding, the team descended on the Tulse Hill Hotel for the monthly social, where What Do You Meme? was unleashed upon an unsuspecting group of tired volunteers. Reader, it did not stay innocent for long.

Michael appeared to have some kind of mystical connection to the card deck, pulling out banger after banger like a comedy magician. 🪄 Tilly, meanwhile, finally — finally — broke her duck and claimed a well-deserved round win (the crowd went appropriately wild 🎉). Nicole made a late surge to the finish with all the energy of someone who’d spent the evening battling overgrown weeds and still had gas in the tank.

As for the female sanitary products, we have agreed collectively to never speak of this again.... An absolutely brilliant evening all round. Weeds vanquished, memes survived, community strengthened. This is what GoodGym Lambeth is all about. 🏃‍♀️💚

See you next time — and Adam, get well soon! 🙏​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ You had to be there. On reflection, perhaps it’s better that you weren’t. 🫣

�​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Who's at the door? I saw something red." - Mrs Z.
"Kash and Sevan from GoodGym to help you with your garden." - Sevan.
"Pardon?"
”We're the volunteers to help with weeding your garden."
"You're supposed to come tomorrow."
"No, we've been confirmed for Sunday, and we're here to help you today."
"Peace."

Despite the GoodGym visit apparently taking Mrs Z by surprise, the lady welcomed gardening help with gratitude. Unfortunately, she didn't have any tools and had only one black bag to spare for the garden waste. Mrs Z led Sevan and Kash to the back garden, which was covered with dried cuttings and had new brambles appearing along the wall and the fence. There were also beautiful flowers that Sevan praised.

"What do you want us to do with the garden?" - Sevan.
"Do what a man does in the garden." - Mrs Z.
"We'll do what we can." - Kash.
"That's good. I'm very grateful." - Mrs Z.

Having received the artistic license, the GoodGymers had a thought about what was in their power to complete without the tools. Kash has spotted a rake and a spare black bag and decided to rake all the old cuttings into a single pile and pack what she could into the rubbish sack. Sevan, in the absence of cutting tools, pulled out brambles with his gloved hands alone, while Kash went back to the Stone Age, cutting the stems with a piece of debris.

Mrs Z recalled two strange incidents she had not long ago while going to the garden. Firstly, she just found herself suddenly in the garden, sitting on the ground, and not realising how she'd ended up there. She gathered she must have had a fall. Not only that - she'd been stuck in the garden, waiting for the carer to rescue her - as, apparently, at midday Clapham becomes still like the space and no one can hear your scream. Another time, Mrs Z went to the garden with kitchen scissors to cut the brambles and dropped the cutting tool. At the time of the GoodGym visit, she was convinced that the scissors were still somewhere on the ground, but despite all the raking, Sevan and Kash couldn't find them.

As promised, the GoodGymers did what they could. As a result, the garden looked more pleasant to the eye, and Mrs Z was extremely grateful and wanted to treat them to some tea, which she'd already offered before the two started the work.

"Maybe it's not allowed, but come on, you deserve at least some tea! Man cannot work the whole day and have nothing to drink." - Mrs Z.
"But we're here just for an hour and a half." - Sevan.
"Well, even for that, you should get something!"

The GoodGymers were scheduled for another mission in the afternoon at the other side of the river, so they had to politely say no to Mrs Z's invitation, say their goodbyes, and set off for a run to another GoodGym area.

What a Tuesday evening! While the rest of London was busy grinding to a halt (tube strikes, police incidents, and the general chaos of just existing in this city 😅), our GoodGym Lambeth legends were already pivoting like pros — heading straight to the task like the well-oiled volunteer machines they are. 💪🏼

And what a team showed up! The brilliant Fi, Adam, Ben, and Katie were out in force, but the real plot twist of the evening? A surprise appearance from the one, the only, the magnificent Nicole 🍾🎉 — or possibly her AI body double (we’re choosing to believe it was the real deal 🤖👀).

The mission? Heading to Brixton Library to join the wonderful Annick, her friend Anouck, and the Friends of Brixton Library for an evening of weeding, watering, DIY and general sprucing up of the outdoor spaces. Think of it as a glow-up, but for a library. 💅🌱

Armed with trowels, determination and an impressive collective tolerance for getting their hands dirty, the team got stuck in — pulling up weeds, giving the plants a much-needed drink 💧 and making the whole space look lovely since being absolutely overdue for some love. (See what we did there? It’s a library. 📖 We’ll see ourselves out.)

The results? Stunning. The vibes? Immaculate. The puns? Clearly unstoppable.

Check out the pics — the space looked absolutely incredible by the end, and it’s all thanks to this lot ❤️😱🤩

Big love to Annick, Anouck and the Friends of Brixton Library for having us — we had the best time and can’t wait to come back! 🙌

Until next time, Lambeth! 🏃💚​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I helped cut back Mrs R's garden so that she can enjoy the summer.

The GoodGym Lambeth crew were out in force this week, and what a force they were! 💥

Our merry band of do-gooders assembled at the legendary Papa’s HQ, laced up their trainers, and set off for a quick loop around the block before getting stuck into some seriously satisfying border edging back at base. 🏃‍♂️💨

Now, some people might think border edging sounds like a snooze. Those people have clearly never seen THIS lot with a spade. 😤🔥

Our small but perfectly formed squad — Tilly, Michael, Dan, Ben, Marie-Noelle, and a very special welcome to first-timer Alfie 🎉🍾 — absolutely smashed it from start to finish. Six heroes. One mission. Zero untidy borders. 🌱

A MASSIVE shoutout has to go to the one, the only, Tilly 🦸‍♀️ who stepped up as run leader this evening while the usual boss was away. She kept the troops in line, the pace on point, and the vibes absolutely immaculate. We’re not saying she was born to lead… but she was born to lead. 🤩

Session well and truly nailed. 💪🏼 The borders have been edged, the kilometres have been run, and the community is just that little bit tidier thanks to you legends. 😱❤️

Check out the pics — they say a thousand words, but we think “flipping brilliant” just about covers it. 📸✨

See you next time, GoodGym Lambeth! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️💚

Helped Ms G in the house moving some bags to go to the charity shops down stairs then headed out to the garden to weed the beds and patio