Wilko-men to Thorlands!

At GoodGym, we welcome everyone whether you're coming for your second good deed like Elena did or whether you're like Abigail who came back after two years of not doing GoodGym. That's the beauty of GoodGym, pick up where you left off.

Sam welcomed in Elena, Steve, Nathan, Nelly, Emma, Isaac, Daryl and Tim as we pondered whether anyone else would show up as everyone arrived early. After Sam's GG intro speech, Nelly, Emma and Elena showed off a photo that inspires them as we were celebrating World Photography Week. They showed us photos of nature as Mother Earth is truly inspirational!

After our warm-up on the Green, Sam asked the second ice-breaker question for the rest, which was: Since the demise of Wilko, what is your favourite high street store?

We had a variety of answers from BHS to WH Smiths and from Morley's to more local English restaurants, but a firm favourite for their pick n mix was Woolworths (RIP).

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90s mash-up with local Camberwell star: Des'ree

Over the hill on Denmark Hill, we ran as we met up with Paulin along the way. The 3k run took us just under 18 minutes as we met up with "long time, no see" Abigail, Mikhail and Nathan along with Simon, who had prepared the tools for us. After short introductions, answering the ice-breaker question (for those who hadn't answered it) and making our way into the Forest Garden section, Sam gave a brief overview of Thorlands vision before dividing the team into three: litter pickers, terrace clearers and bindweed clearers.

Armed with one litter pick and three bin liners, Abigail, Paulin and Mikhail scoured the site for any litter, but avoided the wasp's nest that was the terror of the last visit.

Alex, Elena, Daryl, Emma and Isaac teamed up to tackle the terrace, which had overgrown since we last did this earlier in the year, but we need to keep on top and maintain the space as nature grows back with a vengeance! Nathan helped shape the bramble bush before taking on the loopers to shape the buddleia tree by the "hedgehog hotel" and he was assisted by Elena as she had the secateurs to trim the cuttings down further.

The final group consisted of Nelly, Steve and Tim as they teamed up to remove the bindweed climbing up the fence.

As 19:55 hit and as "Bittersweet Symphony" ended, we called it and we still had to pack away the tools back in the "Walled Garden".

Most ran back with us, but we said our goodbyes to Abigail, Alex and Mikhail. At the end of the run, some of us decided to get an impromptu slice of pizza and a beer from Voodoo Ray's!

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! A breezy run and task when you have a large group and hopefully, it was enjoyable for you too! We're always visiting Thorlands and although, progress is slow...it's still progress.

Also, a thank you to Daryl and Emma for backmarking the runs.

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Thank You to Simon

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 Simon for preparing the tools and opening up the Forest Garden in Thorlands for us to tackle the terraces and bindweed! We will be back in the middle of September for our next group run, but as always we're there on Saturdays too!