Night time group runs are communicated by moss code

GoodGym Southwark had a new task and contact to run to! Everyone was excited to see what Ellie and the Arbor project had install for us at Bells Garden Community Centre.

Upon arriving at Old Spike Roastery, Sam met Lindy as he was taking out his keys. Slowly, but surely, Emma, Nelly and then Elena, who came for her second good deed in a week and her first group run, showed up. Elena brought her documents to get DBS checked as she would like to do more missions with the elderly and isolated. There was still one more runner that had signed up that we were waiting for.... Vic....but once it turned 18:45, Sam went through a more concise GoodGym speech!

We went out to the alleyway to warm-up and as we got started Vic showed up to join us! 😊 After a warm-up that got us warm quite quickly (and got Sam panting), we answered our ice-breaker question, which was: Since it's Pancake Day/Strove Tuesday next Tuesday, what is your go-to topping?

We had LOADS of Nutella lovers either on its own or with banana. A couple of people were healthy by adding berries and replacing the sugary Nutella with honey or maple syrup. Sam went for the classic lemon and sugar, which also ended up being Ellie's choice.

---

Moss, it grows on you....

After thinking of food, what else would you do....all six of us started to run! We ran as a group, but with no taskforce member on hand, Vic did the back-marking. Thank you Vic! We ran down Relf Road and Choumert Grove before joining Bellenden Road running towards Peckham Library and beyond to Peckham Hill Street and onto Buller Close. We arrived at Bells Garden at 19:10 Sam to arrive at an open gate leading to a dark basketball court. Walking towards us, Ellie and Mark came to introduce themselves and show us the space we would be working at. As Sam laid out all the portable lights, the rest of the team assisted Ellie and Mark to get the tools we needed to scrap the moss off the basketball court. We had the traditional gardening tools such as shovels, knee mats and an empty tonne bag....yet, there were more unique tools like ice scrapers, but guess what? They did the job efficiently! 🙌

In GoodGym fashion, we got stuck into the task without coordination as we knew what we had to do. Pick up a tool and scrap off the moss! Unofficially, Sam and Vic paired up to tackle an area as well as Elena and Nelly were a pair and Emma and Lindy. With six portable lights the basketball court (at least, half court) lit up to make sure it was safe to conduct the task. 🔥

As we scrapped, Sam described all the good work and contacts GoodGym has and does to Mark and Ellie! They were pleasantly surprised and immediately saw the impact GoodGym has within the community at their own task. Ellie was so delighted that she even mentioned (at the end) that there is a second project up in Dawson's Height (East Dulwich/Forest Hill/Honor Oak area), if we were ever keen to help out there!

By the end of the session, we managed to fill the tonne bag (1,000kg+) to full capacity 😲 and we started to develop piles of moss on the basketball court 🤯 Not bad for 40 minutes of scrapping moss... 💪

As the night approached 20:00, we stopped and collected the tools we used. We looked around and saw that we had cleared around half of the basketball court! This big effort was rewared with various types of biscuits including a fan favourite, Chocolate Bourbons. 🍪

After discussing with Ellie and confirming with Polis (Salvation Army Nunhead task owner), we will be coming back to Bells Garden to finish off the task next Wednesday! Hooray! The task at the Salvation Army will be conducted at the end of March - more in line with Spring for a spring cleaning task.

---

Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night as it did end up getting quite chilly! Two weeks in a row that we had a proper and satisfying GoodGym session. What a sight to see and can't wait to finish the task off!

---

Thank You Ellie and Arbor Project

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 Ellie for getting in touch with us via the task referral. I can see that this will be the start of something beautiful! See you next week!