Cherian came from Hendon, Dan from Hackney, Lisa and John from Camden Town, Mehmet from UCL (the long way round) and Scarlett from Australia (an even longer way round). Welcome especially Lisa (recommended to GoodGym by our Angeliki) and Scarlett to their first ever good deed.

Arriving bang on time, or even earlier in some cases, we were soon provided with a random selection of digging and cultivation tools. We set to work churning the earth in preparation for seeding an area of Compton Terrace Gardens which had become worn and bereft of grass due to wavering walkers veering off the path.

We took a bucket-full of stakes, bamboo sticks and variously-sized poles, positioning them round the earth we'd prepared earlier, as a subtle warning to any passers-by to "Keep Off The Good-deed".

Then came the seeds themselves, a consistent shower of grass-coloured specks spread evenly and thickly over the newly churned soil by our super sextet, before being covered by top-soil from two large, newly-opened bags.

We hadn't finished yet. There were twigs and small branches to be picked up, making the place look a lot tidier. Whenever we thought the task was almost complete, we spotted many more twigs and small branches previously invisible to the naked eye.

And Lisa did a great job rescuing a park bench from an overgrown bush, making it once again somewhere safe to sit without being assaulted by superfluous branches.

With Tabitha, Josh & Catherine looping up outside Beer & Burger for a needed warm-up for those fresh off a half marathon. A slow run was begun for the first task at Clitterhouse farm for 2024. Meeting Lee and Cherian upon arrival. With fresh paintings up upon entrance and tuliups blooming to welcome us, we gloved up with buckets and forks in hand. With a heap of compost to overturn and move to a new location. We were moving mountains not molehills. Working in the farm, mother nature decided we needed feeding and bestowed buckets of rain down on us ensuring we were well watered. With some smooth transitions of team work, effort was shared and compost was delivered. With a meandering movement back to Beer & Burger for a well deserved drink to celebrate the changing of season and type of tasks!

Cherian, Kevin, Sam and I were greeted by Simon, Thorlands Gardens' head honcho - who told us we'd be doing a spot of woodworking.

They use wood and net covers to prevent birds, foxes and other urban wildlife from wrecking their seedlings - and were in need of an extra cover or two.

Simon showed us an example that had been made by another group recently and gave us a detailed briefing on how to do it. Larch is a particularly good wood to use, apparently!

A spot of measuring was then followed by some sawing (well done on the first time saw use, Cherian!) - with only a brief interruption when we got a rain shower.

We maybe spent a little too long measuring and strategising, which meant we hadn't finished the construction when Kevin, Sam and I had to leave. Cherian stayed with Simon to join together the pieces we cut - the rest of us will have to check out the finished article next time we're there!

4 awesome goodgymmers gave up their Saturday morning to help out at the Boiler Community Garden. We basically did a whole lot of weeding, and found some pretty massive worms. Photos are before and after. Siobhan was very thankful for our help and said we made a huge difference:)