21 GoodGymers ran 4km to help Holloway School with lots of gardening!

Welcome along to newbies - Stephen, Pete, Culann and Jack great to have you along!

In the news this week:

1. A huge well done to Meg who hit her 100th good deed last night - woop woop!
2. This Sunday is the monthly community mission to help Crouch End Open Spaces - sign up here.

After collecting together we talked GoodGym and warmed up before heading for the 2k to Holloway School. There was a lovely sunny up hill section which got everyone working well.

Upon arrival at the School we met Jonathan one of the teachers, he tasked us the following:

• Moving huge sacks of weeds and debris across the school grounds to be composted
• Meanwhile a big group pulled up weeds and grass, getting all the roots out as well as the surface shrubs. This area will be used to grow veg, something the kids will help to look after :)
• A team of three hoed and raked along the bottom of the hedge at the front of the school - awesome!

What a great task! We got so much done, Jonathan was really pleased and one of pupils who was passing was confused what we were doing to there school haha.

After a group picture we headed back the same way, a splinter group did a loop of the Emirates and see stretched out. Next was the best way to finish GG Islington ever - we headed for a picnic on Highbury Fields - yum!

Next week Aidan is in charge, you'll be helping Thornhill Square Gardens and Single Homeless Project.

PB out

21 GoodGymers ran 4-6k to help the Single Homeless Project and Rose Bowl Community Centre!

Welcome along to newbie Tim whose first time it was! Plus welcome back to Patrick who used to come when we met at Highbury Fields.

In the news this week:

1. Well done to both Claire Rees-Sewak and Claire Choe who hit 50 good deeds last night - an amazing effort from both of you - be proud! Black t-shirts are on there way!
2. Next Monday after the group run we are going to have a picnic - please bring goodies to share. Full details here.
3. We've got two community missions coming up - setting up a community fete in Newington Green on Friday and helping Crouch End Open Spaces on Sunday 21st July.

SHP Report:

Another week of helping the wonderful Single Homeless Project and another location up at Shaftesbury Road near Crouch End. A team of 12 of us were on hand to help Regina with the following:

• Clipping and cutting back overgrown bushes
• Sweeping the paths in the front and back garden
• Weeding and then piling it up to be composted
• Litter picking

Over 30 minutes we got everything done and Regina was really happy! We had some spare time so we treated ourselves with a longer run home via the parkland walk and the railway line trial. Finishing 10 mins early where we stretched and ate SQUIGGLES - arguably the best biscuits from the southern hemisphere that for one night only were in the northern hemisphere!

Rose Bowl Report by James:

Nine of us ran to Rose Bowl, a youth centre offering music, art and drama-based activities, sports and even circus skills training for young people in the local community.

We were met by Dawn, who knows us well as she used to work at Waterside Adventure Playground where GoodGym has visited several times in the past. First up Al, Meg, Abi and Patrick took some old car tyres away from the garden area we’d soon be prettifying and transported them upstairs inside.

Next Claire, Amelia, Patrick and Al rid the outdoor area of weeds and Frances got handy with the strimmer. Dawn would spontaneously scream with excitement every time she saw our progress. She was so grateful! Meanwhile Meg and Steve between them made about 2,000 saw strokes to create 50-odd wooden medallions, which looked oddly like biscuits to our one-tracked Islington minds.

SQUIGGLES

The out-front team then moved a big wooden arch and two big pots to a different area, to clear space for a table to go. Meanwhile Abi and James headed out the back to the football pitch area where they weeded all around the perimeter then swept everything up and collected it in waste bags.

We then checked our watches and, yep, it was exactly Squiggle o'clock. Only one thing to do at that time of day. Even Dawn treated herself to one of these tasty kiwi morsels.

Next week we will be helping Holloway School and having our picnic!

PB out

First, a big congratulation to everyone who took part in Sofia and a extra applause to James and Sally who did the run with us yesterday even though they just did a long run the day before. We also had Laura turn up after doing a casual 80 mile bike ride with a big fall of the bike in the middle. Glad she was able to make. You all deserve a nice rest.

During the introduction, I realised we had quite a few new runners. So welcome once again. As a quick count with everyone saying their favourite food and drink (Mainly Cheese and Gin with a surprising Pina Colada vote), we were off to the Rose Bowl.

It was a short 15 min run with the beautiful weather giving the runners a reason to smile and talk about. It was great to see the current GoodGym runners talk to the new ones. As we entered the venue and had a look around, we knew that we were going to be in for a mighty task of weed clearing.

The teams were unevenly split in two with the smaller group tackling the face of building and the larger taking on behemoth edge of the bowl which looked like a full on weed invasion with the paths and other paved parts looking less than inviting.

As I was walking past trying to capture the perfect profile picture for some of the runners social media, the discussions I came across included:

-What some people work as which included office jobs and community jobs.

-Other runs that people do which i think i heard someone mention about their parents showing off their parkrun time to their son as a sign of encouragement.

-The UK citizenship test which one of the GoodGym runners has passed (Well done). The test consist of some pretty serious questions that could have an Nigel Farage questioning his Britishness. One of the runners has tried to take Citizenship test from around the world and and the UK one is one of the hardest.

-One of the groups was just working in silence with determined faces to complete the job before the time is up.

There was a pretty significant job that had been done. We can now see the pathway edges and also the hidden bit of pavement that was being covered by green hue of weeds but it looks like we might need another visit to finish the job.

On the way back I decided to do squeeze in an easy fitness sessions to make Paul proud. This included planks, sit-ups and leg raises.

Thank you all for enduring me. Hope to see you all again soon for a fitness session. Paul will be back next week.

10 GoodGymers came along for a Bank Holiday Special and of course Patrick's 500th Good Deed!

We started the evening about all the amazing things Patrick has achieved over the last four years. He has been a Run Leader and Taskforce Member for Islington for many years, attends both Hackney and Camden group runs regularly, does a huge amount of missions and of course has visited his coach weekly for over 3 years. Patrick is the fourth person to reach 500 Good Deeds, that's absolutely brilliant! I can't put into words how GoodGym has benefited from Patrick doing so much for so long, he is legend, he is king!! Woop Woop!

Erm back to normal GG business I suppose, in the news:

1. There is a monthly GoodGym social on Thursday in Peckam - see full details here.
2. Community Mission in Islington helping CREOS on Sunday 19th May - full details here

After congratulating Patrick for his huge achievements we warmed up and headed West and a bit North to Barnsbury Square Gardens. There we met the lovely Lucy who is the head of the Friends of Barnsbury Square Gardens. She explained the biggest task they needed doing was loosening up the ground, because of the tree's taking the available moisture and people using the park the ground gets quite compact! Our job was to turn over as much ground as possible.

Hail King Patrick!

We split into three groups across the square and worked hard over the 35 minutes to get lots done. Patrick talked to me about the how volunteering has massively impacted his life over the last four years (and more), how he takes a lot of pride in the work he as an individual and we as a GoodGym group do to help our community. Meanwhile Ben and Claire were making shapes with the area they dug over, this included Australia, potentially Germany and definitely a fish! Lucy was very pleased with our great work, we'll be back to continue on 17th June :)

After we consumed some extra special yummy biscuits we took a group picture and then headed back to base for a stretch and an early finish.

Next week I am in Sofia so Chi (Run Leader) will be leading the group - you'll be going to the Rose Bowl, sign up here.

PB out