It was our monthly trip back to Doddington last night. This former multistorey car park has been transformed into a thriving community garden, providing a valuable growing space for local people who might not otherwise have access to a garden of their own. We also had some very special reasons to celebrate: a huge congratulations to Jason on his 100th Good Deed! 🎉 And a very happy 30th birthday to Annabel! 🎂

We kicked things off with a warm-up and the evening's quiz question: how many dimples are there on a golf ball? There was some doubt over the answer, but I'll leave you to decide whether to trust the quizmaster…

We arrived to find a whole host of jobs waiting for us: clearing mallow and teasels, laying down cardboard and mulch, shifting mulch into the raised beds and transporting soil. Before too long everyone was busy getting stuck in. 💪🌱

There was also an added incentive for the evening: whoever collected the most teasels would win the famous Tromboncino!

But what exactly is a Tromboncino? This wonderfully weird looking vegetable is a variety of butternut squash which is used like a courgette — and if you leave it to mature, it can grow into a long, curved, trombone-shaped fruit of up to around a metre!

Once we'd done our bit at the garden, it was time to head down to the square for some fitness. This week's challenge was 130-themed: working in pairs, we had to complete a series of exercises which cumulatively added up to 130. Plenty of counting, plenty of reps and plenty of teamwork. Congratulations to Katie and Catherine, who completed the challenge first! 🏆

Then, of course, it was time for cake and the grand presentation of the Tromboncino. After her impressive teasel-gathering efforts, the prize went to Annabel — who immediately demonstrated the true versatility of this magnificent vegetable by wearing it as a rather beautiful neckpiece at the pub quiz. 🥒✨

A brilliant evening of community gardening, celebrations, questionable golf-ball trivia, fitness, cake and vegetable couture.

Huge congratulations again to Jason for this huge milestone - 100 good deeds shows massive commitment, energy and effort which has had an unquantifiable positive impact.

Next week... We're off to Balham Nursery to help with some jobs. You can sign up here

This Monday we were really pile-ing on the pressure! A sunny Bank Holiday lunchtime saw the team return to tackle the task we started last week. We arrived ready to shift the last bit of the pile, which initially seemed manageable. However, as soon as we started moving it up the stairs, it became very clear that this was a much bigger job than we first thought!What followed was a fantastic all-over body workout as we shovelled, shuttled and shifted the remaining mulch up the steps. We were watched over by the estate manager, who was very supportive of the progress and pleased that access would finally be reinstated to both the estate and the bins. With the sun shining we pushed through. The result? A massive sense of satisfaction when we finally got it done and looked back at the cleared space. Great work everybody!

What a night in Wandsworth! We celebrated ten years and Felix's 50th good deed with an amazing cake courtesy of Catherine, a job which included creating a new water installation, Steph's brilliant quiz, a chaotic GG task themed relay and the mysterious case of the disappearing tongs...

It all started with our warm up and we revisited our very first 'co-run-drum' - how many bricks are there in the Battersea Power Station building. Well done to Annabel who nailed it with her guess!

We look a warm run down to the garden where we were met by the brilliant Malissa who set us to work. Jason and Emily's team got stuck into creating a new water featuring with a very green bath, while Steph led a group pulling up mallow. Meanwhile everybody else was working to rake up hay and fill raised beds.

As we worked, there was some decorating going on and we were gifted with a lovely homemade rum punch, a bottle of martini and banana bread from the generous committee!

Job done, it was time to go downstairs and create beautiful chaos in the shape of the GG task relay - there was planting (sorting coloured balls into pots), watering (transporting sponges to see who could collect the most water - shout out to Jack who took the job so seriously that he could be found sponging up water from the pavement) and sorting recycling. Or there would have been, if the tongs hadn't mysteriously disappeared and reappeared again.

We moved on to a static hold quiz before a final competition to see who could create the best '10' as a group. The independent judges vote was unanimous, and Team A emerged victorious, bagging themselves a box of chocolates. Excellent work!

After all that, it was party time. There was a table groaning with food, there was the most amazing cake, there were fabulous gifts (thank you all so so much!), there was a quiz where we all learned something and there were speeches...

Ten years ago we went from the BAC to the Katherine Lowe settlement to give it a good clean. None of us could have known what was to come. A decade later we have achieved over 11 500 good deeds. That's over a thousand good deeds a year. All done by you. And that's before we even count the bonds we've made. Because not only have we helped support our community, we've done races and parkruns together, we've won quizzes, we have built life long friendships, and there have even been some GG weddings and babies.

There have also been some very memorable tasks. ITen years ago we had our very first goodgym wandsworth run. We went from the BAC to the Katherine Lowe settlement to give it a good clean. None of us could have known what was to come. A decade later we have achieved over 11 500 good deeds. That's over a thousand good deeds a year. All done by you.

And that's before we even count the bonds we've made. Because not only have we helped support our community, we've done races and parkruns together, we've won quizzes, we have built life long friendships, and there have even been some GG weddings and babies.

There have also been some very memorable tasks. Who could forget the time we came to this very garden ahead of the jubilee celebrations and moved no less than five tons of compost? Or when a group got together to form a human chain and managed to clear an overcrowded house so that the resident could use some of their rooms for the first time in years. Or when we created a community garden from a bare patch of land and grew produce which we then donated to the hospice on clapham common.

When covid brought us to a standstill, we pivoted. Our group runs stopped, but that didn't mean we did. You started to do food deliveries to isolating people,some of whom didn't have contact with anybody else for months. You delivered shopping and medicines. You went to Wandsworth foodbank to sort through much needed donations. You were a lifeline.

Almost all of the tasks over the last ten years have had challenges in common. Usually a spectacular lack of resources. But that is where goodgym shines. No tools? No problem. You've used tiny kids plastic spades to shift tones of sand, you've had nothing but leaking buckets to wash mobility buses, shopping trolleys have been commandeered to move massive piles of woodchip. Using just muscle power and blind optimism we moved things that noone thought possible.

But whether you've walked away from these tasks covered in mud (or worse), streaked with paint, or completely soaked from a downpour one thing is always true - you always do it with good cheer and lots of laughs. We've also supported each other when things were tough. We are all here to support each other, we're more than just a volunteering group.

Our task owners that allow this all to happen - so many work tirelessly to make Wandsworth the beautiful place it is. I recently got some feedback from one of regular task owners, Natasha,who said:

" I couldn't think of a more deserving group of people. They have been instrumental to us on many levels. I am always thankful for how much work they do for us free of charge, from cleaning , gardening, painting, leafleting ... nothing is ever too much for them and they do it with such a joyous disposition - no matter what they are asked to help with.I can't sing them enough praises."

So to all of you that have pulled on a red shirt over the years, whether this is your first time, your 50th, or if you've earned those GG wings, you've made this happen. Here is to the next ten unforgettable years of GoodGym Wandsworth.

Paradise Gardens really was living up to it's name on Monday evening. As the sun cast a gorgeous golden glow over planters packed full of almost ready to harvest fruit and veg, the GoodGym team cracked on with the tasks. Jo and Jack distributed fresh wood chips along the paths between the veg beds, while Jason, Ali and Dave, armed with wheel barrows and pitch forks, got to work in the compost heap, transporting ready compost to the plants and turning the next batch (not an enviable task in this heat!) There was a very near fatality when Jason came close to skewering a toad, buy luckily Caroline spotted it just in time! Steph, Felix and Hazel and Jack grabbed brushes and painted the new toilet shed a demure shade of black... and we saw just how fast a completer-finisher (Hazel) really can paint when the timer is running! (She-didn't show no signs of stopping!) When the tasks were complete we packed up and trotted over to the Roundhouse pub to test out a new venue for our monthly pub quiz... The team won 3rd place, but did the pub win the prized spot of becoming our new regular? Let's see what September holds...