GoodGym Lewisham's finest were out in force to brave the heat and run over to Goldsmiths Community Centre to tackle the overgrown outside space. The space has been used as a COVID testing centre for the past few years and after the temporary structures had been removed it was looking a bit unloved.

It was a longer run over to Goldsmiths (if you're going to the right one and not over to New Cross), it meant I had to break up an interesting conversation about growing rosemary from a cutting but we needed to maximise time spent at the task and head off on time.

We kept it easy on the way to Goldsmiths with the sneaky little hills until the panic that I'd lost my phone (it was in my pocket...) and we soon made it to the centre to meet Clare and Darryl (lovely to see you both back at a group run).

Tools distributed and it was time to get stuck in! A longer run means we have shorter time to get the task done but it motivates us to work quicker. We tackled the weeds, cut back brambles and piled it all up in the trolley to be taken to the compost pile. Thanks Goldsmiths for providing us with water!

We then made our way downhill back to Glass Mill and after a quick pit stop to collect bags, we went to Mamma Dough to celebrate Marta's birthday, PB's and all the good deeds we've been doing recently.

Last night we celebrated Miguel's 50th good deed and how did he celebrate...not by getting lost but by jumping in the pile of tree cuttings to the shouts of "there's nettles in there"!! Happy 50th good deed - keep on doing good and smiling (and not getting lost)!

We were heading to the beautiful Luxmore Gardens last night, with it being a shorter run there was plenty of time for us to get through the ever expending to do list.

First up we split into groups of weeders and loppers, we needed to tackle the overhanging ivy on the mural (years ago we painted the backdrop to the mural, we can't take credit for the actual mural though) and any growth around the bottom of the trees to give more space to plants and to ensure there are no hiding spots.

The group of weeders were chasing out the bind weed which can take over and wind around a plant before you know it so it was important to get rid of it as much as possible.

We grabbed some new tools and after a quick lesson on how to use a hoe since we were using it upside down, Vic managed to clear an overgrown grassy area beside the water fountain. Whilst Paul and Isaac were tackling the path leading to the water. That space in the corner is looking fantastic now and with minimal hiding spots.

Next week we're heading back to St Mary's Primary School to make progress on the Forest School.

Don't forget there's still time to join Friday's social!

Big cheers to everyone who got out on a community mission, we had GoodGymers out litter picking in Catford, digging in Lewisham and clearing ivy in Greenwich - fantastic work team!

Welcome to Jess who joined us on her first group run!

This weeks group run was taking us to one of our favourite tasks, Seniors! The impact we have at Seniors is huge because there’s a lot of tasks in the garden that are too big of a job for the volunteers to do - that’s where we come in.

On the to do list for this evening was:

• watering the plants. A task which after some full on ivy/tree clearing at the week Julian relished.
• Weeding the patio with small but perfect for the job tools.
• Cleaning the chairs and tables in the cafe.
• Repotting plants ready for the plant sale.
• Digging out weeds from a raised bed which will eventually become liquid plant feed.
• Digging a couple of trenches to allow the volunteers to plant more vegetables. Very symmetrical and equally spaced, well done Isaac.

It was soon time to head back up and over the hill to admire the view and make our way back to Glass Mill. Next week we’re heading to Luxmore Gardens, a slightly shorter run and a chance to make a big difference to the space, we’ll be continuing our work weeding the flower beds and cutting back some of the overhanging plants.