Julian Osman

If you ever find yourself in Kigali - the capital of Rwanda - on the last Saturday of every month, you'll bear witness to something rather unusual.

Because on that day - month in, month out - the entire community comes together for a morning to clean and tend their city. It's called umunsi w’umuganda, which means contribution made by the community, and it's a morning that's helped Kigali foster a populous that's proud and caring of where they live.

Although that isn't to say the initiative isn't without problems - all able-bodied people are expected to join - but I think there's something in a community taking ownership of the care of their public spaces. They become our concerns, not someone else's problem.

But anyway, back on topic and this report. Which is all about this lovely group channeling a little Kigalian spirit in our community yesterday evening!

We met in our usual haunt in Greenwich's Naval College - old faces and new friends (welcome, Katrina!), we kicked things off with introductions and smiles, before heading straight into a wonderfully designed warm up, courtesy of Sara! Sara is nearly fully qualified as a Leader in Running Fitness and was testing out a few of her new (yet already well-honed) skills and sessions - some people said, and the rest thought it, everything was far better than my usual attempts..!

We then made our steady way under the river and over to two little green gems on the Isle of Dogs - Millwall Park and Island Gardens - and we got to searching, picking, and bagging stray cans, papers, wrappers, and more.

Just sharing time yesterday in one of our green spaces was a treat. And it's a treat so many of us enjoy, particularly after the last 2 years. Which is why it felt rather awesome to fill 6 big bags full of the stuff that shouldn't have been cluttering these lovely places.

We finished with a quick and creative fitness session and cool down - again courtesy of the lovely Sara - and then it was time for goodbyes and look forwards to meeting up again.

Nice one.

Greenwich Goodgym were joined by “tourists” from Bexley and Fulham and Hammersmith for this morning’s task. Having participated in the earlier Charlton parkrun, we made the short trip to St Georges Garrison Church to be met by Tim, one of the Trustees. Secateurs, shears, fork and spades distributed , we were set to work and quickly got to the root of the prickly problem. After an hour or so, Tim called time and provided refreshments and a very interesting talk on the Church. This was a hidden gem in South East London and had it not been for Goodgym I would not have known this place existed. I think it fair to say, Tim was pleased with our efforts and we can expect a further invite.

This report is late.

As I write, it's at least 36 hours since this merry group said their goodbyes. Which means you might think I've been justifiably delayed, or maybe you just think I've been absent-minded. But let's not get into judgment and just agree that I've been slow.

Which is a segway into our experiences on Wednesday. Because we spent our evening at the wonderful More2 Childcare and they have a wonderful friend called Sid. And Sid is a master of the slow. For Sid is a snail, and a very handsome one at that.

But let's stop there. Because I'm sure you don't want to hear my views about snails. And especially because I have much GoodGym do-gooding to report!

Wednesday was clear, but cold, and we met outside our usual haunt in the Royal Naval College. Old friends and new faces (welcome to the group, Jessica!), we had a little introductory giggle, warmed up, and then jogged over to More2Childcare in East Greenwich.

An old friend of the group, we were met by the lovely Eve, and we spent the next 40 minutes weeding, pruning, washing, and clearing and tidying; the group doing the latter turned the jumble of a fire-escape into a serene and neat space. And we did it all whilst sharing stories and nattering - as I popped out to the outside bins, I could hear the murmur of a group enjoying spending time together. Lovely.

Then it was back to the Naval College for a stretch and, courtesy of the wonderful Marta, cookies!! And these were cookies to celebrate 6 years of GoodGym Greenwich. My word, 6 years. Which, if I remember correctly, was when I still had hair....

Nice one, guys.