21 GoodGymers ran between 3-8km to help St Mary's & leaflet for Queens Crescent Community Association & KTCF

Thanks for coming along on another hot summer evening. It's always one of my favourite times of the week doing good with you guys :)

In the news this week:

1. A MASSIVE WELL DONE to Pritesh who hit 300 Good Deeds last night, and was gifted with a cape and sword to run around Camden with - THIS IS CAMDEN!!!!
2. Track Thursday - Kat is organising weekly track sessions on Thursday evenings at Regents Park Dirt Track. Meet for 6.30pm - contact me if you want more details
3. July's Monthly Social will be next Thursday in Wandsworth - more details coming soon.

Task One - Leafletting for QCCA & KTCF:

Chris and Pritesh led a team of 10 to leaflet for the Queens Crescent Community Association's Summer Party on the 21st July (there is a mission to help them setup - sign up here) and Kentish Town City Farm's community projects, which include many summer events for older isolated people in the area.

600 leaflets!

With over 600 leaflets to distribute the group did a brilliant job of covering 8km and coming home empty handed! Nice!

Task Two - Compost Run for St Mary's

To continue on from last week our first task was to collect ten bags of compost from the Eco Compost Plot at Alara. Unfortunately we were not able to access shovels so the team became inventive with using bin bags as gloves, using plastic containers to shovel it into their bags and well using Rosie's pair of gloves.

Our next task was to the run the rather warm compost through the streets of Camden (and a churchyard) to St Mary's Flats. This 1km trip was hard work with the warm weather and warm load but we got it done. I wonder what people thought those 10 runners in red t-shirts running with black bin bags were carrying.....

Jon from St Mary's Flats was very grateful for us bringing so much with us. We split into teams getting the following tasks done:

1. Using the compost we'd brought with us a team of 5 re-potted lots of plants and then positioned them around the communal garden areas.
2. Hanry and Thomas cut down a dead tree and carried the soil from the large plot for our next tasks
3. Kat and Liz emptied an old tree plot where the ground was rotten, used the healthy soil from the tree plot to refill it.
4. We then used the remainder of our soil and compost to lay over a residents gardens, areas that are in need of the richness
5. Finally we weeded a garden for a resident - filling two bags of the stuff

Sadly a baby bird had fallen from it's nest over the last week so Hanry and Liz buried it in our re-soiled plot. RIP.

Wow - lots done! Good work guys, Jon was very pleased with our efforts. We finished the evening with x4 strides to activate our muscles nice!

Sign up here for next week when we have the classic combo of Abbey and Cecil Sharp.

PB out.

31 Goodgymers ran 6km to help Sheltered Housing at Ashdown Crescent

Welcome along to newbies this week Madeleine, Rachael, Natalie and Matt :)

In the news this week:

1. It's the GoodGym Olympics next Saturday, if you have entered events you should have received an email from Lord Benson (tomb@goodgym.org). Everyone should come watch, have a picnic and a cheer!
2. Kat is organising track sessions at Regents Park Track every Thursday, meet for 6.30pm and start the session at 6.45pm. Go along!

This week we had a wonderful task up in Kentish Town - helping Sheltered Housing at Ashdown Crescent. This project helps look after older people in the community, they have a great big garden space but it needs care and attention. That's where we come in.

Impact

Splitting into teams we got the following done:

1. We put together two tables and eight chairs for the residents to use to sit out on. The guys did well with limited tools!
2. The Steve's and Liz got to work cutting back the trees and bushes overgrowing onto the pathway.
3. A team of 6 swept the pathway and deck - collecting together bags of debris!
4. A team of 10 weeded a huge area and then planted some big plants, small plants and some lovely bulbs :)
5. A team of 4 helped out on two resident's balconies with various garden jobs

You guys really made an impact tonight - well done all! #proud

Sign up next week here, tasks tbc.

PB out

As the sun shone, 29 happy faces tripped along through Lewisham to cover 7km of running and help out at Seniors.

What a gorgeous evening for running and doing good in great company! This week saw one absolute first-timer to GoodGym, hello Matthew and two visitors, Akay, who has previously been along to GoodGym Bexley and Ernie, who is a regular up in Islington, we hope you felt the Lewisham Love :)

In fact, there was an awful lot of love to go round this week, with some of our runners feeling a little high from a weekend of EPIC running. From midday on Saturday to midday on Sunday, our awesome Team Lewisham Wildcats ran 8km laps of hills, trails and through the woods at Endure 24. Between them they ran a whopping 135 miles, supporting each other throughout. They lifted each other's spirits when times felt hard, they gave their all to make sure their team mates had enough rest and, best of all, they represented GoodGym with a smile on their faces and the Lewisham crown sitting proudly on their heads. We're all incredibly proud of what you achieved, well done superstars! Give a cheer to Nykolette, Helen, Amber, Caireen, Jacqueline, Kim, Conroy and Stephen (and added Kudos to Kim, Helen, Conroy, Amber and Nykolette for making it along tonight!!).

Tonight's task was taking us over to Seniors. We do enjoy our visits here, but have to gear ourselves up for the longer run and the HILLS! A quick warm up got our heart rates up slightly (and helped us get to know each other a bit better) and off we went. On an evening as lovely as this, how marvellous to be able to run through Ladywell Fields and push hard up and over Blythe Hill, with a last sweep down to Stanstead Road. At Seniors we were met by Cathy and Alice, who showed us through to the garden at the back of the building. Now this garden is big and, with 29 people ready to get stuck in, Cathy had her work cut out assigning tasks. Pretty soon though, everyone was either putting on gloves or grabbing tools, ready to get stuck into one of the many jobs on offer...

• Digging over the beds in the polytunnel to mix in the manure, creating hotbeds

• Working in the same way over at the raised beds, creating areas to grow vegetables

• Lifting a bench out onto the grass to coat it with teak oil

• Weeding and sweeping the patio

• Sanding tables on the patio, ready for oiling or varnishing (some of which was also done)

• Crawling into the little spaces under the building to pull out tables, ladders, chairs and all sorts of other items, which were then sorted, creating a more orderly space in which to put the useful items that were to be kept (well done Marta and Ernie, this looked like a cramped and dusty job!)

There was even enough time once the polytunnel was done to make a start on an overgrown bed, giving it a quick strim and rake. Just look at that list of jobs! This kind of work is heavy and not always easy for some of the regular volunteers at Seniors, so well done all of you for making a difference in just half an hour.

Before we ran off, Cathy briefly told us about the open day which is happening this coming Saturday, to which we are all welcome (entry is just £1, which enters you into a raffle) and with the lovely new children's play area, we were invited to bring along our smaller members too.

At this point on a run to Seniors, we know what's coming next. The secret is to grit your teeth, drive your arms and step lively (oh and chatting gets a little harder the higher up you go!)...but it's so worth the effort! Tonight's view was particularly good, with clear skies and a setting sun. We are very lucky around here, with so many beautiful green spaces :)

Arriving back at Glass Mill, there was just enough time for one last push, a little wall sit, as if our thighs weren't burning enough already! Next week is pretty special all round. We are venturing over to Surrey Docks Farm, which is always a real treat (think goats, donkeys, sheep, sleepy pigs...). It does mean a long run though, so there is the option of running one way and taking transport the other (remember, we get to run alongside the river for once, which is pretty special). Sign up here to join us, when we might also be celebrating a milestone and getting excited about our summer social at the Wildcat Wilderness.

Have a great week x