Baby Bank regulars Karen and Sheila were delighted to be joined this week by Siobhan who came all the way from GoodGym Camden to help with clothes sorting. The facility was short of volunteers this week, so it was great to have some extra help. We quickly settled into the routine of checking that the clothes donations were of good quality and cleanliness - with Siobhan on first checking and Karen and Sheila following up with a secondary check and putting them away in the correct boxes . A productive morning.

8 GoodGymers plant aplenty in Kentish Town!

This lovely group - Alex, Jackie, John, Karen, Siobhan, Steve, and Theo - arrived at Greenwood Sheltered Housing with altruistic energy on Wednesday night!

This was a new task hosted by an old friend. We hadn't been to Greenwood before but we had met our brilliant host, Frezghi.

And we swiftly got stuck into nature-based good deeding!

💚 Siobhan and Theo planted fresh lavender and weeded the front paving!

💚 Karen and John planted young lettuce!

💚 Alex, Steve, and Jackie planted aplenty in the raised beds!

Thank you, everyone! Here's to next time!

9 GoodGymers nearly attend a Camden country and western gig!

The Greenwood Centre in Kentish Town is tucked away. The railway line rumbles behind. And the Kentish Town Forum is usually far enough away to be completely unnoticeable.

Usually...

But not on Wednesday evening! When the Forum's queue snaked far and long, so far that it stretched in front of (and beyond!) the Greenwood Centre!

Amidst a mass of stetsons and cowboy boots, this lovely group — of Gary, Giulia, Helen, Lydia, Pritika, Siobhan, Steve, and Thierry — arrived ready to make a lovely difference for this communal green space!

And they did a bucket load!

💚 One (pretty huge) compost bin was emptied, washed, and aired, leaving the fertile mulch ready for use!

💚 One bay tree was delicately trimmed and pruned ready for spring and summer to come!

💚 Countless weeds were cut and scraped, leaving healthy wildflowers free to thrive!

Thank you, everyone! See you next time!

“The food will arrive in vans on Friday evening at 17:15”. That was the information we had, and five GoodGymers duly sneaked out of work to get to Camden food back in time. But heavy traffic, no doubt caused partly by the earlier Tube strike, meant the vans were considerably delayed. Task owner Abi was hugely apologetic and kept urging the van on, phone to his ear. John and Jacqui had tickets for Hampstead Theatre, while Theo had to leave before the vans even arrived. But we were sustained by lively chat, as well as three boxes of croissants which were surplus to requirements following a meeting at a nearby office

As St Pancras church clock struck six, the vans arrived, full of crates of baked beans, nappies and many other goods of varying weight. Together with other volunteers, we formed a human chain to ferry the produce from the van, up a winding staircase and along the upper floor where it was neatly stacked, ready for distribution to those in need

Within half an hour the job was done, Siobhan gave out the remaining croissants at a nearby pub, and John and Jacqui got to Hampstead in time. Well done everyone, and welcome to the very patient Ali-John, on his first good deed. We promise not to keep you waiting 45 minutes next time!

12 GoodGymers caught sixty spring–sun–shining minutes in Camden!

Under bright blue skies — and as rush hour pushed into twilight — lovely people started arriving at the Cecil Sharp House garden yesterday evening.

Some were dressed in red and everyone looked locked and ready for some form of altruistic action!

First we said a big hello to our three new faces 👉 welcome to the group, Giulia, Maggie, and Sarah!!

Second we said hello to our regular faces 👉 great to see you Ariane, Helen, Jackie, John, Karen, Siobhan, Theo, and Thierry!

And third... we played Simon Says!

Which loosened our limbs and prepared us perfectly for the wonderful difference this group made:

💚 Every yard and metre (even every inch!) of pathway was swept free of litter and blossom

💚 Sackfuls of weeds from nooks and crannies were plucked ready for composting

💚 Bundles of leaves and debris disappeared leaving the greenhouse space spic and span

Thank you, everyone! See you soon!

P.S. Thank you to Ariane for the many photos!

P.P.S. Thank you for Theo for taking the group photo!