Steve Lee

It would be great to see as many red t-shirts as possible along the route and in the finish area to spread the word about all the good we are doing in the borough.

There's plenty of options to choose from, including marshals, barcode scanners, finish tokens and tail walker. See what's available on the volunteering page and don't forget to email catford@parkrun.com to confirm which volunteering role you'd like to do.

Don't forget about the post-Parkrun coffee at the cafe in the park!

Molly (my dog) will also be in attendance in her GoodGym bandana

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.

The sun wasn't quite shining for us but it wasn't pouring with rain which I'd say was an improvement in weather and required no one to be testing the waterproofness of their jackets.

We were heading to our favourite pocket garden, Luxmore Gardens, to continue tackling the weeds that have overtaken the plants in the flower beds and to begin mulching the weeded areas to protect our hard work.

There was lots to get stuck into and after a quick briefing on what to remove and the priorities, armed with tools we got stuck in.

We had groups clearing the weeds across various flower beds and a team of Miguel and Isaac moving the mulch back and forth (and sweeping up after the final bag was filled). Fantastic work team, we made a huge difference in a short space of time?

How many Goodgymers stood on the plastic frog thinking it was a real frog? Answers in the comments!

We'll be back at Luxmore Gardens in 2 weeks to continue what we've started and there maybe an option for some painting!

At the weekend we have the potential for multiple good deeds on Saturday (or just the 1): - Litter picking at Catford Parkrun @ 10.00 - Helping in the garden at St Mary's Church @ 10.30

[spoiler alert] Expect a lot of cat photos in this run report.

On a progressively sunnier June day, five intrepid GoodGymmers got to work helping out this regular Lewisham GoodGym activity. All the while, closely inspected and cutely interrupted by the resident cat.

A huge welcome to David, here for his very first GoodGym event, and a huge welcome back from a pre-pandemic hiatus to Nasmia! Both were joined by Lewisham regulars Marta, Julian and Steve who arrived from volunteering / running at Hilly Fields Parkrun just nearby.

Resident gardening expert Sue quickly showed us the ropes, giving us a tour of the front and back gardens and pointing out all the tasks to be done.

Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust empowers young homeless women, providing hostel accommodation and support to develop self-respect, independence and purpose. It's an amazing institution that really gives us paws for thought, and it means a lot to help take care of their garden.

Under the watchful eye of a friendly grey cat, Nasmia got to work weeding and clearing up around some palms, Marta, Julian and David tidied up a patio space in front of the studio building while Steve tested his geometric eyeballing by attempting to turn a yew tree into a cube tree.

Sue as ever provided lovely cups of tea and snacks, and with a final push to tidy and load up the composting bins we were ready to say our farewells and head off for the rest of our long weekends. Join us next time, or sign up for one of our group runs!