A big welcome to Sabrina and Marina, first time GoodGymers for today's task at Kelsey Park! 👋

Thankfully the rain had just about finished by the time we arrived and stayed away for the morning, enabling us and the Friends group to clear some brambles along the path by the waterside in the beds between benches. We managed to get some roots, but it was too soggy to try for some deeply embedded ones, and others were buried in amongst fir-like shrubs with needle leaves that were prickly to go between, so we had to settle for cutting other brambles back as far as we could.

We filled several wheelbarrows full, making a real difference to the beds that so many people walk by every day.

Great work, team!

I’d picked up a prescription for Ms J last week, but, alas, there was an item missing and one that wasn’t in stock. Everything was sorted out for today’s second attempt, she was happy and her dog was happy - it had barked at me last time but was much more friendly today.

As my other GG mission was cancelled today there was plenty of time to do some intervals on the way home - passing a blue plaque to a Russian Anarchist who lived in Bromley (not something you’d expect) and a sign 100 metres into an interval to star jump - so I did!

Sunday's task with the Friends of Kelsey Park was to tend to a woven fence of branches by the tennis courts. The plants whose stems are woven into the fence had grown tall and were ready to be harvested and top up the fence.

While we were there, we worked on some highly established brambles to stop them smothering the plants used for fence.

I was joined at this task by Georgina - welcome to GoodGym!

This week we were back at the silverdale planters, I joined Viv, Lumin, and a team of local volunteers for a an autumn tidy and some bulb planting! 🍂

With the season changing, we set to work deadheading the last of the summer blooms and tidying up any plants that had finished for the year. Along the way, we also collected seeds to store.

This week’s top tip from Lumin: Take photos of your bulbs in bloom over spring to see where they flowered best—then you’ll know exactly where to replant them next autumn!

The beds are now neat and refreshed. 🌷✨

A bit of mental maths practice was on the timetable this morning as Linda helped to set up tables and chairs for Bromley’s Disability Pride show... a quick multiplication sum told the volunteer team exactly how many rows were needed to seat the expected audience of at least 80 people, taking care to leave space for wheelchairs to move around the hall floor. Sara came along to help too and soon everything was ready for this free community event, which celebrates disabled talent and is hosted by local charity Experts by Experience (XbyX), run by and for deaf and disabled people.

My first good deed in a long while was a relaxing Sunday morning with the Friends of Kelsey Park. The group planned to weed near the top of the park by Beckenham High Street, and armed with a fork and secateurs, I got to work removing brambles that had grown huge since we tackled them last year.

My quarry included a huge 5m length and a bulb lodged deep inside another plant that was the base of many bramble branches - result!

Next meet is on Sunday 9th November :)