We started the evening at the Bridge House, welcoming Ella to the group, who's been back running for about a year now and was looking for a way to help out and get more involved locally when Goodgym mention popped up for inspiration. We got onto the serious business of favourite ice cream flavours, inspired by a local small business who make proper posh ice cream from oat milk. Lots of fancy choices followed, from miso caramel to blood orange to pistachio, what a varied and cultured bunch :) A short chatty run to Cator Park, just stopping for a little active stretchy warm-up in Penge. Then onto the task - redoing the butterfly scrape started last year but that needed a bit more help to really get it going for next summer. So we all set at it with forks and rakes and hoes (and a bit of giggling). Me, I can't help thinking of the Thundercats when someone says 'hoe'. Hmmm, should probably have kept that to myself! Under Millie's cheery expert instruction we dug and turned the pebbly ground, then some of us sprinkled on wildflower seeds and covered over with a bit more earth - as we could feel the birdies beady eyes from somewhere in the darkness just waiting to swoop in for the tasty seeds. Back to the Bridge House in smaller groups after, bit of a cool down stretch while hearing the fun of Drag Bingo going on inside. Can't wait to see what this butterfly job at the park looks like next summer!

This morning I was back with Viv, Lumin, and a small group of dedicated local volunteers to help prep the Silverdale planters for winter and next spring!

Though it started off wet, the skies soon cleared, giving us the perfect window to get to work. We spent the session cutting back and pruning the plants to help them stay strong through the colder months, along with a little planting.

We added two Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ plants on the slope next to the planters. Insider knowledge from Lumin: ‘Hot Lips’ are part of the sage family—rub the leaves and give them a sniff for a fragrant surprise! 🌱

We also relocated some perennial sunflowers 🌻 from one bed to another to ensure both areas get a burst of tall, dramatic yellow flowers next year.

We’ll be back next month to keep the planters in shape for the seasons ahead—join us! 🌦️🌼

Saturday started very wet, so it was even odds whether the task may go ahead. I soldiered over to Beckenham Green to make sure that GoodGym had representation, and thankfully the rain abated enough for some work to be done :)

Just Ian, leader of the Friends group, and one other came along today, but we still managed to plant some daffodil and allium bulbs and sweep and bag some leaves on the path, making for a short but effective task.

I'm looking forward to seeing those bulbs come up in a few months!

The rain held off just about long enough for us to get stuck in to our second task at Churchfields Recreation Ground this evening. We were met by the lovely Amanda (who brought snacks!) and set us to work sprucing up the area around Kendall Gate. The majority of us were pulling up weeds and neatening border edges while Stephen went to town with the loppers on some overgrown ivy. Meanwhile Catherine and Paul did a very professional (and rapid) job of painting over graffiti on fences at the entrance to the park.

Great work all!

On a crisp Sunday morning three Goodgymmers arrived at Betts Park to join the Friends of Betts Park to perform a variety of tasks.

We spread out across the park, litter picking and bulb planting.

Whilst planting the bulbs we can across an assortment of wild mushrooms pondering 🤔 which ones would be safe to eat.

After the bulbs were planted we moved onto the fence over looking the canal. We started the first section of the fence sanding down the old paint making it ready for a fresh coat of paint to be added a later date.

Packed away the tools and went off to enjoy the rest of Sunday.

Last night we had a variation on a longstanding task - instead of weeding at the Water Tower, we were to bag up rubble that we'd been separating for months from the green waste. The good news - it's to be reused! ♻️

We met at the Bridge House, and this week's question was - "What craft or fix have you done recently?". From DIY to computers, we've got a resourceful bunch at GoodGym!

We set off and climbed towards the top of Crystal Palace Park around the longer, north side, arriving at the Water Tower to meet David, our host for the evening.

The hardcore is to go to the Croydon Sailing Club to help build the foundations for their new clubhouse; cementing a new history for Brunel's historic Water Tower 📖

Bags provided, team GG attacked the rock piles and stacked up the loot to be moved this week. David was very grateful for our efficiency - many hands make light work and nowhere is it more true than GoodGym 🎉

We headed along the south side if the park and back to Bridge House to complete a loop of the park, a total of 4km and much uphill over the course of the evening.

Fab work, everyone! 😁