7 GoodGymers climb Camden rooftops to taste some spring nature!

The Greenwood Centre in Kentish Town is a mix of levels — some close to the ground and others closer to the sky — with special community gardens on each!

And this wonderful group — Gary, Jackie, Karen, Loz, Mariam (on their first good deed — welcome!), and Thierry — made a meaningful difference in multiple spaces yesterday!

Having been met by our brilliant host, Catherine, this super productive crew:

💚 Removed (and saved!) a large and green (and exceptionally leafy) plant in need of a new home!

💚 Moved a heavy grit bin (along with upmteen sacks of gravel) to much more suitable spot!

💚 Cut and bagged a lot (an awful lot!) of green waste ready for composting!

💚 Transported a heavy (30, 30, 50KGs...!?) planter to a sunny new home!

💚 Watered garlic and spring flowers and all sorts of thirsty shoots!

Thank you, everyone!

P.S. Thank you, Thierry, for the wonderful rooftop photos!

Sometimes a community mission is all about big effort. And sometimes it’s about doing one small thing that makes a very real difference.

Yesterday I headed out of borough on my bike for a roughly 30-minute ride to a lovely part of Camden, where I met David from GoodGym Islington for a simple but important task: helping remove a bed frame and mattress from Ms V’s flat so they could be left outside for collection.

Ms V is living with dementia, and her friend was there to let us in and help coordinate things. The job itself was straightforward, but it was one of those classic GoodGym missions that reminds you how even a simple practical task can become a real obstacle for someone dealing with illness, disability or difficult circumstances.

Between the two of us, the bed was soon dismantled, moved out and ready for collection. Job done.

What made it even better was everything around the task: a good bike ride, a catch-up with David, and the chance for a post-mission coffee while reminiscing about previous GoodGym adventures. We both agreed that missions like this capture something special about GoodGym. The effort may be small, but the value is not. These acts are useful, social, friendly and quietly positive — the kind of thing that helps strengthen the tone of a community.

A bed moved, a problem solved, a bit of exercise, and a good chat along the way. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

A straightforward lunchtime mission to help Mr T with some shopping - his list neatly planned out with only a couple of clarifications required (particularly, what is a "Chicken Steak"? As a veggie, not wanting to come back anything too rogue from the meaty section) and instructions to source the longest lasting spinach possible.

A short trip round his local aisles, handy trolley in, er.. hand, and I was back at his flat with all shopping broadly successfully sourced. Unfortunately Mr T only has 3 days to eat his spinach, but I suppose that's better than 1 or 2! Great to have a little chat - covering a surprisingly wide range of topics given the time available - before heading back to the desk.

10 GoodGymers completed the final winter shelter shift of the season!

We've been helping build beds and set up dining rooms at the American International Church's Winter Shelter since November, and this week we arrived for our final shift of the season!

And we had a wonderful group for the task 👉 Caitlin, Charlie, Denzel (on their first GoodGym task — welcome!), Emily, Ivar (on tour from Greenwich — great to see you!), Paul, Steve, and Thierry !!

Having been welcomed by our fabulous host (and fellow GoodGymer!), Brooke, our experienced crew knew exactly what to do, and together (and with ease!) they:

❤️ Assembled, positioned, and dressed 11 beds ready and waiting for the evening's guests

❤️ Set 20 spaces for a (delicious-smelling) volunteer-cooked dinner

❤️ Did everything while connecting and chatting aplenty :)

Thank you, everyone! We will be back in the autumn!

Had a really nice catchup with Ms F this evening. I gave her an insight into what I’ve been up to at work. She talked me through a trip she has coming up. In terms of the shopping the cheese counter was still out of action but got everything else. Had nice chats with the lady behind the fish counter and the lady on the till.

Strangely all the shelves were bare of sardines in olive oil this week - surely this can't be blamed on what's happening in the Gulf? Fortunately Mr T's request for just one onion was more easily fulfilled thanks to his local Tesco - a stickler for not wasting food (I went home with two carrots), he was firm in his instructions that one was all he wanted, otherwise it would end in tears...