11 GoodGymers brought community (and muscle!) to this special North London green space!

Nestled between houses and flats in Holly Lodge Estate is a blossoming green space for the community.

Nurtured and designed by Growing Green (a wonderful charity) this vacant space is steadily becoming an actively loved space for everyone.

And we were there to lend a very helpful hand yesterday morning!

Our group of...

💚 Goodgym new starters Joanna, Krista, Mariama, and Philippa — a big welcome! 💚 GoodGymers from Tower Hamlets, Hammersmith, and beyond — Emma, Fiona, Ilana, James, and Kareem — it was great to see you! 💚 Camden GG regular Danny — it was fab seeing you!!

... made a HUGE difference in 90 busy minutes!

There was digging and weeding and planting and shifting materials and boxes and cutting trees and pruning branches, and our task host (Claudia) was truly AMAZED at how much you all did :)

Thank you so much for your work and energy, everyone! See you soon!

Mr T was keen to ensure that after a prolonged absence (Dr's orders and all that), I saw that the beef burgers were back on the list, so I was determined not to let him down! In spite of hunting high and low, only the more expensive version were available at Tesco, so I took the plunge in the hope that there would be sufficient funds for everything else...there was (just...yet again the amount you can buy at Lidl for not very much surprised me).

We then had a very lengthy chat about the state of world snooker, the poor quality of plumbers (and general handymen) these days, and the fact that Mr T had to endure three days without hot water this week (the latter two were connected...). Entertaining and informative as always.

Nice to see Ms F again after a while away. Heard about a successful shopping session and shared stories about my Christmas. Successful on the shopping front and came to well under budget. Only downside was the rain but I managed.

A wonderful 13 GoodGymers caught some social connection AND made a real difference in Camden!

While most Londoners hurried for the dry and the inside some Londoners (many dressed in red t shirts) were catching a different kind of Wednesday evening...

...and it started in Somers Town where Elisa (on their first good deed — welcome!), Jacob, Ivo, and Steve struck up a run and a conversation through evening bustle towards the American International Church...

...where they were met by not a few but many many many friendly faces 👉 including Ana, Ellen, and Fanny (all on their first good deeds — welcome!), and Alison, Caitlin, Ilana, Lydia, and Sarah!

We were on Tottenham Court Road to get everything ready for the AIC's weekly winter shelter 👉 cue shifting boxes, moving camp beds, finding duvets and sheets and covers, building tables, finding matching knives and forks, arranging toiletries, and more!

Thank you so much, everyone! Last night felt really joyful!

See you soon!

On a bright dry, but quite cold, Sunday morning, we joined the Friends of Mile End Park’s monthly litter pick. The task formed part of the January Challenge, giving runners a great opportunity to start the year with a positive impact on their local community and environment

We arrived one by one and joined volunteers from the Friends of Mile End Park, who organise regular clean-ups to help keep the park welcoming and enjoyable for everyone. Once we were all gathered by the Art Pavilion, there was a brief introduction and safety briefing from John of the Friends, we were equipped with litter pickers, gloves, and bags before heading to our allotted areas of the park

Working together, the team collected a wide range of litter, including food packaging, cans, bottles, and general waste that had built up over the winter months. Despite the chilly conditions, spirits were high thanks to good teamwork and plenty of conversation. The park is known for great potted woodpeckers, parakeets, robins, pairs of blue tits and water fowl, as well as snowdrops

Joining this task as part of the January Challenge was a brilliant reminder of what GoodGym is all about: combining physical activity with practical help for local communities. After an hour and half, many bags of rubbish had been filled, leaving the park cleaner and more pleasant for residents, visitors, and wildlife alike

It only remained to squeeze ourselves into the Coffee Room (actually bigger inside than out) for a deserved hot coffee and cake

My plan to get Mr T's Tesco shopping done first was foiled when I got to the Tesco to find the doors locked and a notice saying they'd suffered a serious network issue that meant they had to close the store temporarily - so as not to deprive Mr T of his soup, sardines and chicken slices I quickly set course for the nearby M&S, who, not for the first time saved the day, and then it was a really quick march in the cold up to Lidl for the rest...all's well that ends well.