James, James and I met Millie and Adi at the park, and set about brushing the flaky old paint off the last stretch of railings ready for the Friends to carry on painting this coming weekend.

With gloves and safety specs on, it's quite a satisfying task up close, watching the rusk and flakes fly off lit by torches! We did a whole long stretch of railings between the five of us, while catching up with Millie and her escapades all over the borough from bat talks to dog show announcing and planning permission for redesign and rebuild of the local clubhouse (which is shared by the bowls club, football club and park).

We started the task in daylight and finished in the dark, but were delighted to be reminded that soon it'll be time for planting sprint bulbs in both Alexandra Rec and Cator park (and doing this in the evening means less lost to squirrels :) So we'll be back soon!

Our merry band of community do-gooders, including two of the three area Jameses, met up for a bit of the change to the original plan. We always want to help with whatever's most important to the organisation we're helping.

So this time we dropped our weeding and painting tools and picked up our leaflet-delivery smiles and walking shoes.

Off we trotted around the Blenheim Arpley estate, saying hello to the residents of the blocks and letting them know their residents association can do good, help, give them a voice.

All very important with lots of development happening very close by, and very soon. And they need new members.

We delivered to almost every flat, and then dispersed into the dusk, to head home for dinner.

Thanks all and see you next time :)

Ok, ok that's a terrible pun, I know - and I didn't even see any dill :D

A brilliant six of us turned up to help at the church community garden this evening, and soon made short work of the tasks Jenny needed.

It's been such a dry summer that she called it 'damage limitation' for now - just trying to save the hardiest plants, prepare compost for fertiliser next year from those that didn't make it, and a bit of pruning and clearing the path.

With this number of hands we got lots done in our time there, while chatting about things like droughts adaptation using larger plants to shade, more mediterranean-y plants, and concentrating water on food plants.

Then it was time to say bye and each head off into the dusk, til next time.

Last month we started work on the basement storage room at Penge Congregational Church, clearing piles of old and worthless books to make extra storage space for community space. We came back to finish the job tonight, and with many hands we made light work! Not only did we shift books, but lots of assorted junk like old blinds and stage lights, creating space on racks and in a cupboard! In 30 mins we made a big difference to the room - fab work everyone!

The last 6 weeks have made a difference to the paths of the wildlife garden at the allotments: dry ground, super-ripe blackberries, and strong growth in the brambles.

We helped with two of these this evening by chopping back as many brambles as we could, and taste-testing a few berries that would otherwise have ended up at the bottom of the compost.

The self-confessed frog-fan/frog geek, Kat, also let Jeannette know that longer term the ponds will be healthier by having short spells like this where the pond dries out, as nasties like ranavirus can't survive without water so it 'cleans' the ponds ready for when the rains return.

We chopped and moved five barrows full of brambles from the path and behind the fence edges, and learned how these allotments also have plenty of community activities on AND we had a peek at where last year we'd cleared and dismantled the very solid chicken coops and plans are now being made for seating spots in the now grassy and clear space!

After helping the community hit all the right notes at Music in the Park, GoodGym volunteer Brenda joined the volunteer team for the pack-down after the jam-down, dismantling gazebos and bringing the tables to a close at Alexandra Recreation Ground. With many hands making light work, everything was folded, stacked and packed away in record time, ensuring the event ended on a high note. What a funday