After a drizzly start, the rain eased off just in time for a final push to clear the pile of wood chip that The Blenheim Arpley Estate Residents Association and GG teams have been chipping away at (pun intended) since the summer. In just over an hour, we redistributed many wheelbarrows' worth of chip across the various plant beds, taking extra care around the new spring shoots that have started popping up. Extra points definitely go to Mark for his speedy wheelbarrow manoeuvring skills! Nice to get a job done :)

GoodGymers Mark and Linda found a satisfying way of using surplus woodchip at Blenheim Arpley Estate when we spotted 25 recently planted saplings in need of tender loving care. The slender young trees – currently ‘sleeping’ before springtime arrives – all had protective guards but, after struggling to grow during last year’s heatwaves, several had become weakened or uprooted. Working with a small but mighty team of local residents, we used shovels and wheelbarrows to add a generous circle of mulch around each sapling to enrich the soil and prevent evaporation, holding important moisture around their roots over coming weeks. Special shout out to the youngest member of the crew who enthusiastically tackled all tasks… replanting stricken trees, replacing missing stakes and guards, adding mulch… and even had energy left for litter picking. Other areas of the community garden also received a tidy covering of woodchip and we will be back another time soon to finish shifting the rest of the pile. Smashing effort everyone!

Brenda, thanks for volunteering today at Crystal Palace junior parkrun. Your efforts are greatly appreciated by us and all the parkrunners

As is customary in the south eastern pocket of London known as Crystal Palace, the first GoodGym session of the year was a Christmas Tree Scavenger Hunt - clearing the streets, reducing waste going to landfill/incineration and saving others a job.

Our team of 5 were in high spirits to start with until no trees appeared...

Fortunately, a good 45 minutes after starting our mission, one tree presented itself to us!

And then minutes later, nestled inside someone's garden... another! We nicked it anyway and shifted them up the road to the tree-cycling spot in/surrounding Mayow Park where they will be churned up into woodchip. Nice.

Top work gang. See you next year?

Brenda, thanks for volunteering today at Crystal Palace junior parkrun. Your efforts are greatly appreciated by us and all the parkrunners

Brenda, thanks for volunteering today at Crystal Palace junior parkrun. Your efforts are greatly appreciated by us and all the parkrunners