Leaonie, Julia and I joined Ian and the Friends of Beckenham Green to help lay the foundation for a new nature trail 🍂 near the churchyard.

We cleared dense herbaceous planting (I learned something new today! These are plants without woody stems 🪵) from the paths that will form the trail, and will someday soon be covered with bark chippings. To help adult walkers, secateurs helped us cut back any trees whose branches hindered passage through the trail.

We found many old bits of branches that had fallen into the growth, too, and took those over to the compost bin to be worked down and made useful again 🙂

A real difference was made by all - thanks so much for joining! 🚀

We'll be back at the Green on Saturday 18th May - sign up here!

Spring is in the air 🌱 as we returned to Beckenham Green on a blue-sky ☀️ (if a bit crisp) March Saturday. This month we were helping the Friends of Beckenham Green clear the large brick planters of weeds, ready for the council to plant new shrubs and flowers 🌷 this week. A huge welcome 🎉 to first time 1️⃣ Goodgym-ers Emma and Tom! After receiving a GoodGym flyer a few weeks ago, they were keen to see what we were all about and got stuck into our Community Mission 😎

After we gloved up Ian, the Friends' lead, pointed out the shrubs that could be left in place, and handed out trowels so we could dig deep and get all the pesky roots out of the greenery that needed to go, otherwise it'll come back hard.

Kate admitted her weed-distinguishing skills need work 😅, and opted to hold the black bag against the wind 🌬️ as the rest of us began sifting through the soil. A grand total of 16 volunteers (!) were in play, meaning we got through the four planters in just under an hour 🚄

With our task done, we posed for a photo and parted ways, job well done ✅ Nice work, team!

The first task of GoodGym Bromley's Super Saturday! At Beckenham Green we were tasked with clearing autumnal leaves from some plant beds to help the new bulbs break through as Spring nears. Millie grabbed the rake whilst Laura and Fiona dug in and pulled out last year's sheddings, and I bagged up behind them. Between us and the Friends we produced 8 black bags - amazing! They'll all be composted on the Green ready to fertilise the ground again.

We even got featured on the local Facebook - nice recognition, team 😊

After a super rainy Friday, it was wonderful to wake up to a fresh, sunny Saturday morning ☀️ and a working session down at Beckenham Green. Joining Ian and the Friends group were some first time GoodGymers - Julia, Jenny and Jim - welcome! 👋

So many were we that we got our own special task - clearing up leaves and mud from the side of the paths and putting them in bags to be composted in the Green's composter. There were a LOT, but we convinced Ian we could get those paths cleared. Angela, Julia and Stephen used a rake and broom 🧹 to bag up the leaves, while Jenny and Jim brought the old compost bags out of the composter so that our new ones could be loaded. We picked up so many leaves that there wasn't room to compost them. Instead we put them into the fenced off area to decompose naturally, but at least they won't bother pedestrians now 🙂

Ian was very happy with our work, and I'm sure the Green users will be too.

After a couple of months away from Beckenham Green for the winter, we returned to help the Friends plant some new saplings, right some that had fallen astray, and push back some ivy that was making itself a bit too at home. It didn't rain while we were there but the drizzle of the last few days made the soil really nice to work with!

Mark joined for his first Beckenham Green session, and it was George's first ever GoodGym task - welcome!

We found two existing saplings that were starting to bud, and named them appropriately ^^ (photos included).

Thanks for the help - we'll head back to the Green in April!

Our second session at Beckenham Green, with more firepower! Nick brought his friend Matthew from Woolwich - you were very welcome.

We started off clearing some leaves from a path with rakes, then used a spade to remove some mud that had accumulated underneath. It looks much nicer and more accessible now, and there were plenty of people walking through the Green today who I'm sure appreciated it.

Our second task of the morning was to help clear brambles and ivy from a patch of the Green. Brambles grow back fast, so we used forks to lift out the root of the plant too - Nick got a big catch! These were all thrown on a pile and before we finished up we cut them up to fit inside bin bags ready to be taken away.

Many hands make light work and the Friends thanked us for our efforts. There are exciting plans for the Green next year, so look out for more sessions in the near future.