Islington Council
74 GoodGymers have supported Islington Council with 12 tasks.
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So FIR So Good
Monday 8th January
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
On an absolutely Baltic evening (2 degrees and threatening to snow!), 5 intrepid Goodgymmers met at the Arsenal Community Hub for Goodgym Islington's annual Christmas tree pick-up task! We began with a dynamic warm up on the Emirates Stadium slopes (much appreciated considering the weather!) before heading towards Whistler Street, and onwards towards Highbury Fields. Area Activator Simon even found a tree on route, and scaled a solid ascent and descent before dropping it off at the designated Islington council drop point outside the Highbury Leisure Centre.
Perhaps he was training for our next Goodgym Race Team: Met League Cross Country Fixture in Welwyn Garden City on Saturday 13th January?
Upon our arrival, we split up into two groups- team 1 (Alison and Byron) headed to the North of the park, while team 2 (Paul and Adam) ran South, on the search of discarded Christmas trees. Within 20 minutes, we were able to drop off 5 trees from the surrounding area, ready to be recycled!
For the last part of our session, we decided to run to Paradise Park, by Freightliner's Farm to try a new area for Xmas tree pick-ups. This proved to be a great idea, as we found a Massive Christmas Tree in a church yard on route, and proceeded in directing this tree down McKenzie Road! Great job team! 4 more trees were discovered while we were making our way over, bringing our number to 10 recycled Xmas Trees on a very cold Monday evening. Wonderful work all!
Goodgym Islington News
St Mungo's Hilldrop House Group Run
Monday 15th January, 6.45pm, Emirates Stadium
Our next group run will be a return trip to St Mungo's Hilldrop House to continue our fine gardening help around the resident entrance for this important homelessness response centre.
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/group-run-st-mungo-s-hilldrop-house-2
ON Running and JENKI run club- Thursday morning matcha runs!
Every Thursday, 7am, ON Running Spitalfields, Brushfield Street
Area Activator Simon has set up a series of morning runs, hosted every Thursday morning at the new ON Running store in Spitalfields market.
A social 5km before work, with the option to take out a pair of ON Running shoes for a test spin. Followed by complimentary matcha and hot drinks provided by the team at JENKI, Brushfield Street.
First run on Thursday 11th January:
GoodGym London - January Social- Market Halls Canary Wharf
Friday 12th January, 6.30pm, Market Halls Canary Wharf
Our next all boroughs social will be held at the awesome Market Halls London venue next to the new Elizabeth Line station in Canary Wharf. Excellent food, plenty of refreshments and good times!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/goodgym-london-january-social
Run Tour of Islington Parks #2- ON Running Group Run
Tuesday 16th January, 6pm, ON Running Spitalfields, Brushfield Street
Did you know that the borough of Islington contains 121 listed green spaces according to The Green Classroom?
To celebrate a great year with Goodgym Islington, Area Activator Simon will be planning a social run to visit as many of these as possible within 45 - 60 minutes! We are planning to continue this project over the month of January, to see if we can visit every Islington green space during Goodgym runs.
Post Group Run Social- Happy January!
Monday 29th January, 8.45pm, Memsaab Islington
Following our final group run of the January Challenge, and Frannie from Octopus Community Network's last Goodgym task, we are planning on visiting Memsaab Indian restaurant for delicious curry and refreshments!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/post-group-run-social-memsaab-islington-happy-january
Time to tackle that town trash
Thursday 18th May 2023
Written by Redbridge runner
Once again I went to perform a litterpick in my local area. This time, and given the relatively warm weather, there was a lot more to pick up! The weather seems to bring out the best and worst in people. I had a major haul this time and filled three plastic bags full of litter. Usual culprits were cigarette butts...I thought litterbugs had moved on to tossing their e-cigs 🤔 One spot where people hide their rubbish is behind the telephone cabinets, so I used my litterpicker to reach these. I spent a good hour clearing my local streets and deposited rubbish in the nearby large bins. A nice job to do while listening to a podcast and taking your mind off a work day.
A Perfect Monday Evening Pick-me-up
Monday 6th March 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
5 Goodgymmers joined Area Activator Simon for our slightly drizzly Monday evening group run session yesterday evening (Alex and Paul ran over, and Benedict and Zoe arrived on bikes). Great to have Benedict back after a few months away in Mexico! We performed a warm-up together on the Emirates Stadium slopes (involving dips, lunges, springs and twists), and run together towards the Hilldrop Estate, Camden Road.
Plogging
Plogging is a combination of jogging with picking up litter (merging the Swedish verbs plocka upp (pick up) and jogga (jog) gives the new Swedish verb plogga, from which the word plogging derives).[1] It started as an organized activity in Sweden around 2016 and spread to other countries in 2018, following increased concern about plastic pollution. As a workout, it provides variation in body movements by adding bending, squatting and stretching to the main action of running, hiking, or walking.
"Plogging Wikipedia entry"
Our task this evening was one that AA Simon had planned for quite a while- a guerrilla litter pick on the roadside between the Camden and Islington boroughs. This particular spot, located near Hilldrop House outreach, the former Holloway Road prison site and The Cat and Mouse Library (named after the "Cat and Mouse Act to prevent force feeding of hunger strike protesters within the suffragette movement), has become a windblock for litter and refuse from the connecting neighborhoods. A lot of the roadside is lined with hedgerows as well, habitats for the wildlife around North London.
Luckily, we had some excellent folding litter pickers, sturdy gloves and refuse bags to hand and committed to 35 minutes of picking along the roadside. 6 large bags were collected within a short time, and we were so happy to take a lot of this debris from the streets!
Upon our return to the Emirates Stadium, we hosted our monthly Arsenal Stadium Time Trial, a personal challenge to run around the 700m loop of the stadium concourse as fast as possible. The rain had stopped just early enough to make the conditions perfect for speedy running. Excellent work everyone!
Crouch Hill Christmas!
Sunday 15th January 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Upon our arrival at Thornby's Coffee Stand in Elthorne Park, Simon, Alison and Louise met with Audrey and Sam (and a lovely friendly puppy dog called "Swan" who was interested in what we were up to) and we eventually found the well hidden Islington Council official Christmas Tree Drop Off point.
Our intention for the morning was to pick up as many trees as possible from the area surrounding Sussex Way, Crouch Hill and Archway- generally areas on a slope, where access to these Christmas Tree drop points are difficult for residents, and where some of the estates are hard to access by council refuse vehicles. All collected Christmas Trees will be chipped and re-purposed for community garden projects in the borough.
Our team spent 50 minutes to scour the area, and retrieved 10 trees from awkward areas, successfully filling up the drop off point. Great work everyone!
Crim-bonus Xmas Tree Pick-ups
Monday 9th January 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
On Monday evening, Area Activator Simon welcomed 11 Goodgymmers at The Emirates Stadium (including first timer Sara and a few familiar faces from a few years back- good to see you all!) for one of our first sessions back after the Christmas break. We had spend our Xmas breaks in lovely places like Croydon, Yorkshire, Sussex and Oxford, staying away from the ominous lurgee to the best of our abilities!
After a warm up on the slope connecting to the stadium concourse, our crew made their way towards Highbury Fields via the Whistler Street slopes, and down to the Better Leisure Centre on Highbury Crescent. Upon our arrival, we found an official Islington Council Christmas Tree drop off point, ready to be filled with discarded trees. Our three teams (Tree-mendous Troop, The North Stars and The Tree Team) arranged to cover the North, East and West of the Highbury and Islington borough to find trees and to bring them the drop spot within 40 minutes.
Christmas trees are like buses. Nothing for ages, and multiple ones come at one! Within the last 10-15 minutes of our session, our teams were able to dispatch 18 fully grown and very heavy trees into the official drop point with the power of team work. Great job everyone!
NEWS & UPCOMING SESSIONS
Achilles International VI Guide Running Group Runs
Every Thursday, Achilles International (an all abilities running charity) host their a group session for visually impaired runners and guides of all abilities. These sessions are in mostly hazard free locations, easily accessible via public transport, and a great way to try guiding on a regular basis!
During the winter months, we run our sessions at Paddington Rec Track in Maida Vale, and The Emirates Stadium concourse in Islington, alternating from week to week. In Summer, we will also run in Green Park.
Our next session will be at Paddington Rec on Thursday 12th January, meeting at Maida Vale underground for 6pm:
And then The Emirates Stadium on Thursday 19th January, meeting at Arsenal underground for 6pm:
January Starter Session 1: Caledonian Park junior parkrun volunteering / Crouch End Open Space
On Sunday 15th January, Area Activator Simon will be leading a weekend group run opportunity between two of our favourite community missions! 3-4 miles of social running between Cally Road and Crouch End.
Task 1: Volunteering at Caledonian Road junior parkrun
Junior parkrun is a 2km free weekly time trial designed to allow youngsters aged 4-14 years old to run independently and safely in a social setting. The team are always looking for course marshals, time keepers, barcode scanners and tail walkers to help out on a Sunday morning!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/january-group-run-starter-session-caledonian-park-junior-parkrun
Task 2: CREOS aka Crouch End Open Space
After our task in Caledonian Park, we will run to Crouch End Open Space to help the local volunteer group (Friends of CREOS) with building and repairing the forest paths between Highgate and Muswell Hill, ready for spring time. The team are known for finishing a volunteering day with a picnic and refreshments in the Hanley Tennis Club Carpark, so worth signing up just for this!
11am - 1pm in Hanley Tennis Club Carpark, Crouch End:
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-january-2023
January Starter Session 2: Highbury Fields junior parkrun / Penn Road Gardens
On Sunday 29th January, Area Activator Simon will be leading another group run between two of our favourite regular weekend tasks. 2 miles of social running between Highbury Fields junior parkrun and Penn Road Gardens.
Task 1: Highbury Fields junior parkrun volunteering
The Highbury Fields junior parkrun team are looking for keen helpers to assist with the running of their free weekly timed 2km run for youngsters and their families. A great way to start a Sunday morning!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/january-group-run-starter-session-highbury-fields-junior-parkrun
Task 2- Penn Road Gardens
The residents of Penn Road Gardens will be hosting their monthly open volunteering morning just off Caledonian Road. The team have been maintaining a beautiful green spot over the winter months, and preparing fresh compost throughout the year ready for Spring. Come on down for a lovely green fingered Sunday morning task!
10am-12pm on Sunday 29th January, Penn Road Gardens.
Goodgym Islington January Social!
On Monday 30th January, after our group run to Thornhill Square Gardens, we will be visiting Mesi's Kitchen Ethiopian Restaurant for some delicious warming and wholesome food and refreshments. A great opportunity to catch-up and wrap up the January Challenge!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/january-challenge-social-mesi-s-kitchen-holloway-road
Sprucing up the neighbourhood
Sunday 12th January 2020
Written by Liam
No one has plans on a Sunday night - fact. Over a dozen GoodGymers from a number of boroughs seized the opportunity to do some good - before pressing their smalls ahead of another working week. From base camp at Highbury Fields, runners from Islington, Harringey and Lambeth (really) pounded the sleepy streets in search of spruce trees that had served their merry purpose in December and were now ready for a date with the chipper. At first we couldn’t see the trees for the actual living things under the streetlights of leafy Highbury. Soon we realised that considerate locals were keeping the Norwegian Wood off the pavements. With permission, we liberated a small forest’s worth - 30 trees in all - from front gardens and bin areas. We carried in pairs, held trees aloft and even dragged the heftiest of the finds. Run leader Simon wasn’t just dazzled by his head torch as the recycling area filled up. And we all went home with a spring in our step - to make our healthy and elaborate packed lunches.
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