Octopus Communities
122 GoodGymers have supported Octopus Communities with 48 tasks.
Top supporters
Upcoming sessions
Saturday 4th May 2024 10:30am - 12:00pm
Previous sessions
Allot of Compost
Saturday 6th April
Written by Dan Dunn (He/ him)
We carried and wheelbarrowed 30 bags of compost to Fran's allotment, where the vegetables grown will be given to the local foodbank.
Through an obstacle course of narrow paths, hills, brambles and mud we reached the most farthest allotment, and what a view!
At the end of the task Fran managed to glitch my phone and take a vertical panoramic, but also a normal one too.
Eager Easter Efforts at Highbury Quadrant Meadow
Friday 29th March
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
We were thrilled to have a great turn out for a quick turnaround request from Frannie and the lovely team at Highbury Quadrant Estate Gardens.
The crew received a very generous amount of quality compost from a supplier in Essex, who was courteous enough to drop it off in person. So we put out a call out for strong helpers to assist with distributing the compost into newly prepared vegetable plots and flower beds across the gardens. Anne, Dan and David also helped with spreading the compost evenly across the beds using shovels and hoes, ready for springtime planting by local residents.
Wonderful work everyone. Have a lovely Easter break!
Canal pals
Wednesday 16th August 2023
Written by John Shirley
For the second time in three days, GoodGym assisted Frannie and Marianne from Octopus Community Network, removing some large, dry plants to leave space for the nicer ones., and making the canal-side space nicer for everyone.
Watering Cans and Birthday Candles
Monday 17th July 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Area Activator Simon was thrilled to welcome 9 runners at the Arsenal Community Hub this Monday, particularly as he was sharing Birthday Celebrations with fellow Goodgym regular Caitlin. Our crew had a good catch up before heading out (Simon and Alison had both run rabbit related trail races in different parts of the country over the weekend), and we began our session with a solid warm up on the slopes before running towards Tufnell Park Plant Nursery just off Holloway Road.
Upon our arrival, Caitlin let us into this beautiful gated garden space (maintained by local volunteers and Octopus Community Network), and got straight to work. Paul, Benedict and Katie gave the entire garden space a really good sweep and tidy- collecting fallen leaves and composting accordingly. The back section behind a gorgeous poly-tunnel (full of squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and courgettes) needed quite a bit of sorting, and these guys made short work of it!
The rest of our crew proceeded to water a selection of the gardens- with the intention of really drenching the planters surrounding the community plots, to ensure that water reaches the roots of these particular vegetables. Watering cans were distributed by Sarah and Michelle, while Sarah sprayed down multiple beds using the hose provided. Half-way through the evening, we had emptied all of the water contained in the water butts, and Alison took charge of filling up our watering cans using the mains tap outside the gardens, so we could finish the task!
Together, we ran back to The Emirates Stadium (passing the lovely Old Firehouse Community Hub near Pakeman Street on route), and almost all of our team joined us for our post-group run social at Wolkite Ethiopean Restaurant on Hornsey Road (https://www.wolkiterestaurant.com/) for absolutely delicious cuisine. Well done everyone!
NEWS
Achilles International VI Guiding Group Runs- Paddington Rec Track
Thursday 20th July, 6pm, Green Park Underground Station
Our weekly group running session with the awesome visually impaired runners at Achilles International returns to Paddington Rec Track in Maida Vale. Open for guide runners of all abilities, and new potential guides are very welcome! Dog watchers and bag drop helpers encouraged!
Dartford Orienteers- Parkrace Series- Wick Woodland
Tuesday 25th July, 6.30-8.30pm, Lord Napier Star Pub, Hackney Wick
The London orienteering community have been setting up some really great events in different boroughs of the city- "localised" social challenges that are particularly good for new starters over summer. The series is concluding with a final event in Hackney Wick, and you are very welcome to give it a go!
Sign up in advance using the link below for either a long course (5km total distance for a perfect line) or a short course (2.5km), and a rental for a chip card for recording your times.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/x
---------------------------------------------
Goodgym x Achilles International- Bushy parkrun visit
Saturday 22nd July, 8.30am, Bushy Park, Hampton
Achilles International, the all abilities sports group, are planning on attending the original "free weekly timed 5km time trial", more commonly known as "Bushy parkrun" in Hampton.
We are looking to invite potential running guides (for various paces) and those interested in the world of guide running (especially anyone happy to volunteer and cheer on the course) to come and join us! https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/achilles-international-x-goodgym-bushy-parkrun
Penn Road Gardens Open Morning (July)
Sunday 30th July, 10am-12 midday, Penn Road Gardens
An invitation to help this lovely community garden space near Caledonian Road over Summer. Often complimented with mugs of tea and coffee!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/penn-road-gardens-open-morning-july
Orion Harriers Forest Five Summer Series: Race 3
Saturday 5th August, 10:00am - 12:00pm, Orion Harriers Club House, Chingford Come and join the Orion Harriers for this awesome and affordable trail race (concluding the Summer series in Epping Forest). 5 miles through fields and greenery (and friendly wildlife)- highly recommended!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/orion-harriers-forest-five-summer-series-race-3 —--------------------------------------
GROUP RUN- Elizabeth House Food Hub Helpers- and 4 years of AA Simon
Monday 7th August, 6.45pm, Arsenal Community Hub
On Monday evening, we will be helping with deliveries to families and isolated individuals around the Islington borough for Elizabeth House- a super busy hub near Gillespie Road. https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/group-run-elizabeth-house-food-hub-summer-holiday-helpers-2
And afterwards we will be celebrating Area Activator Simon's 4 year anniversary as the leader for Goodgym Islington, with a trip to Someday Canteen in Finsbury Park.
Cooler than Cucumbers!
Monday 26th June 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
4 intrepid Goodgym runners (including first time attendee Steven- welcome!) met at the Arsenal Community Hub after a very very warm weekend. Our team had run trails over in the Forest of Dean, guided visually impaired runners at a local sports day and generally enjoyed the Glastonbury festivities from home with BBQ cooking delicacies. We started our run with a warm up on the Emirates slopes, sticking to dynamic movements and raising the heart rate with plyometric springs and activations. From here, we ran further North onto Eburne Street (the location of The Swimmer N4- the fantastic pub we visited last week after our group run, and good spot for meeting friendly cats), and towards the Tufnell Park Plant Nursery, a hidden gem of a community garden spot off Holloway Road.
Upon our arrival, Area Activator Simon opened up the locks, and let our crew in. The space is a collaborative project between Octopus Community Network, and the residents of Hollis House estate, but is open for anyone who would like to be involved. There is a fully functional poly-tunnel for vegetables, and many many planters dedicated to cultivating new greenery. That said, a lot of care and maintenance is required to keep the plants and veggies fit and healthy- regular watering in particular! So our Goodgym objective for the evening was to completely soak "Area 2 - all planters surrounding the poly-tunnel, the mini-meadow and the horse-shoe plot" over the course of an hour, to ensure that we get to the roots!
This proved to be a lovely relaxing task, with Benedict and Steven using watering cans filled from the water butt for the flower beds, and Luke spraying the larger plots with a hose, while filling up more cans. We did a really efficient job between us, and will certainly return very soon for more watering tasks!
Great job everyone. We will be back for more group running next week, visiting Hilldrop House Community Hub for some serious garden clear-up!
Sign up here:
NEWS
Achilles International VI Guiding Group Runs- Green Park
Thursday 29th June, 6pm, Green Park Underground Station
Our weekly group running session with the awesome visually impaired runners at Achilles International returns to Green Park. Open for guide runners of all abilities, and new potential guides are very welcome! Dog watchers and bag drop helpers encouraged!
Orion Harriers Forest Five Trail Race (no.2)
Saturday 1st July, 10am, Orion Harriers Club House, Chingford
An absolute bargain! Amazing Epping Forest trail races hosted by the Mighty Orion Harriers. All abilities and paces welcome!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/orion-harriers-forest-five-summer-series-race-2
Compton Terrace Gardens Open Volunteering Morning
Saturday 1st July, 10am, Union Chapel
Our lovely monthly community gardening morning with the Friends of Compton Terrace Gardens. A perfect post-parkrun community mission (not far from Finsbury park or Highbury Fields)
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/compton-terrace-gardens-volunteer-open-morning-july
—-----------------------------------------
Goodgym x Achilles International- Bushy parkrun visit
Saturday 22nd July, 8.30am, Bushy Park, Hampton
Achilles International, the all abilities sports group, are planning on attending the original "free weekly timed 5km time trial", more commonly known as "Bushy parkrun" in Hampton.
We are looking to invite potential running guides (for various paces) and those interested in the world of guide running (especially anyone happy to volunteer and cheer on the course) to come and join us! https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/achilles-international-x-goodgym-bushy-parkrun
Could be dryer for flyers?
Monday 24th April 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Area Activator Simon was joined by Benedict and Katie for a spot of flyering for the Highbury Quadrant Residents Association, near Clissold Park. It was a pretty wet evening, but our Goodgym legends were not deterred in the slightest! Our objective was to drop off as many leaflets regarding an upcoming Coronation Weekend Picnic Party as possible, relieving some of the pressure from the usual volunteers by running up and down many housing blocks.
We were super efficient in our flyer distribution strategy- between us, kne runner would scale a block to floor 5, another runner would do floors 4 and 3, and our last runner would cover floors 2 and 1- and then we would rotate. This proved to be really effective and good fun! Within an hour, we did a smashing job of covering almost every household on Highbury New Park.
NEWS
Next week is a Bank Holiday, but Goodgym Islington will still be going ahead!
Our plan is to start and finish at an alternative location- The Gym Group on Caledonian Road, Shearing Way. A bag drop will be available, but no toilets or changing facilities. After the Bank Holiday (1st May and 8th May), we will return to The Arsenal Community Hub.
GROUP RUN- Caledonian Park Veg Box Prepping and Cally Road Time Trial
Monday 1st May, 6.45pm, The Gym Group Caledonian Road
Come and join us for a lovely task with Miriam and the Friends of Caledonian Park- a classic lifting and shifting job, filling soil and fertiliser into newly constructed vegetable boxes.
Afterwards, we will be hosting our first "Cally Park Time Trial", a 600m spin around the park, following the junior parkrun course, timed by AA Simon. All paces and abilities encouraged and welcomed!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/group-run-cally-park-veg-bed-planting
Track Attack goes to Victoria Dock!
Sunday 7th May, 11am, The Good Hotel, Victoria Dock
Our monthly Sunday morning time trial will be hosted at the awesome Victoria Dock (by the Excel Centre). 5km and/or 1 mile distances will be available to run as part of our social timed running event. Runners of all abilities and paces welcome!
We always finish with coffee and breakfast too!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/track-attack-coronation-weekend-workout-at-victoria-dock
GROUP RUN- The ARC Centre Foodbank Flyering
Monday 8th May, 6.45pm, The Gym Group Caledonian Road
Another Bank Holiday group run, this time joining our friends at The ARC Centre near De Beauvoir. We will be distributing flyers regarding news about the foodbank project within the Packington Estate.
Sign up here for more information:
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/group-run-the-arc-centre-foodbank-flyering
Crouch End Open Space- Forest Path Building
Sunday 21st May- 11am to 1pm- Crouch End
On Sunday, we will be returning to one of our favourite local community missions- CREOS aka Crouch End Open Space- a forest path building and maintenance session with the Friends of CREOS and The Conservation Volunteers. We will be looking after the beautiful woodland walk way between Highgate and Muswell Hill. Often combined with a picnic provided by Crouch End residents!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-may-2023
Night of the 10,000m PBs- The highlight of the UK Athletics calendar year- here in London!!!!
Saturday 20th May, 2-10pm, Parliament Hill Track
The most incredible event in UK track racing returns to Parliament Hill for 2023- hosted by Ben Pochee and Highgate Harriers.
The absolute elite of UK and European 10,000m endurance distance racing will be competing live for places on the Commonwealth Games roster and other incredible opportunities. It will be a free party for anyone interested in the running scene (and most importantly an introduction for non-runners too!).
Check it out here, you won't regret it!!!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/night-of-the-10-000m-pbs-saturday-show-time-volunteers
Loading...
