Octopus Community Network
Octopus Community Network is a collaboration between the largest multi-purpose community centres in Islington
We run lots of projects including 'We Can Grow' which encourages food growing on housing estates around Islington as well as engaging with residents to increase environmental literacy and access to outdoor spaces.85 GoodGymers have supported Octopus Community Network with 39 tasks.
Top supporters
Upcoming sessions
Saturday 4th May 2024 10:30am - 12:00pm
Monday 13th May 2024 6:45pm - 8:30pm
Previous sessions
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!
We all (milk) float on, alright
Monday 29th January
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
On a warm Monday evening, 8 keen Goodgymmers including first timers Mehmet and Martha joined us for a super pleasant run from Emirates Stadium, along McKenzie Road and over to Market Road Gardens (just on the border of Camden and Islington). Upon our arrival, we met with local gardening and green space expert Frannie Smith, who had agreed to spend here final session for Octopus Community Network with the Goodgym Islington crew!
Area Activator Simon and Frannie have been working together on projects in Market Road Gardens, Highbury Quadrant and Tufnell Park plant nursery since 2019, and we certainly hope to continue in the future! This evening, our main task was to give "Bessie", the Octopus Community Network's beautiful old electric milk float / laundry vehicle a complete clear out. The lovely little van has been used as a garden shed for years, but has now been sold to another project, raising funds for the charity. Together, we pitched in to give all of the interiors a good sort out and a bit of a clean, ready for Bessie's new owners! We discovered loads of forgotten tools, stuck at the back of he boot (litter pickers, loads of building merchant bags, useful planks of wood), all in good enough condition to be used towards future tasks.
Within 40 minutes, we had completely revitalised Bessie, and said Goodbye to Frannie for a few months (watch this space!). After our return trip to Emirates and the Arsenal Community Hub, we arranged to meet up at Memsaab Islington Indian Restaurant for our January Social and meet-up- good times, quality food, great catch ups!
Come and join us for our next Monday group run over to Caledonian Park and Clocktower!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/group-run-cally-park-trip-for-bark-chips
Goodgym Islington News
The Garden Classroom- Weekly Volunteer Mornings in Islington Parks!
Various parks and gardens on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
The Garden Classroom has started multiple weekly open garden mornings in Newington Green, Market Road and Hillside Park (near Caxton House). Set up by trained horticulture specialists and open to all!
Newington Green Next Wednesday- 10am - midday
Hillside Gardens, Caxton House Next Thursday- 10am - midday
Market Road Gardens Next Friday- 10am - midday
Achilles International VI Guide Running Sessions- Emirates Stadium
Thursday 1st February, 6pm, Maida Vale Underground station
Every Thursday, the all abilities sports charity Achilles International holds a group run session at a London location. This week, we will be meeting up at Arsenal tube station, ready to run around Emirates Stadium. Open to runners and guides of all abilities!
Follow the link to sign up here:
ON Running and JENKI run club- Thursday morning matcha runs!
Thursday 8th February, 7am, ON Running Spitalfields, Brushfield Street
Area Activator Simon has set up a series of morning runs, hosted on Thursday mornings 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 hot drinks provided by the team at JENKI, Brushfield Street.
Next run is on Thursday 8th February:
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/jenki-matcha-with-on-running-spitalfields-group
Goodgym Race Team- Met League Cross Country no.5- Trent Park
Saturday 10th February, 12 midday onwards, Trent Park
Met League Cross Country is a set of five 7-8km races organised by London race clubs. They are held in parks and forests around London with the routes including a mixture of grass, gravel and a fair bit of mud (it is XC after all!). Open to all Goodgym Race Team members!
Compton Terrace Gardens Open Volunteer Morning
Saturday 10th February, 10am - midday, Union Chapel, Islington
A friendly gardening group started to look after the park about 10 years ago. We are always looking for more help - with planting, mulching, pruning, and all the other things a garden needs.
Everyone welcome, no special skills needed! Lots of fresh air and a nice chance to meet local people.
A smashing community mission for those partaking in Highbury Fields or Finsbury parkrun on a Saturday morning!
Friends of Canonbury Square- Volunteer Morning (February)
Saturday 17th February, 10am, Canonbury Square Gardens
Lending a hand with this beautiful neighbourhood maintained garden in Islington, a perfect post-parkrun task!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/friends-of-canonbury-square-volunteer-morning-february
Crouch End Open Space (CREOS) Volunteering Day
Sunday 18th February, 11am - 1pm, Hanley Tennis Club Car Park, Greenways
Our annual trip to CREOS this year for a woodland regeneration- loads of smashing forest path building has been planned!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-february-2024
Penn Road Gardens Volunteer Open Day
Sunday 25th February, 10am - midday, Penn Road Gardens
Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road.
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Block Party
Monday 2nd October 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
While avoiding some very dramatic thunder cracks and lightning flashes, Area Activator Simon met with Luke and first time Goodgym runner Patricia (welcome!) at the Arsenal Community Hub for our evening of running and good deeds. Together, we engaged in some warm up exercises up the Emirates Stadium slopes, before running to Highbury Hill, and towards the lovely Highbury Quadrant Estate near Clissold Park (just over 1 mile from point to point). Along the route, we passed a known den for local fox cubs just by the gardens- about 4 or 5 very healthy looking foxes curiously watched us jogging by!
Frannie, the main coordinator for Octopus Community Network (a mutual collaboration between 15 of Islington's largest multi-purpose community centres- https://www.octopuscommunities.org.uk/) met our team (along with Alison) at the Highbury Quadrant Meadow. Our task for the evening was to efficiently distribute flyers across the neighbourhood to promote an up and coming garden open day and fresh growing tutorials near Birchmore Hall. The areas surrounding Highbury Quadrant have 15+ housing blocks, each stretching to 5 flights of stairs each- no easy task unless you are a fit and healthy Goodgymmer, of course!
Between the 4 of us, we covered each housing block methodically- with each runner scaling the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th floor in rotation, to ensure the same Goodgymmer wasn't climbing all the stairs every time. Within 40 minutes, we had successfully dropped off flyers at every property that was willing to receive the message. Hopefully we will see great numbers at the next open gardening event!
From Highbury Quadrant, we ran back towards the Emirates Stadium up and down Highbury Hill again, and successfully avoided another heavy downpour! Well done everyone!
Here is a lovely mention on the Octopus Community Network Instagram page
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx6Fx-cIFlI/
GOODGYM ISLINGTON NEWS
Camino Ultra Epping Forest 50km and 25km Eco Trail- Aid Station Superstars!!!
Goodgym Crew are back for the exciting new installment of the Camino Ultra Epping Forest Race!
Saturday 7th October, 9am - 5pm (various shifts), Butler's Retreat, Epping Forest
DaznBone (aka Darren Strachan and David Bone) and the Camino Ultra team are putting together the logistics for their next 50km ultra race (running from Wanstead Flats, up the green corridor to Epping Forest and back), and have invited the Goodgym crew to get involved!
On the course, there will be 4 major aid stops, and we have been invited to take over the first refresh point and the penultimate aid station.
This will involve providing water and snacks to runners of all abilities during the key stages of their race, and to support them with smiling faces and enthusiasm!
GROUP RUN!- Slow Ways Route Mapping- Highbury and Islington to Hampstead Heath
Establishing safe walking routes and pedestrianised paths for the general public across the UK!
Monday 9th October, Arsenal Community Hub, 6.45pm
The plan is to run together from The Arsenal Community Hub, over to Highbury and Islington Station (0.6 miles). We will then run a new route to Hampstead Heath, connecting the Slow Ways Point for Highbury and Islington to Hampstead Heath (HigHam 1). Our objective is to record the ease of navigation and the accessibility of this route for other users.
This will then be uploaded to the Slow Ways website, a database for pedestrian friendly walking routes across the UK. https://beta.slowways.org/
After our run, we will stop by at a local pub in Hampstead Heath, in walking distance from Hampstead Heath overground station.
The Magdala 2A S Hill Park, London NW3 2SB
London GoodGym Monthly Drinks
Thursday 12th October, 6.30 - 10.30pm, The Thirsty Bear, Stamford Street
WAHOO - it's the monthly London GoodGym drinks
Come have a drink, chat with friends and celebrate all we've done this past month.
Drinks are moving South this month. The venue is:
The Thirsty Bear 62 Stamford Street London SE1 9LX
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/london-goodgym-monthly-drinks
Met League Cross Country - Claybury Woods
Saturday 14th October, 12:45pm - 3:45pm, Claybury Park
Met League Cross Country is a set of five 7-8km races organised by London race clubs. They are held in parks and forests around London with the routes including a mixture of grass, gravel and a fair bit of mud (it is XC after all!)
Cross Country is for everyone! Wonderful fun- sign up here for more information!
Crouch End Open Space (CREOS) Volunteering Day (October 2023)
Sunday 15th October, 11am - 1pm, Crouch End Open Space
Join us as we help the team at CREOS, a local conservation charity, maintain and improve a lovely green oasis in Crouch End.
CREOS looks after the meadows and wooded pathways of the Crouch End Open Space. GoodGym runners have been helping them maintain this beautiful patch of land for a while now, and the CREOS team always has lots for us to do.
This month, the CREOS team are planning on playing down a load of hoggin (a mix of hardy sand, clay and gravel aggregate) for new paths along the forest walking routes. It will be a big job, so we can use as many hands as possible
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-october-r-2023
Compton Terrace Gardens Volunteer Open Morning - October
Saturday 21st October, 10am -1pm, Union Chapel Islington
A friendly gardening group started to look after the park about 10 years ago. We are always looking for more help - with planting, mulching, pruning, and all the other things a garden needs.
Everyone welcome, no special skills needed! Lots of fresh air and a nice chance to meet local people. We meet once a month on a Saturday morning near the shed in the middle of the Gardens.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/compton-terrace-gardens-volunteer-open-morning-october
GG Race Team- Met League Hill Training Sessions!
Thursday 26th October, 6.30pm, The Pembroke Castle, Camden
Goodgym Cross Country is back! We will be returning to the Met League in 2023 and 2024!
If you have never tried cross country, it is amazing muddy fun. A definite challenge, but accessible to all who want to give it a go, and are part of a UKA affiliated team (like the Goodgym Race Team).
To coincide with the events, Area Activator Simon Fitzmaurice (who is a UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness or CiRF for short) will be hosting a series of hill interval training sessions at Primrose Hill over the Autumn and Winter months.
The Pembroke Castle, 150 Gloucester Ave., London NW1 8JA, and we will run to Primrose Hill together to start our session.
October 26th https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-october
November 24th https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-november
January 5th https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-january
January 26th (aka February fixture session) https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-february
Penn Road Gardens- Open Gardens Volunteer Morning (October)
Sunday 29th October, 10am-12 midday, Penn Road Gardens
Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road.
Local volunteers will be on hand to direct anyone who arrives to offer their help between 10am- midday. Come on down to enjoy a lovely morning community task!
Follow this link for more info: https://www.pennroadn7.com/the-gardens
Ghoulgym Halloween Headtorch Run (Hampstead!)
Tuesday 31st October, 6.30pm, The Bull and Gate, Kentish Town
Fancy an evening of spooky running in North London?
Area Activator Simon will be leading an approximate 10km run through Hampstead Heath, starting and finishing at the Bull and Gate pub in Kentish Town. Running in the darkness of night is a wonderful experience, and really good fun with running friends.
Queen's Park Harriers Liddiard Cup Cross Country (75th Anniversary)
Saturday 4th November, 1:00pm - 5:00pm, Kingsbury Free Church (Baptist), NW9
Classic muddy running fun in Fryent Country Park!
Queens Park Harriers invites clubs to compete in the annual Liddiard Cross Country Trophy race which will be run under UKA rules.
This will be the 75th running of the event as no events were held in 2020 and 2021 and we hope to see many of the teams who have competed over the years, plus new ones.
There will be a unique, 75th anniversary medal for all competitors.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/queen-s-park-harriers-liddiard-cup-cross-country-75th-anniversary
Ending the Bank Holiday on a High (bury Quadrant Gardens...)
Monday 28th August 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Area Activator Simon caught up with 5 Goodgym runners tonight (including first time attendee Mia- welcome!) for our special Bank Holiday trip to the beautiful Highbury Quadrant Gardens estate. Half of our team had actually attended another Goodgym Islington task yesterday at Penn Road Gardens- a nice recap for this particular can be read here: https://www.goodgym.org/reports/penn-road-is-o-penn-to-all
After a short warm up on the Arsenal Stadium slopes, our crew ran approximately 1.2 miles via Highbury Hill and Riverdale Road to arrive at Highbury Quadrant Gardens - a hidden idyll located near Clissold Park. Following instructions left by Frannie and the awesome folks at Octopus Community Network, we gathered up rakes, brooms, secateurs, leaf grabbers and bags and proceeded to The Orchard and Woodland Gardens.
Our task for the evening was to give the whole community garden area a really good sweep and to tidy up any overgrown bushes, plants and vines infiltrating the public areas of the estate. Emily and Caitlin collaborated with sweeping and leaf grabbing, and did a smashing job! John and Ines also cracked on with very efficient sweeping and gathering, while Mia donned some strong gloves and snipped away at all of the unsightly vines and brambles surrounding the gardens.
Within 45 minutes of graft, we had really made some great progress with fixing up these beautiful community gardens (while being watched by fox cubs in the neighbouring gardens!). Well done everyone!
Goodgym Islington News
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Achilles International VI Guiding Sessions- Emirates Stadium
Thursday 31st August, 6pm, Arsenal Tube Station
Achilles International are an amazing organisation who link guide with blind and particially sighted runners, and they are looking for potential guides for future training sessions.
Goodgym (and parkrun) communities have been very supportive of this team over the years, so we are looking to see if we can introduce more runners to the world of guiding.
Over the Winter months, Achilles International will be hosting fortnightly running sessions around the floodlit forecourt of Emirates Stadium, Islington. Every other week, we will train at Paddington Rec Track.
SEPTEMBER SOCIAL- Medal Monday at Victoria Tavern, Holloway Road
Monday 4th September, 8.45pm, Victoria Tavern, Holloway Road
Come and join us for delicious £7 pizzas and refreshments at The Victoria Tavern, to celebrate our achievements over Summer (especially to those racing at The Big Half!)
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/september-social-medal-monday-at-victoria-tavern
Penn Road Gardens Community Park Party!
Saturday 9th September, 2pm - 5pm, Penn Road Gardens
A lovely get together, hosted by the residents of Penn Road Gardens, one of our most popular local task owners!
Expect the following:
Live Swing Dancing Classes!
Stalls and activities
Live music
Quiz and prizes
Food and refreshments with the neighbourhood!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/party-in-the-park-penn-road-gardens
THE BIG LONDON SOCIAL!
GoodGym London Monthly Social (GG Camden), Thursday 14th September, TBC
The first (of hopefully many) monthly drinks in London. Come and meet other GoodGymers and toast each others achievements. We'll be celebrating those on the Heroes Board from August and maybe even deciding which recent puns are worthy of accolade. The venue is TBC but will be somewhere fairly central with good transport links.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-london-monthly-social
Compton Terrace Gardens Volunteer Open Morning - September
Saturday 16th September, 10am - 1pm, Union Chapel
From the Friends of Compton Terrace Gardens:
A friendly gardening group started to look after the park about 10 years ago. We are always looking for more help - with planting, mulching, pruning, and all the other things a garden needs.
Everyone welcome, no special skills needed! Lots of fresh air and a nice chance to meet local people. We meet once a month on a Saturday morning near the shed in the middle of the Gardens.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/compton-terrace-gardens-volunteer-open-morning-september
Crouch End Open Space (CREOS) Volunteering Day (September 2023)
Sunday 17th September, 11am - 1pm, CREOS meadow or Hanley Tennis Club car park
Join us as we help the team at CREOS, a local conservation charity, maintain and improve a lovely green oasis in Crouch End.
CREOS looks after the meadows and wooded pathways of the Crouch End Open Space. GoodGym runners have been helping them maintain this beautiful patch of land for a while now, and the CREOS team always has lots for us to do.
This month, the CREOS team are planning on playing down a load of hoggin (a mix of hardy sand, clay and gravel aggregate) for new paths along the forest walking routes. It will be a big job, so we can use as many hands as possible!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-september-2023
GG Race Team- Met League Hill Training Sessions!
Friday 29th September, 6.30pm, The Pembroke Castle, Camden
Goodgym Cross Country is back! We will be returning to the Met League in 2023 and 2024!
If you have never tried cross country, it is amazing muddy fun. A definite challenge, but accessible to all who want to give it a go, and are part of a UKA affiliated team (like the Goodgym Race Team).
To coincide with the events, Area Activator Simon Fitzmaurice (who is a UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness or CiRF for short) will be hosting a series of hill interval training sessions at Primrose Hill over the Autumn and Winter months.
The Pembroke Castle, 150 Gloucester Ave., London NW1 8JA, and we will run to Primrose Hill together to start our session.
September https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-september
October https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-october
November https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-november
January https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-january
February https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/gg-race-team-met-league-hill-training-session-february
What do you do with a drunken wheelbarrow?
Monday 5th December 2022
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
It was a brisk and bracing winter evening this Monday- one that encourages double socks, and thick long sleeve tops to stay warm! However, 9 top Goodgymmers joined us this week for our run over to Highbury Quadrant Estate from The Emirates Stadium (including new runner Alex- welcome and Thanks for joining us!)
We performed a warm-up together on the slope leading over to Danny Fiszmann Bridge, before taking on the Aubert Park slope over to Blackstock Road. We reached our destination just by Clissold Park, where local resident Matthew was ready to meet us with instructions. Goodgym Islington have had a hand in a lot of the construction for these particular community flower beds and planters.
We picked up loads of shovels, spades and wheelbarrows from the Highbury Quadrant Estate Meadow, and went straight to work with moving the very last bags of soil away from the estate. One of the barrows did prove to be a bit dodgy, and had a tendency to wobble and squeak- a spritz of WD-40 did wonders though!
A curious teenage fox watched us from a safe distance, wondering what these red t-shirt wearing folks were up to! Within 25-30 minutes, the bags were light enough to be transported to a new gardening plot, without the need of further shoveling, so we worked together to drop the final load of soil for this ambitious project!
Perfect timing for #WorldSoilDay!
https://twitter.com/SoilAssociation/status/1599680082666143744?t=2K8NINrVBM-RtY6aHIlbgw&s=19
NEWS
Achilles International VI guide running at The Emirates Stadium
Thursday 8th December, 6pm at Arsenal tube station.
Come and join Achilles International for our weekly group running session with visually impaired runners- a great introduction to guide running in a safe, friendly environment! More information can be viewed here:
Canonbury Square Gardens Group Run and December Social!
Monday 12th December, 6.45pm at The Arsenal Community Hub, and then 8.45pm at The Victoria Tavern.
Next week, we will be hosting our final group run of 2022- setting off to Canonbury Square Gardens for a lovely session of trimming, tidying, sweeping and wood chip spreading.
Afterwards, we plan to visit The Victoria Tavern on Holloway Road for a social- pizza and refreshments!
Sign up to both here:
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/group-run-christmas-special-at-canonbury-square-gardens
And the social:
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/december-social-the-victoria-tavern-holloway-road
Headtorch Group Run Series- Christmas Edition
Friday 16th December, 6.30pm, setting off from The Running Works running shop in Aldgate.
Area Activator Simon will be leading a lovely sightseeing paced Christmas run, along the side of the Thames and the Embankment, Green Park, Buckingham Palace and over to one of the most Christmassy pubs in London, The Churchill Arms in Kensington!
12km or just over 7 miles in total distance- it will be a wonderfully festive final run for the year!
Sign up here to get involved:
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/goodgym-islington-headtorch-group-run-the-christmas-edition
We Moved Heaven and Earth to Shift Heavy Earth
Monday 7th November 2022
Written by Islington runner
It was a ladies GoodGym Group run this week and our bravery paid off. Despite the rain and wind that lasted right up until we set off from Arsenal, it was calm and dry while we ran to meet Fran at Highbury Quadrant to shift earth. They're setting up a new community garden around the corner and needed help wheelbarrowing new earth from where it was dropped off around the corner into their new wooden planters. Some of the locals came out to help and we made a sizable dent in two of the big bags.
We also had a Dolly, but Dolly was a small dog, not a hand truck. Still, she barked at our wheelbarrows and tried (unsuccessfully) to stop a fox weeing on our bags of earth, so Dolly gets full points for trying.
And if, like me, you found Fran's hedgehog information really interesting, but can't remember any of it now, here's: What to do if you find a hedgehog out during the day from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
Remember there are two group missions this week; The Garden Classroom on Wednesday morning and Guide Running with Achilles International on Thursday evening.
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