Despite a sudden downpour washing away the last of the unseasonal heat, 5 GoodGymmers met at Papa’s Park for a very gentle run over to Ruskin Park. It was lovely to see a new face (Heather) and some returning GG-ers!

Joao met us at the allotment and there we were put to work in the fruit cage, cutting away the gnarly brambles, and clearing the weeds from the young apple tree beds. Night descended as we worked and once we were done, Justin treated us to some refreshing & well-earned juice, and then it was time to say goodbye.

Another great task in the bag and huge thanks from AA Yianny to Tilly for stepping in at short notice to lead people across!

A small group of GGers gathered in the overcast evening to head over an help out at Ruskin Park, we had heard that things were getting out of hand in the fruit cage and set off to investigate.

As promised those of us back at Papa's had the chance to recycle last week's category que which was 'What is your 3rd fave song' and again a nice mix was brought up by the group including the venerable Bill Withers, The Smiths, Warmduscher who played Brockwell Park on the weekend (I had to look them up I confess) and the ever fun Madness!

Will was back for his second GG session so clearly not put off by contentious category ques, and we were joined by Clare and Katie to make the 2.5km easy run across to the far side of the park by Denmark Hill.

With a carefully co-ordinated arrival we met with Paul an Marie-Noelle at the entrance to the community garden and went to see what Justin had for us.

The rumours were well founded and inside the fruit cage it was a tangle of brambles and bindweed and almost impossible to recognise and separate all the lovely budding fruit bushes underneath it all. Our task was simple, trim back the brambles but leave plenty in place to grow the blackberries and dig out all the bindweed we could find as well as a general sprucing up.

Tools were handed out, a massive 1 tonne compost bag was brought and we started filling wheelbarrows full to load into it. 40 mins or so later the cage was transformed and it is fresh and ready for the volunteers of Ruskin Park this weekend to come in and get planting!

Huge thanks to Justin for hosting us and giving out refreshments as well - always a winner for GGers - and we look forward to heading back in a couple of months to see how it is all getting on.

Well done everyone, see you next week!

I arrived slightly ahead of schedule at Ruskin park and was briefed on the task. Eventually Emily arrived at the gates, followed shortly after by Harvey.

The task today was to help our Urban Canopy friends fill in some planters with soil. The new planters looked amazing in place, and is to be used to create a sensory garden. The garden will then be made available to the psychiatric Maudsley Hospital to use.

We got to work and reinforcement aka. Michael soon appeared on scene. This one required a bit of muscle work as we shifted wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of the stuff.

The hour was up before we knew it as time flew past chatting while we worked up a sweat. We managed to fill almost two full planters. That's pretty good going!

A bumper group of runners turned out last night for the Group Run and were greeted with perfect summer running conditions.

AA Yianny was recovering from the weekend's exertions in York so wouldnt be running to the task but both Joao and Sarah stepped in to lead and back mark respectively - thank you team!

This evening's category was favourite UK destination with plenty of coastal and countryside locations cited, some North vs South Devon devate and of course agreement that Brixton and Tulse Hill were the clear winners....

The runners set off and showed that in London using human horse power can be more efficient than motorised transport and arrived to meet Justin first! The tasks were laid out and the group selected their implements of choice whether that be a scythe, secateurs or good old pitch fork and we got stuck in to clear around the pond and turn the compost.

A nice surprise was having GG member Chi Nwa join us for a chat and take a couple of wonderful pictures, always nice to have members from around the communities pop in.

While the runners were busy with the task Justin brought out some squash and biscuits for a little pause and then it was time to tidy up and head back to base. Once again the runners won the race and were deep into their warm down by the time the AA made it back to liberate their bags from the hall.

Thanks everyone and look forward to seeing you next week!

A lot of things have changed since we last did a group run but one thing was definitely the same; We had a bunch of absolute legends giving up part of their Tuesday evening to do some good for a couple of local projects.

The onions were a bonus

Big shout out to Amy for joining for her first GoodGym good deed 🔥 and Ali, Katy, Louise, Nathan and Rebecca for coming on their first Lambeth group run - so great to have you along guys :)

We kicked off with our first $#%! prize of the month of the year - a collection of mostly useless items courtesy of our Taskforce that gets given to a person (or persons...) who've done amazing stuff with GoodGym. This months prize was a Christmas hat, a tiny bottle of Mezcal, some fragile tape (perfect for moving house...) and that toy car from Myatt's Fields Park. They were awarded to a couple departing on a new adventure who've done nearly 400 good deeds between them and been loyal, friendly, funny, irreplaceable members of GoodGym Lambeth - Samantha & Steven you will be missed!

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Back to the good deeds! We promptly split into two groups. Sarah led a small but mighty group of Isy, Nathan and Katy to do some flyering around some fancy houses for Get Rid Of & Donate, a charity who take people's unused clothes, bags, furniture and kitchenware and re-gift it to vulnerable families, refugees and rough sleepers.

The rest of us headed to meet Justin from Ruskin Park Community Garden, where we had two tasks - pulling up all the onion (and garlic and secret potatoes) from one of the beds, and the less glamorous task of turning compost (and Michael did a sterling job of digging up and sieving some fresh compost). The fruits of our labour were a good arm workout and some organic onions/shallots and some garlic to take home with us! 🧅🧄

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We timed the way back perfectly to meet our flyering buddies and had a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors (feat. planks and sprinting) in the park.

WE ARE BACK

Nice one guys. Solid work and a great job! 💥

Hope to see you next week for Filling the Library/a trip to the Portico Gallery!

This morning we helped the volunteers at the Ruskin Park community garden by doing some weeding and sieving compost!