Yes, its another Musically-inspired GoodGym report...🎼"But Goodgymers are all around me & so the good deeds grow... 🙂"

The last Wednesday of the January Challenge dawned like the recent pink skies over the Charlton area, and 11 Goodgym-ers awoke to pass the time until tonight's task. 🎼Workin 9-5 helped with that, and soon 6.45 rolled around, time to 🎼Run the World...or at least to St Richard's Community Church in Charlton. Our task this evening was based in the back garden area of the church, continuing our valiant battle against the ever-present weeds in the area. All while trying not to get 🎼Blinded by the Light (of the many head-torches). The recent rain had helped soften the ground a little, making pulling up the weeds that bit easier, and it wasn't long before we had a veritable stack of vegetation. A quick dig over with the 🎼Ace of Spades and our work was done.

Great work all & a warm welcome to Alina on your first task!

Next week we're meeting at Charlton House for some weeding at Charlton URC.. On Saturday as well as the ususal Parkrun volunteering, we have litter picking in Sutcliffe Park.

Until next time!

A Greenwich Maritime start for tonight's group run meant another chance to see the fab light show on a chilly November evening. 10 GoodGym-ers then made their way to St Richard's Church in Charlton.

We had a great selection of tasks, including outdoor weeding, plus cleaning upstairs with some vacuuming, mopping and dusting. Others in the group grabbed some tools and got on with some maintenance jobs fixing door handles and push plates. Contrary to popular belief we CAN handle the screws...

Tasks complete, everything turned out Hunky - Doory as we ended our mission with tea and cake to celebrate Jenny's whopping 500th good deed!

Welcome back to Aman for his second task with us- great to have you in the team!

Great work all & catch up soon 😃

Next week we're putting up Christmas decorations at Dee's Childcare!

We had a brilliant morning at St Richard’s, so absorbed in the tasks at hand that we ended up spending an extra hour finishing our jobs.

A big welcome to Bianca, who joined us for her first GoodGym session – and what a start! She tackled the ivy in the back garden with great enthusiasm, leaving it looking much neater and tidier, just look at the before and after pics. 💪

Meanwhile, Cat and Arthur got stuck into some serious weeding, helping clear the garden of weeds and lopping off the growth round the bottom of the trees. Over at the front door, Ivar and Vic took on the job of sanding it down, prepping it for a much-needed refresh. Once smooth, Vic and I gave it a fresh coat of varnish, with some very important assistance from Arthur – a true team effort!

By the end of the session, the garden was looking clean, weed-free, and litter-free, and the front door had been transformed.

A morning well spent, made even better by a well-earned cup of tea to wrap things up (thank you Rick!) Thanks everyone for your energy and teamwork – see you at the next one!

Next wednesday we've got gardening at Hervey Road . Next Saturday we're back at Mycenae Gardens to help with more weeding.

Until next time 😊

Rachel

...so we did! Along with lots of other tasks at a productive community mission today. A warm Saturday morning led 9 GoodGym-ers to St Richard's Church in Charlton, where our woodchip pathway project is nearly complete!

Our first task was to pin down the last of the membrane, and ferry as much of the remaining woodchip to cover it. Just a bit more woodchip is needed and the pathway at the side of the church will be ready. A local tree surgeon has donated the woodchip from recently lopped trees, so the material has been nicely recycled. Some of the team got to work sanding the front door, which now looks super smooth, and ready for some shiny varnish, while others smartened up the Church signposts by painting the red posts a glossy black.

Our last task was one we're very familiar with, which was clearing brambles in the back garden. Chopping and digging commenced, and both sides put in their best game - team Brambles had a better defence (look out for those thorny tacklers!) while team GoodGym struck for goal with an attack formation (secateurs & forks).

The whistle blew for full-time leaving the teams to debrief & pose for the newspapers.

Great match all & see you soon! 🙂"

Garden Preparation Progress Report

This week, we continued with the task we began last week—getting the garden ready for the next phase. Our efforts focused on ongoing preparations, including removing old cardboard, sweeping up dried leaves using rakes, and laying down membrane in key areas.

Although the work was carried out by just three of us (Owen, Isabella and myself), we felt a real sense of progress and accomplishment. The garden is steadily taking shape, and it’s clear that our contributions are making a difference.

That said, as always, more helping hands would be greatly appreciated to keep the momentum going.

Till next time! ✋🏻😁

We're continuing our gardening preparations, with more volunteers helping out - 3 C’s from Goodgym (Chloe, Calvin and Cecilia); *with Isabella , helping Owen.

What we did: - We removed the cardboards that served as weed barrier. - We removed stubborn weeds and dig out the roots with hope of preventing regrowth. - we cleared the soil and ensured it’s free from rubbish, such as plastic, big stones, etc. (Raking and hand-picking them) - we used landscape membranes or weed barriers and secured them firmly with hooks. - As a finishing touch, we spread woodchips over the prepared area.

After completing the day task, we were kindly offered tea and biscuits—an irresistible treat that made it almost impossible to say no! ☺️ Till next time. 👋🏼😃