0 Month Streak
6 Month Streak
Tue 5th Sep at 7:15pm
Lambeth Report written by Yianny (he / him)
Here's tonight's lowdown from Saoirse at Open Orchard:
Yesterday was fantastic, 6 people turned up and they absolutely whizzed through tasks that would have taken us a lot longer. They weeded all around the ornamental garden (I need to get an after photo!), turned the compost (this requires a strong back, of which none of us have so we were very grateful for this!), watered the much needed flowers and did a thorough litter pick.
Great work everyone, sounds like a good time had by all!
Tue 5th Sep at 7:15pm
Wed 30th Aug at 6:30pm
Southwark Report written by Sam Lefevre (he/him)
After discussions with the BetterPoints team, they decided to give away 100 BetterPoints for each GoodGym session a user attends (redeemable to twice a week). This is why Sam had a print out of a QR code prepared for those who want to claim their points! Just another way of rewarding yourself by getting fit and doing good!
As we all gathered in Old Spike on the last Wednesday of August, we welcomed in Abigail, Alex, Claire, Clare, Daryl, Elena, Emma, Gemma, Lindy, Nathan, Nelly and Steve as Sam talked all things GoodGym before announcing that it was Steve's 500th good deed! He draped him in the GG cape before giving him a golden party hat and balloon with a faded 500 on it. Congrats Steve!
After our warm-up on the Green outside, Sam's ice-breaker question for tonight was either: What is your favourite fun fair game (due to the Peckham Rye Fete this weekend)? or What TV game show would go on?
We had all suggestions from hook-a-duck to coconut shy and toss-a-ring (on a bottle) to the claw in the Arcades.... For TV game shows, we had those who wanted to win money in The Chase to those who wanted to challenge themselves in Survivor, Takeshi's Castle and Total Wipeout. We also had some weird Japanese hostess game and someone brave enough to try Big Brother...
The Heartbreak Insect Hotel
Our run took us over the hill and down again as we ran at a comfortable pace to tackle 3k in 22 minutes. As we arrived on-site, we saw Folarin and Mikhail waiting for us, but we also met Sophie, who came for her first good deed after being invited by Clare to come along (with a bribe to get ramen later...). At the back of the group run, we had Magda who jogged along with us as we arrived in Camberwell. Here we were, all 17 of us, eager to get going. We were met by Catalina, who had brought over the tools for us to use. The main task was to clear back a weeded stepping stone pathway in the Wildlife Triangle, but she needed a few volunteers to help her bring over insects for the bug hotel, but also transport woodchip to the allotment.
Our man of the night, Steve and Claire put their hands up to become the transporters of the catepillars whilst newbie, Sophie and her friend, Clare put their hands up to transport barrows of woodchip mulch to the allotment. The rest used the limited tools and gardening gloves to clear back the path in the Wildlife Triangle.
With 90s tunes blaring, the site got a transformational change within the 35 - 40 minutes that we were there. A few insects got to live in the bug hotel whilst the extra catepillars got the other end of the estate... Sophie and Clare managed to move mountains of mulch (at least, 5 barrows full) and we all got to celebrate Steve's 500th good deed at the end with mashed up vegan cupcakes that had unsparkled sparklers.
As 20:00 approached, we said our goodbyes and ran the most direct route back to Old Spike before a few of us decided to continue Steve's celebrations with a slice of pizza and a few beers at Voodoo Ray's!
Thank You to all the GG-ers
A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Firstly, a massive thank you to Lindy for backmarking the runs there and back and being the constant support to Abigail. Thank you to the rest of you for getting on with the task and the run wasn't so bad either. Lastly, another congratulations to Steve for hitting 500 good deeds and to Sophie for claiming her first!
Thank You to Catalina
GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Catalina for bringing out the tools and telling us what tasks needed to be done. It was quite a stark contrast within our 35-40 minutes session and we're always pleased to help out at Elmington Community Garden. We will be back to help support you come October before it gets cold and dark!
Wed 30th Aug at 6:30pm
Creating and maintaining new green spaces at this estate
Read moreWed 23rd Aug at 6:30pm
Southwark Report written by Sam Lefevre (he/him)
We waited outside for Andres (Javier) to close up Old Spike before heading in for 18:30. Yet, Sam had arrived earlier to do document checks for Diego and Becky. Diego is just getting back into the swing of being active, but Becky was up for joining us on our group run tonight! Welcome Becky!
On a warm and muggy day, waiting inside Old Spike wasn't ideally as we welcomed Alastair, Alex, Becky, Daryl, Emily, Emma, Gemma, Paulin, Mikhail Nathan and Tim as Sam quickly went through the GG intro speech before heading outside to get warm on the Green!
After our warm-up, Sam's ice-breaker for tonight was a two-way (split into three questions) question, which was: Two days ago was World Entrepreneur Day, what would you be an entrepreneur of / who is your favourite entrepreneur? or Since the Fringe is on, who is your favourite comedian?
Many went for the comedian question of which I remember Kevin Bridges, but we now know Tim would be an entrepreneur of weird and wonderful ice-cream flavours and Alex's favourite joint entrepreneur and comedian is Elon Musk...
Ugly? No, just brutalists
With Daryl leading the way, running along Peckham Rye Park before heading up Dunstans Road and heading up the hill on Underhill Road, we just made it to the top at Ellie was arriving. We also met Steve and Magda who had arrived by foot and bike, respectively.
Ellie was so glad to have so many GoodGymers come along tonight as she had plenty of tasks. After saying all the tasks, we split the group into activities with newbie Becky, Nathan and Steve taking the woodchip moving and weeding task. Alastair, Gemma, Mikhail and Tim were on water-running duties as they filled water cans and buckets from the tap near the estate to take it to the orchard to water the growing apple trees and saplings.
Meanwhile, we had the rest following Ellie for sanding and painting duties: Emily and Emma were helped paint a cage yellow to beautify the community centre whilst Magda and Paulin sanded wooden blocks/planks that will be used as planting signs when the planters for the allotment have been built. Alex and Daryl were in charge of painting these wooden signs with blackboard black paint.
The 40 minutes seems to zoom by as we called it at 19:55 as Ellie had a surprise for us. On Wednesdays, the community centre has a once-a-week food bank and not all the food was taken, so to ensure there's no food waste, she offered it to us. We took home a variety of breads, apples and courgettes.
Since we were at Dawson's Heights, we couldn't resist to walk over to Dawson's Hill to see the amazing views of London before running back with our bags of goodies to our starting point just on time for 20:30 (after a quick stretch).
Thank You to all the GG-ers
A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Firstly, a massive thank you to my taskforce team, especially Daryl for leading the run after my injury (did I mentioned that yet....) on Monday night and to Paulin for backmarking the runs. Thank you to the rest of you for tackling the uphill run to the task before taking on heavier tasks than others, so thank you for gritting through it all. You were all thoroughly rewarded with food and great views at the end of it!
Thank You to Ellie
GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ellie for having a variety of tasks for us to do from watering to weeding and painting to woodchip moving! Also, a big shoutout to you for tackling food waste as the GoodGymers enjoyed the added bonus of a snack / meal for the journey home. We will be back to help support the allotment project if not in September then in October.
Wed 23rd Aug at 6:30pm
Help create a new allotment project for the community & residents
Read moreWed 16th Aug at 6:30pm
Southwark Report written by Sam Lefevre (he/him)
At GoodGym, we welcome everyone whether you're coming for your second good deed like Elena did or whether you're like Abigail who came back after two years of not doing GoodGym. That's the beauty of GoodGym, pick up where you left off.
Sam welcomed in Elena, Steve, Nathan, Nelly, Emma, Isaac, Daryl and Tim as we pondered whether anyone else would show up as everyone arrived early. After Sam's GG intro speech, Nelly, Emma and Elena showed off a photo that inspires them as we were celebrating World Photography Week. They showed us photos of nature as Mother Earth is truly inspirational!
After our warm-up on the Green, Sam asked the second ice-breaker question for the rest, which was: Since the demise of Wilko, what is your favourite high street store?
We had a variety of answers from BHS to WH Smiths and from Morley's to more local English restaurants, but a firm favourite for their pick n mix was Woolworths (RIP).
90s mash-up with local Camberwell star: Des'ree
Over the hill on Denmark Hill, we ran as we met up with Paulin along the way. The 3k run took us just under 18 minutes as we met up with "long time, no see" Abigail, Mikhail and Nathan along with Simon, who had prepared the tools for us. After short introductions, answering the ice-breaker question (for those who hadn't answered it) and making our way into the Forest Garden section, Sam gave a brief overview of Thorlands vision before dividing the team into three: litter pickers, terrace clearers and bindweed clearers.
Armed with one litter pick and three bin liners, Abigail, Paulin and Mikhail scoured the site for any litter, but avoided the wasp's nest that was the terror of the last visit.
Alex, Elena, Daryl, Emma and Isaac teamed up to tackle the terrace, which had overgrown since we last did this earlier in the year, but we need to keep on top and maintain the space as nature grows back with a vengeance! Nathan helped shape the bramble bush before taking on the loopers to shape the buddleia tree by the "hedgehog hotel" and he was assisted by Elena as she had the secateurs to trim the cuttings down further.
The final group consisted of Nelly, Steve and Tim as they teamed up to remove the bindweed climbing up the fence.
As 19:55 hit and as "Bittersweet Symphony" ended, we called it and we still had to pack away the tools back in the "Walled Garden".
Most ran back with us, but we said our goodbyes to Abigail, Alex and Mikhail. At the end of the run, some of us decided to get an impromptu slice of pizza and a beer from Voodoo Ray's!
Thank You to all the GG-ers
A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! A breezy run and task when you have a large group and hopefully, it was enjoyable for you too! We're always visiting Thorlands and although, progress is slow...it's still progress.
Also, a thank you to Daryl and Emma for backmarking the runs.
Thank You to Simon
GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon for preparing the tools and opening up the Forest Garden in Thorlands for us to tackle the terraces and bindweed! We will be back in the middle of September for our next group run, but as always we're there on Saturdays too!
Wed 16th Aug at 6:30pm
Tidying up this community garden as we continue with its project and vision
Read moreSunday 28th May
Alex Bowring completed 10 good deeds with GoodGym.
Alex has done 10 good deeds. They are a trusted GoodGym runner and are now eligible to join their local TaskForce.
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