One lonely runner set of from Charlton for this week's group run. At Woolwich the numbers grew, two more runners and 4 walkers continued on to Plumstead and soon we numbered 12. And we needed all the help we could get for our litter pick around the Plumstead-Thamesmead borders.

The area was in a disgusting state: cans, paper, and crisp packet abounded along with a few bottles containing fluids that we may have been better off not emptying (my nose won't be forgetting in a hurry). The team worked like troopers, wandering off in all directions and in Ashton's case deep into the woods to really give the area a comprehensive clean. And what a difference we made: after just an hour we'd filled over 25 bags with general waste and recycling ready for the council to pick up the next day.

This isn't the nicest task that we do, but it's one of the most important and we left the area so much cleaner than when we started. A job well done by all.

And thanks to Ivar for the amazing pun for the title

Next week, in something of a contrast, we're making paper chains for kids for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Hope to see you all there.

Last night, 10 intrepid GoodGymers traded stories of the fantastic beasts we've discovered on our various travels across the globe, or what we've witnessed vicariously through others 😁 Answers ranged from cheetahs, tigers, a leopard family, a herd of reindeer, to riding elephants, running with bulls and almost being eaten by a crocodile. What a fascinating bunch we are!

We ran and walked the short uphill distance to Glyndon Community Centre where Andy awaited us with an indoor and an outdoor task so we split into two groups and got underway. The indoor group went down to the gym where we apologetically walked through the gym-goers (one recognising Ashton from a Lesnes Abbey task) and got stuck into tidying up the storage room. It was jam packed with a mixture of gym, church and kids equipment and so we spent a happy 20minutes shifting tyres, bikes, drums and having a general sweep up and we left it much clearer with lots more space for extra storage. Then we venutured outside to join the outdoor team who'd been weeding and having a tidy up of the car park and back garden. Sweeping featured in both tasks and earned the session it's name - a clean sweep indeed and lots of time left for chatting and hahem hill runs, aka a short run up the hill to the pub!

We were publicising This Girl Can's 'Let's Lift the Curfew Campaign' to raise awareness of night safety exercising concerns for women now that we've got dark evenings back for a while. Last year GoodGym launched some night safety training for men to support with making people feel safe when out exercising at night. You can read about it and complete the training here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/stories/women-night-safety - and thanks to Aman for doing the training 😊

Good work everyone! On Saturday we have a group run to Mycenae Gardens: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/maintenance-at-mycenae-gardens

Next Wednesday we're litter picking by the river: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/woolwich-river-litter-pick-57deb427-7033-49e5-85fc-c8010e88f8ef

Until next time!

Rachel

The GoodGym team joined the Friends of Danson Park today for a rewarding session of litter picking, shrubbery trimming and woodchip transporting. 💪🌳

Ten journeys from one end of the park to the other gave everyone a great workout while helping to renew the path at the entrance of the Woodland Walk.

Afterwards, we headed to The Stables which kindly provided teas and coffees, while we chatted with the other friendly volunteers.

A fantastic team effort for the local community and nature! 🌿👏

Next month's session in the park will be tree planting as part of National Tree Week. Hope to see you there!