Well it was an hedgucation for me tonight as it was my first time leading a group run without Mark's supervision but luckily I had 12 awesome GoodGymmers to rely on for moral support. After a run down of our favourite ice creams (why do other countries always have cooler flavours than the UK?!) we made our way to Alexandra Recreation Ground to meet Linda and the other Friends of the Parks volunteers.

Big shout out to Hannah for leading the walking group, Stephen for backmarking the runners and Jing who was attending her first session and bravely accepted the challenge of running the long way round up the hill to the task!

Once we got to the park, Gill and Linda had us pulling out weeds that were diverting nutrients from the hedge saplings planted earlier in the year. Many hands made light work of this task and we had cleared most of the bed within 40 minutes before taking the shorter route back to the Bridge House for some post-run stretches.

Nice work team!

Fresh off the back of England's defeat at the Euros, our incredible nine-up were shaking off the blues with a good deed for Penge's Salvation Army.

It was lovely to have Charlie back from injury, but very sad to be saying farewell to Nick who is headed off to tread new ground.

We kicked off with our top players from the match. I agree with Kelsey and Catherine that Jonny Longlegs was on top form. Then we split in two.

Cat led the run there crew whilst Charlie, Hannah and I took a stroll to the Sally Army building.

We were met by Becky who had tools and bags-a-plenty, and a jungle of burr-covered weeds to tackle.

Harry took a corner. Clare took our breath away (literally, with mozzie spray). And Catherine dismantled a wee tree - no way it can come back from that.

The rain was due to pour, but fortunately we played a blinder and managed to finish in half-time.

What a team!

We promptly followed this up with a celebratory beverage in honour of Nick.

We were up bright and early on Saturday to help Jo and the Maple Road Market team set up for their first market of 2024. Leaonie, Kate and I packed van loads of gazebos and tables at the storage locker with Simon and Tyrell while Charlie waited on site with the rest of the market team ready to help unload the equipment. Once all of the equipment was on site, we set to work putting up gazebos for stall holders and (after some initial head scratching) quickly became pros. Our community mission was wrapped up by 9.30am and we celebrated having done a good deed in the sunshine with coffee and pastries at a local cafe. What a lovely way to start the weekend!

A toad-ally awesome 11 of us met up last night for a jog and some good deeding.

We were joined for the first time by Tim and Adam - welcome! 🙌

After a naming and fave biscuit loop, we hit the road. Hannah and Molly took the shorter, direct route, whilst the rest of us opted for the longest hill ever.

We arrived to meet John who was fully prepared with tools.

The water tower base at Crystal Palace Museum is an amazing historic structure and the museum team are keen to clear it out of soil, weeds and rubble so that it can be safely accessed as part of visitors’ museum experiences.

We focussed on a couple of specific areas, aiming to reach down to the concrete and pipes below.

John found a massive toad, hence the pun! 🐸

10+ bucket-loads of soil sieved later, we called it a day and headed back down the hill for some stretches.

Great stuff everyone 🥳