3 GoodGymers joined volunteers from Olden Community Garden yesterday in their mission to clear the orchard of a pesky invasive species - the dreaded (but very tasty) Three Cornered Leek.

Olden Community Garden is a 2 acre haven nested by the railtracks next to the Emirates Stadium.

The ground around their sunny orchard is covered in this invasive plant, spreading thickly across the ground like, well, a weed, smothering any other life that tries to grow there.

So on Saturday a group - including none other than GoodGym fan and actor Rob Delaney - gathered to convert this pesky weed into tasty pesto. It was a full team effort, with a production line consisting of:

The Weeders: digging up the Three Cornered Leeks with forks and trowels, separating their bulbs into one bucket, their leaves and flowers into another. The Washers: washing the leaves in buckets of icy cold water, separating any stray twigs, roots, or other leaves. The Dryers: drying the leaves out in a salad spinner, and doing one final sift for stray or dead leaves. The Sous-Chefs: blending up the leaves with parmesan, walnuts, olive oil, and seasoning to make a delicious pesto. The Chefs: cooking up hearty bowls of gnocci and slices of chunky Dusty Knuckle bread to be served with our fresh-from-field pesto.

No GoodGymer went hungry. We all got to take home a jar of pesto at the end of the day, and a bag of leaves to make some more. The Three Cornered Leek bulbs will be collected by Islington Council as it's an offence to knowingly let them out into the wild.

The community spirit was bubbling over, with all generations mucking in together. But despite a huge team effort, there is still so much more ground to clear. So we'll be returning for a group run on Monday evening - do join us!

12 GoodGymers made a difference at the penultimate winter shelter of the season!

We were super fortunate to welcome three lovely new faces this week — a big welcome to Emma, Joe, and Jonny!

And they joined our friendly and fabulous group of Al, Charlie, Emily, Jackie, Jacqui, John, Paul, and Philippa!

Across 35 well-spent minutes, this troupe:

❤️ Assembled, positioned, and dressed 14 beds ready and waiting for the evening's guests

❤️ Set 22 spaces for a (delicious-smelling) volunteer-cooked dinner

❤️ Did everything while connecting and chatting aplenty :)

Thank you, everyone!

8 GoodGymers dug a pond, planted wildflowers, and made a REAL DIFFERENCE in Highgate!

Tucked and nestled away — behind houses and flats — is a special green space that's being re-purposed by the community in North London!

The Makepeace Community Garden on the Holly Lodge Estate is fast becoming a nature-bound oasis, and our wonderful group of GoodGymers are making a steady and regular difference :)

This lovely lot — Cecilia, Charlie, DaMarcus, Emily, Harvey (celebrating good deed 1001! CONGRATULATIONS!), Leora, and Luna (on their first good deed — welcome!) — caught a good-deeding wind yesterday morning!

Together they:

❤️ Dug, lined, and filled a delightful new pond!

❤️ Cut away an old weed membrane and planted oodles of wildflower seeds!

❤️ Positioned and installed hedgehog highways!

❤️ Mowed the lawn!

❤️ Planted fresh flowers and plants!

Thank you, everyone! Here's to next time!

P.S. Thank you to Cecilia and Emily for the many wonderful photos ❤️