Has it been half a year already?! With Summer solstice behind us, it was time that we came together to celebrate the summer in true GoodGym Southwark fashion - summer social at a rooftop bar in Peckham!

However, before we could get to that stage, we needed to put in a good shift. The night started with everyone feeling the heat from the hottest day of the year as they arrived at Old Spike Peckham. Sam opened up coffee shop for Maria, Sarah who came visiting from GG Greenwich, Emma, Nelly, Paulin, James, Nathan, Daryl and Louise. Sam knew a few GoodGymers would meet him at Cossall Estate, so even before it turned 18:45, he got going with his usual speech and his ice-breaker question. Tonight's ice-breaker was a little bit depressing as it was Day Against Drug Abuse, so he asked: "If I mention the word "Druggie" or "drug abuse", who do you think of or what film, book, documentary?"

Books like A Little Life, Films like Trainspotting and people like Pete Davidson and Matt Healy were mentioned.

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Breaking soil ground

We headed out to the Green to warm-up, but since it was already warm in terms of temperature...it didn't take much to get an elevated heart rate. After the warm-up, Sam led from the front and Maria from the back as we run half of Peckham Rye Park before venturing towards Nunhead to drop off Paulin, James, Nathan and Emma who kindly volunteered to help with a last minute second task that wasn't completed on Sunday and so the task owner, Serife, asked for a small group to complete the job on Wednesday, which they did.

The rest of us ran another kilometre and a bit to reach Cossall Hall to meet the other GoodGymers: Folarin, Jess and Sander as well as Alan, Jaki and Oscar (the dog).

Alan needed four people to come with him to litter pick Kirkwood Nature Reserve, so Maria, Sarah, Nelly and Louise went along with litter pickers and bin bags to pick up unwanted and discarded items throughout the Reserve and in front of both entrances. Whilst Daryl Folarin, Jess, Sander and Sam followed Jaki with a trolley and wheelbarrow of tools to tackle the growing beds which had loads of weeds, grass and nettles growing in it. However, the task proved more difficult with hard soil. Still the group managed to fill 10 bags of garden waste...

Time flashes by during our GoodGym sessions and after 40 minutes, we had to put away tools and throw away the bin bags. A quick photo call inside the courtyard of Cossall Hall before we said our goodbyes and had to rush off back to Old Spike Peckham as we had the other group waiting for us as well as a social to enjoy!

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night. Two tasks done within 40-45 minutes and a delightful time spent at Frank's Bold Tendencies for our summer social and to celebrate our achievements so far. Great to see faces that I haven't seen in awhile and hope to see you soon. Kudos to all and if I don't see you next week, see you soon!

Must be something in the air or just the first signs of proper Spring weather as we did not just have one newbie, but two. Well, technically, Imogen had done a community session in Hackney a few years ago and Cecilia had another account, but we still treated them as first timers - welcoming them into Old Spike Peckham.

Along with the newbies, Sam met up with Maria, Alex, Sophie and Daryl as everyone came well before 18:45, so Sam could start his intro speech earlier. He did the long version to let the newbies know all about GoodGym and ended with his ice-breaker question which was: "Most memorable or best customer service you have received (either restaurant, experience or issue resolved)?"

Many found it hard as people remember the bad experiences more than the good, but we got a few shoutouts to local restaurants and restaurant providers, retailers that responded to feedback emails as well as Tesco's in Surrey Quays and McDonalds in Wigan for their awesome service.

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It would be wild to "eat around the world"

After a quick warm up on the Green, Sam led the group out of Peckham whilst Daryl backmarked. Within 20 minutes, we ran up Chadwick Road (we always find it tough) and came down the other side to end up in Camberwell to meet Catalina (task owner), Richard, Elena, Folarin and Benjamin at the Wildlife Triangle. Sam also met Annette from the Camberwell Green Farmer's Market who kindly dropped off "Eat Around the World" flyers as this community event will be taking place next Saturday (18th).

Most were up for staying to garden and tidy up the Wildlife Triangle, but Sam and Sophie ran off with the flyers to do 25 minutes of flyer drops on Valmar Road and Crawford Road - tackling the big estates with multiple flats. They definitely hit their climb and step count.

Meanwhile, back at Elmington, the team cut back on the brambles, nettles and other weeds. Yet, they had to leave certain parts of the Wildlife Triangle to be wild. Finally, to ensure the weeds do not grow back as quickly, they put down some woodchip mulch.

Just like clockwork as Sam and Sophie arrived back for 20:00, the group were also finishing up. A quick group photo and then a run back to Peckham for a quick stretch on the Green and to obtain our belongings at Old Spike. Benjamin had run back with us and was up for a drink, so Daryl, Maria and Sam sticked around for a pint at the Angel Oak.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night! Congrat again to the newbies; Imogen and Cecilia for coming along and hope you had a lovely first session with us. Catalina appreciates everything that we do, so she passes her thanks. Thank you to Maria for taking the photos and Daryl for backmarking. Kudos to all!

Folarin, Maria and Sam messaged each other to decide to meet an hour earlier to get this task done as the donations were already on site to get sorted.

They used the hour and a bit to prepare two railings of clothes and put all the other miscellaneous items in a box for Andrea from GROAD to take away.

On International Day of Pink & National Siblings Day, 16 GoodGymers came out in full force to help out Alan and Jaki at Cossall Estate and Kirkwood Nature Reserve with litter picking and weeding.

Sam arrived in time to open Old Spike to Maria as Lindy, Rosalind, Daryl, Gemma, James, Andrada, Adrian and Nathan trickled in. We caught up on weekend trips away and activities that we did. As soon as it hit 18:45, Sam got on with his usual speech, but posted a photo on the WhatsApp group....siblings or dating: snap poll. As everyone introduced themselves and answer the ice-breaker of first thing that they think of that's pink, they also had to say if the photo shown was a photo of siblings or two people dating.

In the snap-poll, most thought they were dating, but in fact they were siblings. Top of the list for "pink" word association was "Pink" the artist then came Barbie and then piggies...oink!

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A getaway bag, a hoover and mixed pairs of high heels

Since the evenings are getting lighter, Sam opted to do the warm-up on the Green. Afterwards with Paulin backmarking, off the group went down towards Peckham Rye Park as we needed to do a loop around to ensure we covered at least 2.5k. We ran into Nunhead and down Gordon Road to reach Cossall Estate to meet Alan, Jaki, Anna, Sander and eventually, Folarin and Jessie. Here Jaki explained that she needed 3-4 people to stay in the courtyard to tidy it up, but the rest could head to Kirkwood Nature Reserve as we split half the group to weed the nettles and half the group to litter pick:

• Emma, Jessie, Nathan and Paulin stayed behind to tidy up the courtyard.
• Anna, James, Rosalind and Sam stayed around the gates of the Nature Reserve to weed the nettles and unwanted plants to beautify the entrance.
• The rest paired up with one holding a bing liner and the other using the litter picker to pick up litter: Maria and Adrian paired up, Gemma and Folarin, Andrada and Lindy and finally, Daryl and Sander as they combed the Nature Reserve finding hidden treasures.

As the night started to draw in and as we reach 19:55, those in the Nature Reserve gathered outside the gates to take a photo of their haul - 8 bags - including 5 bags of litter (including a hoover, shoes and baby/kids lunch boxes...) and 3 bags full of nettles and weeds. We threw them away and met up with the other group back in the courtyard for a final group photo and to say our goodbyes to Alan and Jaki.

It was only a 1k run back to Old Spike Peckham. After a quick stretch on the green, a few of us opted in for an impromptu social at The White Horse.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night! Alan and Jaki (plus Oscar) were very pleased with what we got done in 45 minutes and can't wait to have us back in June. Thank you to Paulin for backmarking both ways.