18 Goodgymers ran 4km to help Thornhill Square Gardens

Thanks for coming along on such a cold night, we got lots done and it was great to see you all.

In the news this week:

1. Community Mission helping Crouch End Open Spaces in February is on the website - sign up here.
2. Goodgym races as well as doing good, check out all the races going on here.

Corrrr blimey it's definitely winter isn't it, dark and cold. But hey we did some good for our community, got a bit fitter and it was light until 5pm today - progress me thinks.

After warming up (kinda) we headed to Thornhill Square Gardens through the Barnsbury back streets. There in the dark we met Christopher, he informed our tasks were as follows:

Team One - Shifting two tonnes of mulch to be spread across three flower beds and growing tree saplings. Team Two - Cutting down three tree's. Team 3 - Collecting up a huge amount of twigs, branches and sticks.

We got to work, with head torches on and carrots fueled eyes straining in the darkness. Team One worked across a wide area with three wheelbarrowers, two shovellers and three spreaders in operation.

Meanwhile Team 3 went searching for trees marked with white cloth; Harry and Nicola found a little one to take down but Chris and Laura found a big one which in the end defeated them (due to time not strength).

HEDGEHOG DENS!

The majority of Team 3 became twig/stick collectors, putting them in bags and collecting them to be made into a HEDGEHOG DEN! After 40 minutes of work we were done, we headed home for a stretch and a biscuit.

Sorry for the bad photos, it was so dark! Sign up for next week here, we are helping Rose Bowl.

PB out

20 Goodgymers ran 3-4km to help Compton Square Gardens shift 100 bags of compost!

Welcome along to the newbies - S.Tilly, Jordan and Chloe - lovely to have you along!

It was lovely to do a GoodGym in the morning and in the light, plus it was a little warmer than it was been this week - all very good things!

We did our intros outside and had a good warm up along the slope before heading towards Highbury Fields. During our 1.5km run to the task we passed Highbury Fields Parkrun packing up and the hustle of H&I area. Our task this week was to help the wonderful Compton Square Gardens, a volunteer run group look after the gardens outside the wonderful Union Chapel. The task was simple but involved lots of peoplepower - shifting 100 bags of compost from the shed area to points across the north garden.

Handy flags and labels pointed to where to place the bags of compost, with numbers indicting the amount of bags needed. Steve needed for this to be explained a few times over, but he got it in the end... haha.. With three wheelbarrows, strong muscles and teamwork it only took 15-20 mins to spread all the bags across the garden. Well done all!

That Morning Manure Smell

After taking a group picture we headed off to Highbury Fields for a fitness session - either a 1km time trial or different conditioning exercises.

Thank you all for coming - regulars, newbies and the Barnet contingent - great to see you all. Remember GG Islington runs every Monday, Barnet or Hackney on Tuesday's and Westminster or Camden on Wednesday's. Question is will GoodGym reach it's Good Deed Target?

See some of you on Monday.

PB out

19 GGers met on the 19th March in not 19 degrees to help Caxton House

Thank you all for coming on the last Monday of winter (I really hope), it's great to be surrounded by such brave souls in doing good in Islington. Welcome along to Lucy whose first time it was yesterday - lovely to have you along.

In the news this week:

1. Please be aware that on Monday 2nd, 9th and 23rd April we will be meeting at the Arc Centre down by the canal as the Arsenal Hub is either closed for Easter or there is a football game on.
2. There is GG Monthly Drinks on Thursday 5th April - it'll be in central and it'll be lots of fun!
3. Well done to Alex Coyle for hitting 50 Good Deeds last night - black t-shirt on it's way!

After a warm up we headed north via Hornsey Road and the backstreets to Caxton House, this has been a regular task over the years for us and it's a brilliant one!

Caxton House Community Centre describes itself as "local community hub based in Islington, we offer a number of education, fitness and arts projects; and provide a key link between like-minded organisations and the local community."

Upon meeting Rose she told us our tasks for the evening:

1. Trimming and cutting back an area of bushes and trees at the back.
2. Clearing and de-weeding the cracks between the pavement so they can be sanded.
3. Clearing away brambles and ivy at the front

Armed with an array of tools we got to work doing some GOOD work. In between our tasks we did high knees and some star-jumps to keep us warm in sub-zero temperatures.

Banana Bread!

On our way home we leafleted the area for Caxton House and Green Gym, promoting local volunteering and activities for the community to get involved in.

Social time! We headed to the pub for our monthly social, taking all the koala veggie burger stock on offer (excluding Aidan's that is...). Kike had made some lovely banana bread - which didn't contain nuts and therefore Alix didn't get poisoned. Good news all round!

Sign up here for next week, we are helping St Lukes and Ramsey Flowers Group with some SPRING gardening.

PB out.