We had a great group of 16 runners gathering at Hollybush tonight, braving a very chilly (but thankfully dry!) evening to take on a truly mulch-needed mission, shifting a massive new delivery of mulch and transforming the space in record time 🌿❄️

It was lovely to see a mix of familiar faces alongside some new ones, including Justin, who joined us for his very first GoodGym task, a huge welcome to you!

Meeting on site, we quickly broke out the tools and got straight to work. Our task was to spread the fresh mulch across James Middleton Community Garden, giving the beds a smart new layer to protect the soil and prep everything for future planting. At the same time, some of the previously laid mulch had broken down beautifully and was ready to be dug up and reused in the planting areas, a great example of garden recycling in action 🌱♻️

With Margaret and Michael expertly leading the charge, we soon formed a slick production line, shovelling, barrowing, spreading, and smoothing. Despite the cold, everyone kept moving as the mulch piles steadily disappeared and the garden visibly transformed before our eyes.

In just 45 minutes, what had looked like a huge job was completely turned around. The beds were freshly covered, the planting areas prepped, and the whole garden space was looking smarter, tidier, and ready for the next stage of growing.

We wrapped up with our new group photo method: everyone forming a circle, bending over and facing the camera on the ground while someone captured it in .5 mode, (Thank you to Emma for the idea) resulting in a wonderfully ridiculous (and very GoodGym) moment to end the session on

All in all, a brilliant evening of teamwork, community support, and a seriously mulchtastic transformation, huge thanks to everyone who came along and made such a difference despite the chilly temperatures!

5 of us heading to Limehouse to finish off last week's painting job at Oceans Youth Connexions. After last week's mammoth attendance, we were smaller in number but still made a very effective team of painters.

Overalls on, we split off into different corners of the main room - some of us up ladders, others not. Up and down, left and right, we went, refilling our trays with bright, white paint. Lobo took care of the shutters - the soothing sounds of the rollers against metal being the soundtrack of the session. Anna and Ilana whizzed around the lower levels, painting any unpainted patches they could find. Myself and Rohan were mainly perched atop ladders rolling white paint onto the walls. We worked away quietly, so absorbed were we in the task at hand. The hour flew by and before we knew it was time to head back out into the chilly night.

GoodGymers arrived from all parts of Bethnal Green and Mile End. And not just from there. Nia came all the way from India, partly to do the task, but also because she was greatly missing our lovely January weather. Mile-End-Emma arrived from Australia, quite recently, and new-boy Gabe (welcome Gabe) claims to live outside Tower Hamlets altogether, over there in The City. Even though nobody lives in The City. And we all arrived bang on time - except for the usual tardy suspects, of course...

Nia, Lobo, Gabe and Bethnal-Green-Emma, were using their artistic talent to paint chairs (Bethnal) green, as well as varnishing a table and chair. Lucinda and Mile-End-Emma were filling gaps in a brick wall, doing a great job (according to Mile-End-Emma). Several miles away, at the other end of the estate, Ilana, Ciarán and Bethnal-Green-Emma were restoring a graffiti-covered wall. Closer to home, Rohan and I practised for our future potential careers as dentists pulling teeth, as we yanked nails from planks of wood, using the back ends of hammers

All this vigorous work was our best bulwark against the cold. But January isn’t over yet - there’s still a special Tuesday task at Ocean Youth tonight, then Saturday lunchtime at Rocky Park, and the usual Felix Project tasks the same day. Be there or be somewhere else!

Some of the team joined the RSPB big garden bird watch to cound the local bird population throughout Merton and further afield. The results were a mixed bag with some owl-fully busy with constant visitors and others had a shy turnout.

It was great to get outside and Bernard joined in with a first mission, achieving a daily walking goal at the same time - well done: "Walking around the park was a pleasant experience, especially since it was my first time there. Unfortunately, I didn't see any birds, but it still provided a good opportunity to meet my daily walking goals."

We had a lovely day out in the sun in Ms A's back garden today. Kevin, a former professional gardener was the man with the plan. Myself and him got to work on uprooting the many tree stumps in the garden while Ilana took on the prickly task of putting part of the large pile of thorns and branches into garden bags so they can be removed. Several stumps later and with 3 full garden bags Ms A treated us to some lovely coffee and biscuits to top off the mission. Some return visits will definitely be necessary.