Yesterday 4 runners ran to the Croydon Refugee Day Centre to sort through the donations.

Three of us met at Solutions Gym to warm up and take a gentle jog along the streets of Croydon to the Refugee Day Centre. Although it wasn't far Rosalind beat us there! A task we have visited frequently, Ivanka met us and let us know what she had in store for us tonight. There were a few new bags of donations which needed to be sorted, sized and placed on the racks. Ingrid was busy sorting through the school uniform, and at the end of the session Emily saw for the first time how everything in the hall can be tidied away into the much smaller store room. Always an impressive feat of packing!

A lovely task to be a part of. Join us at the weekend for a community mission or our next group run on Tuesday where we will be working wonders along the boulevard with ECCO.

Last night 7 Good Gymers ran and walked 2km to help the Friends of Park Hill keep the walled garden looking clean and peaceful.

After a sunny bank holiday weekend the weather had cooled a little as we headed out for our weekly Tuesday group task. But the weather didn't stop Emily coming for her first run with Good Gym! We warmed up together and then headed off though the streets of Croydon to Park Hill. Not our furthest run but the hill at the end always takes us by suprise! We somehow timed it very well with the joggers and the walking group arriving at the same time.

Josie met us at the gates to the walled garden with several tasks planned for us to do, including watering the rose garden and weeding in the mencap bed. The mencap group are coming on Friday and they needed some help clearing the weeds and grass from their area of the garden so they can plant out some lovely plants in their next session. Armed with forks, spades and hoes we were a little daunted to see the size of the first bed had sticky weeds growing up to head height! Thankfully Josi and Katherine have other plans to turn that area into a Story Bee garden and the mencap flower beds were a little smaller although nearly as overgrown.

Next came our most frequently asked question, which ones are weeds? Grasses and sticky weed were definitely out, roses and poppies staying in, but there were several more less easy to identify plants which Josi decided to take out just in case! After a good amount of work and several trips to the compost heap with the wheel barrow, the bed had lots of space for the mencap group to add new plants to.

Keep your eyes peeled for more opportunities to help the Walled Garden with their community gardening projects! next Tuesdays group run will be heading to the Croydon Refugee Centre to sort the new clothes donations, hope to see you there!

Last night 9 Good Doers walked and ran 3km to help Tunstall Nursery fill up the sand pit and tidy up the outside play area.

We welcomed Rachel and Lucia for their first runs with Good Gym today after hearing about us through their work place. It was a lovely sunny evening and we warmed up by each suggesting a different exercise to do. Feeling ready, we headed off on our gentle 1.5km run to meet the walkers and staff at the Nursery. They were very pleased to see us as there were two big bags of sand which needed to be moved to the sand pit at the back of the Nursery.

We split into two teams with one group sweeping up the old sand and stones from the play area to make a safe surface for the children to play on. And it is true sand really does get everywhere! After a lot of hard work sweeping the play area was transformed, looking clean and tidy for the children to play in (and most likely make some more mess!) tomorrow. It was a very enjoyable task and therapeutic to see the difference we could make with our brooms. The other team took up the shovels and began moving the sand from the large bags in the car park into the wheel barrow and then round the back to sand pit. A definite arm work out! After a few run ins with some rather large spiders who had made the sand bags their home, there was soon an efficient system in place and the sand pit was full in no time.

Looking around it was clear to see the work we had done! Esther was even able to show us how a planter we had moved on our last task there was now full of potatoes and strawberries the children are growing.

Next week, we will be heading to Park Hill to give some help putting up some more of the Peace Poles. Sign up Here to take part!

Last night five good gym runners ran 2km to help the Croydon Refugee Day Centre.

It was a warm and sunny evening as we headed out on the short run to the Croydon Refugee Day Centre. We completed our warm up by a flower bed which has recently been planted up with some spring flowers for us to admire. Arriving at the Refugee Centre there were lots of new donations for us to sort, size and hang onto the rails. There were lots of great clothes which have been donated and are ready to go to those who need them. Once we were finished we tidied everything away so that the room was ready for other users.

A great task!

On Tuesday we ran in the rain to St Augustine’s to assist Sue.

As customary prior to us arriving Sue would send me an email with all the tasks she have for us to complete. Today’s email;

Dear Conroy, looking forward to seeing you all again this evening. Usual mix of heavy and light options. Woodchip delivery in the car park needs moving including loading into some ton bags and sweeping up afterwards. Lighter options include moving some smaller bags to spots around the garden, more edging / trimming the grass edges and sweeping the car park at the end. There's also a small dead tree to cut down / remove and a couple of smaller bushes to dig out. Lots of options as usual. Sadly I'm on crutches so not able to do much. Grrrr. Sue.

Dear Conroy and all you wonderful people, thank you for your work last night. I can't thank you enough. Such a relief to have the car park as good as cleared and sustainably packed mulch for the future. On June 27th 10.45 the garden at St Augustine's will be assessed by RHS. Sue have requested to have one representative from GoodGym Croydon.