Following our energetic group session last Tuesday to Stephens House and Gardens, Helen, our wonderful host there, invited us to join her for another project she helps with at St Mary's. As part of the church's London Festival of Architecture Week, they hosted a community gardening session, clearing parts of the graveyard and tidying gravestones.

Jacqui arrived first and, given a choice between gardening alone in damp weather or going on a tour of the church, she went on the tour. Then I arrived, with Filip and Chloe (who'll soon be earning their first t-shirts!), and we met Helen with a wheelbarrow and got stuck in, coppicing some of the smaller trees, digging up alkanet and then dragging ivy back from the graves. Chloe found and relocated a toad to one of the quieter parts of the grave. We all found lots and lots of snails.

A couple of local volunteers cleared and tidied some of the old graves. Many are too worn to read, but we found a few from around two hundred years ago. Helen told us that one we were working around had actually vanished into the undergrowth. They found its location from old site maps, and rescued it.

Richard then arrived from his training (he's doing a marathon hike next weekend!), grabbed gloves and then grabbed up great fistfuls of ivy. And Jacqui waved hello as the church tour led her through the graveyard. Understandably, she couldn't tear herself away from the tour, the church is a real historical gem for Finchley and always open if you fancy a visit.

May Anytime Anywhere Litter Pick

A big well done to everyone who got involved in our May Anytime Anywhere litter pick.

This is one of those wonderfully simple GoodGym tasks that anyone can do, wherever they happen to be. A short walk, a pair of gloves, a bag, a litter picker if you have one — and suddenly your local patch is a little bit cleaner.

Across the month we had GoodGymers out and about doing their bit in different places, including Barnet and beyond.

Paul Browning was out in Kidbrooke, south east London, alongside the Quaggy, where he filled three battered “bags for life” from either side of the river. He also pulled out and destroyed around 200 Himalayan balsam plants, which are highly invasive and damaging to river banks — a brilliant bit of extra environmental care while he was there.

Peter Van Tongeren reported his usual combination of “little litter picks out and about” along with some obstacle removal, including heavy canisters.

Sally and Paul also managed to avoid the Champions League final by doing a litter pick — and even found a quiet wisteria-covered pub for a cocktail afterwards, which sounds like excellent reward-based volunteering!

It was great to see people joining in, whether individually, in pairs, or as part of a walk, run or cycle. These small acts really do add up. As the weather gets hotter, more people are outside, bins fill up more quickly, and rubbish can easily spill out or be pulled around by animals. That makes these local litter picks even more valuable.

Thank you to everyone who signed up and took part in May: Harvey, Paul B, Matthew, Paul, Sally, Peter, Jacqui, Richard and Mel.

The June Anytime Anywhere litter pick is already listed, so please sign up if you can. It’s a flexible, useful and very visible way to help look after the places we live, walk, run and enjoy.

Well done everyone — small actions, big difference.

Our first mission cleaning up the Glebelands Open Space in advance of a community gathering started at the corner of the Glebelands Indoor Bowls Club. Jacqui arrived first, beating me to it, soon followed by Fanny with a handy little helper in tow.

We scoured the bushes down the slip road and soon hit the jackpot along the fence along the David Lloyd car park. An unbelievable mess of litter, fast food, plastics, clothes, cans, bottles. Then - out of nowhere! - Paul arrived with Gus (who'd already litter picked a random tennis ball), bringing a second burst of energy. Jacqui and Fanny then had to leave, but - wow! - Richard arrived and boom! We smashed a few more sacks in the last 30min.

We carried the sacks, about a dozen canisters, some signs, a clothes frame and a baby car chair over the corner of the slip road, reported everything and trotted off into the sunshine with a good deed under our belts.

The area still has a lot more work to do, but we have to be careful, as we've been notified by ecologists that there may be important species living in the trash in some of the more overgrown areas. We'll be extra careful around the club house and take advice from an expert when we come back next week.

9 GoodGymers made a real difference at Kentish Town City Farm!

This lovely group — Caitlin, Deirdre, Emily, Giulia, Jacqui, Karen, Lydia, Matt, and Pritika — caught a well-spent and community-filled morning at Kentish Town City Farm on Sunday!

Together they got everything ready for the Farm's annual May Day celebrations!

💚 Karen and Giulia cleaned fences and took them up to the top field!

💚 Emily and Matt carried an animal cage up to the top field and almost got lost!

💚 Deirdre, Lydia, Pritika, and others helped carry tables a long way!

💚 And everyone hung up bunting!... alongside saying hello to the animals 🐷

Thank you, everyone! And thank you, Emily, for the photos and report!