A group of GoodGymers gathered at Elm Park Recreation Centre this evening for a community clean-up effort focused on restoring and maintaining the popular public space.

Equipped with rakes, brooms, hoes and garden shears, we tackled several neglected areas around the grounds to ensure the space remains safe, welcoming and accessible for families.

Dave and our newest GoodGym member, Callum, tackled in removing unwanted tree roots from the ground. Jana, Tom, Jonathan, Rachel, Anna, Marcos, Ken and Saber worked in small teams to sweep up the endless piles of leaves and placing them in compost.

Events like these remind us how much we can achieve when we pull together. A huge welcome to our newest volunteer, Callum, who jumped right in on his very first day and pitched in with the team!

Thank you to everyone who lent a helping hand.

A chilly Monday November evening saw four GGRs put in a hole lot of effort in planting bulbs for Petersham Common.

Ken , assisted Manuela set about getting to the bottom of things by digging the hole that the bulbs would be planted into.

Soon they were joined by Adam and Sam , following their run from the Tap Tavern.

We successfully then budded together to plant around 300 bulbs, which will hopefully become un-bud-lievable in the spring time!

A little bit eerie, a mysterious warmth in the air, head torch lights bounding along pathways, ten heads poking about, breaking cobwebs and disappearing around corners and popping back out on the main road again... Such was our return trip to litter pick at Petersham Common. So much more had been chucked from cars in the interim that by the end, we had bulging bags that should never, ever have ended up in nature.

Tonight’s GoodGym adventure took our group in two directions - to Canbury Community Gardens and Latchmere Park.

The Latchmere Park task was quite straightforward - fill 5 planters with compost. Just a small matter that the compost was in 3 1/2 ton sacks about 100m away from the planters! Emily, Ken, Laura, Petra and Dave donned their gloves and proceeded to fill and empty countless wheelbarrows. the time flew and the task completed with 5 mins to spare. Off to the pub!

Slightly more involved at Canbury Gardens with compost to turn, an elderflower tree to tackle, watering to do and gardening to squeeze in before darkness descended.

Claire kicked things off with an excellent briefing, particularly impressive given the jet lag from her recent trip to Korea! Rachel then provided an unexpected highlight by confidently picking up one of the resident chickens. Despite never having held a chicken before, she looked like a natural, comparing it to picking up her three-legged cat. The chicken seemed perfectly content! 🐔

Luke, Saber and Jonathan got stuck into turning the compost, while also attempting to secretly sign Rachel’s birthday card without her noticing.

Meanwhile, Jana and Marie-Noëlle gave the dead elderflower tree a giant haircut. Marie-Noëlle wielded the enormous loppers on the larger branches, carefully avoiding the tomatoes below, while Jana tackled the smaller ones. Saber later took over with a saw and ended up up the tree, prompting a few concerned looks as we watched his balancing act! 🌳😂

Claire tracked down the wheelbarrows and collected water from the river with Rachel, who later became our human lighting department as daylight disappeared.

Jana then tackled one final job, digging a hole for a donated berry bush, which we just about managed to get planted and watered before darkness took over. 🌱

With everything wrapped up, Claire entertained us with tales from Korea.

Compost turned, tree dramatically restyled, water collected, bush planted, chicken cuddled and birthday card covertly signed, another productive and slightly chaotic GoodGym evening! 💪🌿🐔