Yee-haw! 🤠

With a batch of Hospice Hoedown leaflets left over from our flyering in Bexley a couple of weeks ago, we headed out into the residential streets around Sidcup High Street to deliver the remainder.

It didn’t take long to get to the bottom of the pile, and hopefully our efforts will help drum up a few more bookings for the Hoedown! 🤠

Sunday morning in Avery Hill Park, and three GoodGymers arrived bright and early to help the Demelza Hospice team get ready for their first Rainbow Run.

Our job was to set up five colour stations, where later in the day other volunteers would be throwing clouds of coloured powder at the 400 runners and walkers taking part.

Each station needed a funnel of flags and bunting, so we got busy with hammers and sturdy stakes, battling against the baked-hard soil to get the flag poles firmly in place.

Walking between stations took us on a lap of the park with plenty of steps, and it was great to see each colourful setup take shape, flags flapping in the gentle breeze.

Just as we finished, the party music started and runners began arriving for what promised to be a fun event, raising much-needed funds to support Demelza’s children’s hospice services.

Laura and the team from Holy Redeemer Pre-School had asked us to help get the outdoor area ready for back-to-school tomorrow.

When we arrived - between us walking, running and cycling to get there - Laura pointed us towards the fruit and vegetable garden where nature had run wild during the summer holidays!

The brambles had thrived, the gourd plants had launched a full-on invasion of the strawberry plants in the raised bed in the other side of the path 🎃 🍓 , weeds were rife among the strawberries, and sneaky bindweed had wound its way around pretty much everything!

Gloves on, and secateurs and shears at the ready, we got busy cutting back and pulling-up. Then we more gently untangling bindweed from the tomato and gourd plants plants, careful not to damage their precious fruits that the children will be so excited to see.

After filling the garden waste bin to the brim and a quick sweep up, we were done.

Now the path around the plants is clear for the children to walk around and explore what's growing. We hope they'll be delighted to see the colourful fruit and vegetables, and our guess is that there will be some tasting going on too!

We'll be back again at the end of the month, helping turn old pallets into storage for music instruments! Come and join us - the more the merrier!