I have been taking part in the Big Garden Bird Watch for quite a few years now.

As usual this year the birds did not behave and show up when I needed them to!

In 2021, the Covid lockdown time, my Uncle and I (who was in my bubble) sat, 2 metres apart, for an hour in my conservatory expecting to record the usual finches, robins, sparrows and variety of tits that visit the feeder. But nope. Nothing. Niche. Nadda. No visitors. It was raining but that was the allotted time so we went ahead.

2 photos of the garden with no birds for context. 😁 (taken last summer)

This year I saw one small great tit hop in the feeder and that was all. But just as I was about to conclude the hour a huge heron took to the sky from a garden two doors down. They have carp in a big pond and he was no doubt stalking those. They are thankfully covered in tough mesh to protect them. Should I fib and say it landed? The rules state that you can’t record a sighting unless the bird actually lands in your garden. So another year of frustrating non sightings of my garden friends.

But I shall be back next year. Even if just to sit, still my mind, relax and think of nothing else for an hour.

Tonight, 9 Goodgymers met for a school reunion, taking us back to Charlton Manor Primary where we painted the town grey! (Well, some cupboard doors anyway).

After an ice-breaker discussing favourite nuts, a slightly stormy evening pushed us on our way for the run, readying us to brush up on our artwork once we got to the school. Here we continued our project of painting the key stage 1 hall, this time covering the wall of cupboards in a glossy grey. Teamwork makes a task run super smoothly, and with rollers, cutting-in brushes and a few stretches & climbs, our job was done.

Brazil-iant work all, and cashew soon!

A star-studded cast to celebrate GoodGym Greenwich's 10th Birthday!

An unseasonably mild Sunday morning greeted 18 goodgymers as we made our way to Brooklands school in Kidbrooke. Whilst the school is a little tucked away, the huge grounds provide plenty of outdoor space for the children and their families.

We joined a group of existing volunteers from the school, and were soon wheelbarrowing soil to the growing beds as well as clearing weeds. One of our target areas was an enclosure containing a pond; again involving clearing weeds, bracken and planks to free up the pond area for its proper use. Discovering a few baby dragons* added to the magic of the event, along with a confused toad and lots of ladybirds.

(* thankfully these turned out to be the non-fire breathing variety, which are Newts to us (!) They were carefully looked after by a member of the team to be returned to a safe habitat).

A busy hour soon runs out, so a final group photo provided the icing on the rake for GGG's birthday mission. Special welcome to Iyabo for your first good deed with us - and lovely that you could join us for our lunch to celebrate our birthday!

Coming up...

On Wednesday we're continuing our painting of the hall at Charlton Manor Primary School.

On Sunday we've got our (optional) group run and litter pick on Woolwich Common.

And the following Wednesday we're helping at St Richard's.

Thanks all & see you at the next task! ⭐

It's week two of the 2026 January Challenge, and this week's Wednesday group run took 12 GoodGymers to the Prince Phillip Maritime Collection Centre in Kidbrooke. This is one of our regular missions, often involving moving pallets, ceiling panels & boats, but tonight's task was an adventure in winter gardening.

We got to the task ready for anything after a run from Charlton House, where we were briefed on our tasks, including some weeding of the raised beds, a spot of litterpicking, and turning of the compost heap - you could say we were met with a worm welcome...! The compost project involved removing the top layer of vegetation, spreading the soil beneath on the plant beds, and replacing that plant matter back - a quick biogeography lesson in practice for us, and a great growing environment for the fresh plants come spring!

As usual, time slipped through our gardening gloved fingers, so it was time for a group photo and back to our roots. Great work all & see you soon 😊

Ps. check out our insta video to see an overview of the session!

Coming up...

As well as our regular Parkruns volunteering, on Saturday we have leafleting for the White Swan and Sunday is our 10th birthday celebration when we'll be renovating the pond at Brooklands and heading to Sapori's for pizza afterwards!

Next wednesday we're painting at Charlton Manor Primary School.!

We joined The Charlton Society for a special litter-pick to clean up Charlton Village ready for the Christmas holidays. At first glance things didn't seem to be too bad but our team have a nose for rubbish and soon found some hot spots - down Charlton Church Lane, in the car park and round the back of the Co-op. Our finds included a broken chair, quite a lot of vapes (going to a scrap metal dealer for disposal), lots of bottles, two boxes of nitrous oxide cylinders (reported to the Council).

An hour of walking, talking and picking resulted in nearly 12 bags and a sparkling village. Thanks to the Village Greengrocer for rewarding us with apples, pears, tangerines and bananas - a really fruitful morning's work!