The murals in Welling were originally intended as a temporary installation over 20 years ago, but they are still there and needed some tlc. So Julie from Discover Welling asked for our help to give them a good wash. Very apt during the annual Keep Britain Tidy #GBSpringClean fortnight!

Julie arrived with buckets of soapy water - not sure how she got them there! - brushes and sponges, and we set to work. 🪣🪣🪣🧽🧽🧽🧹🧹

Robert, a local resident and great supporter of GG Bexley, came along to say hello, armed with another bucket of soapy water. A luxury this time as it was warm water!

After completing one side of the road we swapped to the other. From the colour of our sponges and dirty water there was no doubt that we'd removed lots of grime!

Then, while some of us swept cobwebs off the lights, and swept the pavement, others went to the local church which kindly let us refill the buckets from their kitchen taps.

With the fresh water we rinsed all the murals, tackling the last of the stickers that had softened enough for us to scrape them off.

Hopefully the murals and the pedestrian tunnels they line look a bit cleaner and tidier now. Passers-by while we were in action were certainly appreciative with lots of 'thank yous'. It's always nice to feel appreciated!

A job well done, we headed to the pub to celebrate Sarah's 400th good deed!

See you for more GoodGym fun next week!

Our sensational litterpicking champion, Ashton, flew the flag for GoodGym at this morning’s community litterpick organised by Welling Station in partnership with the amazing team at Discover Welling.

Targeting the public footpath alongside the station there was so much debris that the rubblish bags filled quickly.

Well done everyone who gave their time and braved the cold to make things nicer for others.

On a cold night when it would have been easy to stay at home, our hardy GoodGymers joined the equally dedicated volunteers from Discover Welling to take down the stickers thanking sponsors of the Welling Christmas lights.

Braving the rain and sleet we split into a group of runners 🏃‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️ and a group of walkers 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️, heading in opposite directions along the high street peeling off stickers along the way. When we got to the end we crossed over and came back along the other side of the road doing the same.

The combination of running and walking gave us all a good dose of exercise, and we got the job done in double-time, even before our hands went numb in the cold. ❄️❄️

If you'd like extra motivation to get out and get moving during the winter months, come and join us!

What a fun hour helping to run the retro fairground games at the Danson House Christmas Market.

Children and adults alike loved launching the frog to land down the chimney, and rolling the balls to score for prizes.

And we loved being being part of this festive community event, working alongside the other volunteers from Discover Welling, with all proceeds going towards next year's Christmas Sparkle lights in Welling.

What a lovely evening we all had decorating the Welling Christmas tree! 🎄

After meeting up with Julie from Discover Welling, we set to work hanging baubles. It was difficult reaching the higher up branches but our trusty litterpicks came in handy and we somehow managed it. We even had some hand-made GoodGym decorations to hang!

Decorating completed, we gathered around the tree for a spot of impromptu carol singing!

We could have stayed longer but needed to litter pick some rubbish from the area and head to see the Christmas House.

What a fantastic display of lights at the house, including the baby Jesus of course!

Our group tasks over the next two weeks have an equally festive feel. We're joining the local Santa Sleighs in Sidcup (next Wednesday) and Welling (the following Wednesday). Ho, ho, hope to see you there! 🎅

What a lovely treat to be met by Santa as we arrived at our task last night 🎅 !

We were helping Julie and Alex from Discover Welling to take down the lamp post stickers promoting last weekend's Sparkle event and replace them with stickers thanking local organisations that had donated towards funding for the town's Christmas lights.

We got into a great routine:

• Peel off the old.

• Stick up the new.

• Power walk to next lamp post.

• Repeat.

All the while with Santa giving cheery greetings to passers-by.

Great exercise and very satisfying!

And it was lovely to see our logo featured, as a thank you for the help we've given time-wise (rather than pecuniary!).

Another fun task under under belts, and even the GoodGym Bexley name up in lights (well, technically 'on' lights, but close enough!)

Next Wednesday we're indoors, stuffing bags to be given away at the Sidcup Christmas Extravaganza. If you've been wondering about giving GoodGym a go, this is a great task to start with!