Loughborough Park is a "Site of Importance for Nature Conservation" in recognition of its importance not just for wildlife, but also for people to enjoy access to nature.

Local residents and communities are now working to deliver a programme of improvements which will secure the park's future for all ages, interests and abilities to enjoy.

Our task today was to cut back and prune a large, invasive bush which was dominating a mound in the middle of the park and stifling other growth. There was a lot of it, but we took to the task with a variety of gardening tools; it took us an hour and a half, but we did an amazing job clearing the central area.

What do we like more than almost anything else at GoodGym? It's welcoming along new (and returning) GoodGymers!

Last night was a great occasion for exactly that reason, Area Activator Yianny and hardcore Lambeth legend Tilly were met by two 'new' members of the Lambeth Community. It was great to have Mark along for his very first session and also Katie who had previously been to tasks in Islington - with a GG t-shirt to prove it - but had been away for a while. Welcome both to the team!

Our category for last night was if you were a stuffed animal what would it be and why - we were therefore joined by a stuffed giraffe, leopard, penguin and a giant teddy bear :0)

We set off for the short hop over to Somerleyton Road / Loughborough Park to meet Jon from the Friends of Loughborough Park who was waiting for us with bunches of flyers. Organised as ever Jon had 300 or so flyers in bundles along with a handy map of the area to be covered. We had varying levels of map reading skills in the group, potentially a gap in age meant that some (ryhmes with 'scarier tractor grater') were a bit more comfortable with a good old fashioned paper map than others. Grumbles about smart phones

Anyway we set of in groups of two to hit as many of the flats and houses in the area to drum up interest and support for the FoLP to help with their weekly activities. If you are in the Loughborough Park area remember to check out the Community Missions each month as we always have a few sessions listed to help out around the park (and you get cake afterwards)! https://www.goodgym.org/admin/areas/lambeth/happenings/community-missions

In no time we had delivered all the flyers and it was time to meet back up and head back to Papa's. After a bit of back and forth we found each other and on arrival back at base Tilly had very kindly baked cookies for everyone - what more delicious way to end a Group Run than that??

Huge thanks to all and I look forward to seeing you at the next one.

Kash and Sevan met up with task owner John to tackle the snowberry trees hiding at the back of Loughborough Park. John was surprised to see them and happy to have some help. "Clear everything from this area" he said, especially the snowberries, the branches with small white fruit on them. The instructions were to cut them as low to the ground as possible.

Invasive plant destruction is a GoodGym speciality. Kash and Sevan got to work with a pair of shears, a lopper and some ratchet loppers, which were a new tool to them. They razed the snowberries and brambles, while telling John about their GoodGym stories and hearing his tales from the theatre.

By the end of the task, a path to the hill behind had been cleared and they headed to the local microbrewery for some well deserved refreshment. John said that next week, they'd be giving rotovator (or tiller) training in the patch that the GoodGymers had cleared today, allowing volunteers to turn over the soil and get rid of the roots and ivy.

The nights are drawing in at GG Lambeth and last night we shared our base at Papa's with a drama group who were rehearsing giving things a film noir feel. Fair play to Alice who walked straight into the rehearsal thinking it was us in the hall - I hear your audition was greeted with warm reviews!

Despite that we were delighted to welcome Jaromir for his first ever GG session - it's great to have you with us Jaromir!

Our task this evening was to leaflet the areas surrounding Loughborough Park to raise awareness of how the community could get involved in volunteering opportunities. Jon met us at Papa's to hand over the flyers (hit off the press!) and explain which roads needed covering.

We set off to meet Marie-Noelle and Paul to discover that sadly a major incident had occurred and our planned running route was barred by police tape but not to be deterred we changed up the plan and met at Electric Quarter to divvy up the areas.

The rest of the evening was thankfully uneventful and smooth and we were able to cover all the areas Jon requested.

Once back at Papa's all that remained was to sample Charlotte's delicious vegan chocolate cookies - thank goodness Bake Off is back!!

Thanks everyone and see you next week :0)

Lindy & I joined Nick & Jon from Friends of Loughborough Park to lop and prune snowberry plants as well as pick up lots of litter in preparation of planting a new hedge. 🌱

We then took the snowberry cuttings down to another part of the Park to create a hedgehog-friendly spot just in time for them to make their winter dens 🦔

Three GoodGymers made it to Loughborough Park to help clear out snowberry and other undergrowth from the north corner of the park.

After a bit of clearing as a group we split and Nathan continued to make good headway clearing whilst Louise and Jo transported the cuttings to continue building a dry hedge for the incoming hedgehogs (on two feet and two wheels respectively).