Speedy work was made of the 60 bags of compost that needed bringing into the Listening Space Garden.

The bags we’re wheeled and carrie into the garden in no time placed and some tipped out ready for spreading.

Caversham Group Practise have a wonderful space so patients and staff and dedicated group of gardeners and volunteers, it was great to give them a hand the garden, it will be looking fab as always this year.

Hopefully be back soon to help out again!

28 Goodgymers ran 3-5k to help Age UK Camden and The Listening Space!

Welcome along to newbie - Hiren whose first time it was last night!

In the news this week:

1. Come along to the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at the American International Church on Tuesday 30th April for all our hard work making beds for the homeless.
2. Team Track is back - Kat Kelly will be leading sessions at Regents Park Track at 6.30pm on Thursdays over Spring and Summer - go along!
3. Some of us are going to do Regents Park 10k on 2nd June - you should should join!

The Listening Space:

17 of us headed up to Kentish Town to help the wonderful Listening Space. This is a wonderful organisation that helps patients of the Caversham GPS Surgery integrate into the community through gardening, craft and other groups. A big part of this is using the back garden.

Our task continuing from two tasks was to wheelbarrow soil, mulch and mushroom compost from outside the centre through a small narrow corridor into the back garden which is then put in the right place.

Mmmmm cake

We split into teams having people shovelling, spreading and moving the good stuff to the needed areas. Over 30 minutes we finished off the mushroom compost and made a significant inroad in the other stuff.

Just after 8pm we were finished - nice! We ate cake, took a group photo and run home, which included a quick lap of the Crick!

Age UK Camden Report by Katie:

After a swift jog through bustling Kings Cross, we came to the secret garden that is looked after by Age UK, which seemed a lovely peaceful haven once we’d woven our way there amid the chaos of commuters!

There was just one task to be completed this evening: move two rather large piles of earth from the flower beds across the garden to form one new super pile! This was part of the preparation for new flowers beds, so a vital if not very varied challenge.

Working the graveyard shift

After some ‘ground-breaking’ (literally) research was conducted, we concluded that the best way to break up and move the hardened soil was a combo of spades, trowels, mallets and team work and so we got to it. We rotated tools and manoeuvred effectively with some added wheelbarrow sound effects to increase health and safety around reversing in tight spaces, and soon got most of it shifted. All the while having some lovely conversations, most of which, it has to be said revolved around food. It’s hungry work, moving the earth!

In an ‘earth-shattering’ finale, the whole team picked up the last of the soil in its own tarpaulin, revealing some interesting plant life that was pulled out of its plastic prison. Hurrah!

Job done, we had some good wholesome fun running around Granary Square to round off a lovely down to earth evening.

Next week we are off to help Antrim Allotments - sign up here!

PB out

19 Goodgymers ran 5-7k to help Camden Society and the Listening Space for Camden's 6th birthday

Thanks for coming along guys, I hope you enjoyed singing happy birthday to ourselves! Woop woop!

In the news this week:

1. Come to Goodgym Drinks tonight in Tottenham Court Road and to celebrate GG Camden's birthday - sign up here!
2. There is a Community Mission helping Crouch End Open Spaces next Sunday which ends with a free lunch - full details here.
3. Get signed up for the GG Olympics here. Details on events, a GG Anthem and more coming soon.

The Listening Space Report:

11 of us headed up the hill to The Listening Space, a new task for us which helps patients from the hospital get involved in community events and activities to encourage more social inclusion, and chiefly so people feel less isolated. They also provide counselling anf therapy services using the garden. There secret garden in the back is the centre for all of this!

Free Cake!

After our 2.5k run there we got to work we got to work with the following:

• Shifting compost and soil from outside the hospital to the back garden in wheelbarrows and bags.
• Moving huge planks of wood into the back garden
• Shifting bags of gravel to the same place.

All of this was the heavy lifting the patients and volunteers can't always do so it's really important for us for help. Over 30 minutes everyone worked really hard and fast to get loads done. We finished off with a group picture and some cake and biscuits before our run downhill home.

Camden Society Sorting T-shirts:

Kat and Abi led a group a group 3km up the road to Mailout, an enterprise which is part of a Camden Society - a fantastic charity which helps people with special needs and learning difficulties through providing work, opportunities and support. Mailout send out the GoodGym t-shirts, a continuous task that involves sending to over 50 areas and 1000's of people. A stock check is needed, but it seems an impossible task for Abi to check over 250 boxes on her own!

Upon the team's arrival they got to work counting the t-shirts in each box, with all the sizes, types and more available! Over 45 minutes the team got 98% of the stock check down before running home downhill.

Sign up for next week here when we'll be helping Age UK Camden and Cecil Sharp House.

PB out