Ten Lovely GoodGym Folk Made a Difference in Camden Town and We Celebrated Jack's Wonderful 50 Good Deeds!!

Truly hidden amidst the electric bustle of Camden Town is an apartment block...

...Camden passersby see the shops and notice the (beautiful) church, but most walk right by the alley that leads to Barnes House Estate...

...although that changed last night as 10 wonderful folk in red were welcomed in by the equally wonderful Dan and Anna!

Our special group - of Alex, Auriela, Emily, Imogen, Kathleen, Jack, John, Michael, and Steve - started by taking in the communal garden's quietness - outside Camden Town bustled, while inside things felt gentler 🧘

Across the next 45 minutes, these lovely people scraped weeds from paving slabs, pulled weeds from grassy patches, and swept weeds into tidy compost bags! The section that looked half-weed, ended looking fresh and cared for!

And last night was an extra special occasion: Jack works in GoodGym HQ and I've seen (and benefited from) his truly excellent work - his efforts make GoodGym what it is - thank you for that, Jack, and thank you for your 50 good deeds!!

Thank you, everyone, and here's to next time!!

There is a special community that meets - in an unsuspecting basement - on Tottenham Court Road every Wednesday during the year's colder months.

Orchestrated by the brilliant Brooke and the team (including the super kind Russell) at the American International Church, different community groups come together to cook, build beds, and make a home for an evening. 💚

The C4WS Homeless Project provides warm respite from the streets and a supportive step towards stable accommodation.

Since October, our wonderful GoodGym folk have been setting up dining rooms, assembling camp beds, and finding out the best way to fight with a duvet cover.

And last night was no different ☺️

Our lovely group - of Alex, Auriela, Caitlin, Gosia, Jackie, John, Louise, Siobhan, and Steve - worked with aplomb and speed, and all whilst sharing stories and laughter ♥️

We'll certainly be back as soon as the evenings sharpen and darken 💛

Thank you, everyone, for bringing your energy and time last night!!

Tonight was a bumper crop of GoodGymers, with not one, not two, but three new Greenwich residents looking to do some good. Welcome to the fold, Yun, Phyllis and Cecilia!

After an icebreaker sharing our favourite pancake toppings, Geraldine led us for a lovely river run to James Wolfe School for our first task with them. On arrival there was, let's face it, ABSOLUTE CHAOS. I for one relied on high levels of initiative and everyone enjoying a nice chat 😁

But d'you know what, after scouting out what needed to be done, we organised ourselves as well as can be expected of 15 people scrabbling around in the dark and in typical efficient GoodGym fashion, we'd soon finished moving all the crates to the side of the shed, recycling a load of boxes and sweeping up all the leaves in sight.

Crate work team!

Next week we're back to Wednesday at the same start location. Sign up here.

This weekend we've got lots of tasks. Saturday morning: Maryon Wilson Community Garden, Rose Garden Action Day Saturday afternoon: If you fancy a trip further out to join our Bexley friends - gardening at the Community Hospice by Bostall Woods. Sunday: Westcombe Woodlands

Until next time!

(Check out Gosia's wonderful Insta video here!)

There is a large hall in Tottenham Court Road's American International Church.

It's the sort of hall you can imagine Charles Dickens in - he'd probably say something profound like - this is a nice hall.

And it's usually home to West End casts rehearsing plays and musicals - if you sneak in on a Wednesday night, you'll usually glimpse costumes and sets and a large double bass.

But last night we were tasked with turning the hall into the evening's winter shelter. And by 'we', I mean our wonderful group of our first good-gymers Auriela, Kiera, and Kayla (welcome, all!) and our Camden regulars Alex, Emilie, Emily, Gosia, Louise, Jackie, John, and Steve!

On arrival and having been welcomed by our brilliant host, Brooke, a smaller group of Auriela, Emilie, Kiera, and Kayla headed straight to an empty room that they soon turned into a welcoming dining room!

And while our smaller group were good-deeding, our larger group were doing the same - the hall popped with beds and the beds got dressed with warmth!

After 30 happy minutes, we turned out into evening Camden just as the shelter's guests were starting to arrive - nice one, everyone!!