Last week, 7 Goodgymmers went to Peckham Rye Tiny Forest to do some weeding.

First to arrive at our meeting point, Old Spike, were Steve and Nelly. I arrived late to find them waiting outside, having a jolly natter. David arrived next, followed by Rosemary and Goodgym tourist Pippa 👋

After a quick warm up and ice breaker, we set of for an artificially long run whilst Steve walked there - this was a smart move since in the humidity, running felt surprisingly hard! A slog around the park, but worth it because it will make us stronger..

We arrived at Tiny Forest - James was already there, and Steve too. They'd already got stuck in. We followed suit, wading and weeding in between the trees. It was a chilled out kind of task, with chatter about recent news reports (someone got arrested for carrying gardening tools?!) and where to go for a drink after the task. The consensus was Franks cafe, which coincidentally was also someone's answer to the ice breaker question: "Whats your favourite place in London to go to in the summer?" 🌇☀️

This week’s group run took us on our regular 3km route from Old Spike Café to Thorlands Gardens, where we met Simon for another productive evening of gardening.

At the gardens, the focus was on clearing brambles and weeding. Armed with gloves. forks, mattocks and plenty of energy, the group got stuck in, making a visible difference in just under an hour. Simon was, as ever, grateful for the support and progress.

With the job done, we jogged the 3km back to Peckham. A big thank you to everyone who joined—great running, great teamwork, and great impact!

Our group run started a bit early this week with a few of us meeting at the Nags Head to watch the woman’s euro game allowing us to hydrate pre run. Ten of us gathered at the Old Spike and did a short run to meet Karthik and Koshy at Cossall Estate. Our first task was litter picking the nature reserve. You never know what treasures you may find there! After this we weeded the beds in the estate and then jogged back to Peckham. The majority of the group were keen for more football so headed straight to the pub after!

On Wednesday, Nelly James and I went to TRAID to help them pack away the clothes from their sale, ready for a new stock the next day. There were lots of people already there from TRAID and so we were finished within 40mins. We finished by doing a quick sweep and vacuum of the floor, before heading off.

Last night for our group run, we went to a block of flats in Kennington Park Road, to help the community there with their garden.

Firstly, we met at Old Spike which was the start of our run. We welcomed some newbies Diana, Sam and Nancy. Then after a quick warm up, we split into two groups and set off to Kennington at two different paces. Daryl's group were first to arrive, also meeting them there was James, Lindy and Richard. They all got stuck in the the first task, which was to move a shed. Diana, Nelly and I joined after. We all were given a variety of different tasks: moving soil, assembling furniture, trimming bushes and raking leaves.

Sandy and the rest of the TRA were really happy to have us. We made a big difference in the short amount of time. Well done all!