On this slightly chilly September evening Mark was the first to arrive at Blue House Yard, welcoming newcomer James. They were soon joined by Paul, Veronika, and eventually Sarah. It was a short and social run from there to Wolves Lane, where Ed had already taken credit for being the first to arrive.

Wolves Lane is a particular favourite for Goodgym Haringey, as it was the scene of our very first group run. A lot has changed at the site since then, and recently three new buildings have gone up. We were greeted by task owner Alistair, who has worked there for 18 years so had even more stories to tell. We were soon set to work shifting mulch to a spot outside, and watering plants in the Black Rootz polytunnel and the cactus house.

Today's team was so efficient the task was completed in record time, so we had time to flick through Alistair's photo album of the site before ducking into the Palm House to visit the carp and terrapins.

On a classic drizzly autumn evening, with our fearless leader off-duty, I did my best to uphold the good name of GoodGym (no pressure, right?).

We kicked things off with a bit of DIY — assembling some planks into a raised bed.

Then Mark, Sarah, Julie, and I got stuck into the real fun: shovelling, wheelbarrowing, and tipping load after load of wood chip into place like pros.

Just when we thought we were done, we were sent... to the bad place. Yes, the compost heap — the stuff of rancid, smelly nightmares.

But! Turns out we were being a bit over dramatic. This time it was far less pongy than a couple of weeks ago! So we bravely shovelled barrow after barrow of the wormy mush into the new raised bed.

Just as we finished up, the rain returned right on cue — like nature’s version of a mic drop.