Today we joined the Friends of Lesnes Abbey Woods for a spot of conservation work.

Pushing a wheelbarrow of tools to the heath area at the top of the woods was a workout in itself.

Once there, we set about pulling up bracken and digging out brambles to give the purple heather a chance to thrive.

There was plenty of chatting while we worked and afterwards at the cafe where we rounded off the morning with coffee and ice creams.

Join us next month when we're back for more!

Third Saturday of the month is our regularly session with the Friends of the Old English Gardens in Danson Park. Today we braved the rain for a two-part task. Team Roses set about digging up two deeply entrenched rose bushes, while Team Hedges got to work cutting back the box hedges around one of the circular flowerbeds. The rose bushes took some shifting from the sodden soil. We got one out but the other one will have have to wait until next time. The circle of hedging required less brute force and more precision so that, when we got round to where we started, the height matched. We got it just about right! Thank you to Judy and Nicky for having us. We'll see you again next month!

Sarah

"You can't start a fire,

You can't start a fire without a spark..."

The spark in this case was GoodGymer Graham who was making his debut as Run Director at Bexley parkrun in Danson Park. Graham had put out a call for support from fellow GG-ers and Sarah, Johnny, Susan, Ben and Tim all signed up to help, joining the amazing regular volunteers who are there every Saturday, come rain or shine.

Graham was calm and collected as he organised the volunteers into their roles, gave the main briefing to nearly 300 parkrunners, and oversaw the smooth running of the event.

Sarah W give the first timers briefing then joined Susan and Johnny as barcode scanners. Ben was a timekeeper and Tim took photos around the course.

Goodgymers Sarah L and Martin participated as parkrunners, with Sarah L also taking some photos and Martin later telling us it was his 300th parkrun. Go Martin!

Bravo Graham, you did a great job and we were proud to be there as part of your hi-vis team.

Greenwich Goodgym were joined by “tourists” from Bexley and Fulham and Hammersmith for this morning’s task. Having participated in the earlier Charlton parkrun, we made the short trip to St Georges Garrison Church to be met by Tim, one of the Trustees. Secateurs, shears, fork and spades distributed , we were set to work and quickly got to the root of the prickly problem. After an hour or so, Tim called time and provided refreshments and a very interesting talk on the Church. This was a hidden gem in South East London and had it not been for Goodgym I would not have known this place existed. I think it fair to say, Tim was pleased with our efforts and we can expect a further invite.

This morning, Bexley GoodGymers were back helping the Friends of Danson Park sprucing up the Woodland Walk.

We moved logs to line the walk then spread wood chippings to cover the muddy path.

It was a big team effort as we worked alongside the Friends' regular volunteers and others from the Friends of the Old English Gardens and the 2nd Welling Scouts (both are organisations that GoodGym Bexley has worked with in their own right).

The transformation to the path was amazing, and shoveling the wood chips and wheeling the barrows certainly provided a 'Do Good Get Fit' workout!

A big thank you to The Stables for the tea and coffee afterwards; a welcome treat.