Wednesday 17th May 2023
Report written by Sam Lefevre (he/him)
It seems to be a common theme this past month. This week, Sam was met by another newbie to the GG Southwark group run. This time, he had the delight of meeting Tam, who had been to a Southwark task before (Surrey Docks Farm) and was claiming her 4th good deed. Welcome Tam!
We were also greeted by another friendly face that the group hadn't seen for awhile due to her trip abroad....it was Emma! After a few months away in New Zealand, Cook Islands, Australia and Penge...she was back!
Many of us came for a run as Katy, Nathan, Daryl and Nelly came for the start.
After Sam's GG intro speech, it was the first time this year that the group could warm up on the green before he asked his ice-breaker question (since he watched the first episode of "Ten Pound Poms" on the BBC): If you were given a one-way ticket to somewhere, where would you go?
Daryl started us off with Cuba and Nelly would be "close" to him in Panama. Nathan would be to Malta, Emma to South Africa, Katy to Canada and Tam to Finland. Sam chose the furthest destination: New Zealand....very isolating.
Light at the end of this polytunnel
Thanks again to Daryl, for back marking as our almost 4k run took us 24 minutes through the busy streets of Peckham, Surrey Canal Path and the backstreets near Old Kent Road. We met Folarin, Paulin and Steve at the task.
Jane was there to greet us and had some other volunteers assessing on what to do for Sunday's Open Day. She had three tasks for us. One was to clear out, dismantle and if possible, move the polytunnel. Steve was sub-team leader for this and had Daryl, Folarin and Katy with him. The second task was to clear the litter that had built up during the time they had the scaffolding up. Emma took charge of this with the help of Nelly and Tam, who organised the twigs and woody bits that were all over the grounds in a tonne bag. Finally, Nathan and Sam started to dig out the brambles dotted around the Nature Reserve, but when Paulin arrived she took over fromSam and he went around taking photos.
Sam's playlist started with some Italian and Spanish songs before progressing to chart music as the minutes ticked away.
Having cleared as much of the polytunnel and grounds as possible, plus the team managed to get the plastic sheet off the polytunnel, but didn't have the time to move it....it was time to call it a night. Everyone minus Folarin (who can walk home from Galleywall Nature Reserve) ran back towards Old Spike with various runners dropping off course as they approached closer to their turn off. Yet, Daryl, Emma, Katy, Nathan and Tam came back to the starting point for a well-deserved stretch and cool down. Well done, team!
Thank You to all the GG-ers
A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Firstly, another warm welcome to Tam for coming along to her first GG Southwark group run! Secondly, thank you for keeping up with the pace as I noticed we did the 3.7k in 24 minutes each way. That's consistency and well done for getting stuck in with the three tasks at hand.
Thank You Jane & Eddie
GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jane for giving us tasks to do at the Nature Reserve as the scaffolding had recently come down; there was plenty to do. Also, Eddie for coordinating.
The Galleywall Nature Reserve is a small plot of land which has been owned by Southwark Housing for decades. It was used by the adjacent Galleywall School for some time before the school closed. It has been maintained by a group of volunteers, the Friends of Galleywall Nature Reserve, since 2004, under an ongoing long-term agreement with the council.
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Ensuring this Junior parkrun succeeds and gives opportunity to young Parkrunners and their families