11 GoodGymers planted hundreds of bulbs ready for spring!

Amidst blustery gusts – in a beautifully autumnal Waterlow Park – a very friendly group gathered to weather the wind.

Four folk were on their very first GoodGym outing: a big welcome to Ellie, Ella, Helen, and Stewart! And they were joined by a wonderful troupe: Cherian, DaMarcus (on their first GG Camden visit — welcome!), Imogen, Lydia, and Victoria ☺️

Following a swift introduction and tutorial by expert gardener April, we settled onto hands and knees and kicked off 60 minutes of planting. Snowdrops, crocuses, anemones, and more, this busy group sewed hundreds of gorgeous bulbs.

I can't wait to walk by next year and see everything spring to life ❤️

Thank you, everyone! You made a huge difference yesterday!

8 GoodGymers caught the sunset at a woodland garden in Camden!

This wonderful group – Alison, Deirdre (on their first Camden visit – welcome!), Emilie, Imogen, Lydia, Siobhan, and Steve – visited St Paul's Woodland Garden by Camden Square yesterday.

Just a short hop from where Amy Winehouse once lived this special space is a haven for nature and community.

Catherine – our task host – is part of the brilliant Green City Projects team, and they use this space to support people living with mental health difficulties. It was a joy to be there :)

In the race against the dying daylight, everyone kicked swiftly into good-deeding action last night!

The first task was to move a giant pile of bags filled with something called 'hoggin', which Google tells me is a self-binding mixture of clay, sand, and gravel that creates a firm, attractive, and permeable surface, and which I can confirm is very very very heavy!

Not that was a match for this group's muscles, who moved 30+ sacks to a variety of corners in this woodland space :)

Having completed the shifting and the heaving much quicker than anticipated, everyone moved quickly to emptying the 'hoggin', and it really did create firm, attractive, and permeable surfaces!

Thank you so much, everyone! You did a huge and wonderful amount!

5 GoodGymers planted herbs – and herbs – and herbs – and... more herbs!

There is a very special community non-profit called Think and Do Camden, and they have pioneered a lovely nature-bound project over the past 18 months.

Their bee-line boxes are sustainable, hardy, and ethically-sourced herb planters that attach to balconies.

This past week they've partnered with their third Camden estate (in Holborn) and we were there to fill the planters with all the right herbs!

This special group – Danny, Imogen, Majid, and Olga – spent two hours amidst mint, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, and thyme, and they planted tens upon tens of freshly affixed planters :)

It was a joy to see the balconies spring to green life, and everyone made a truly meaningful and material difference – thank you, everyone!!

6 GoodGymers enjoyed the sunset hour last night!

We started in the sun and ended in the dusk, and we made a healthy difference along the way 😊

A happy trio – Lilan, Steve, and Alex – kicked open the evening with a conversation-filled (books, misinformation, moral panics..!) run to Kentish Town.

Where they met another happy trio – Alison, John, and Lydia – who’d each arrived by foot from different corners of Camden.

Our home for the evening was Cressfield Close Sheltered Housing, where a special community lives and a beautiful garden grows.

Alison and Lydia got to green-fingered business in a flash, taking tools and bags to a garden (belonging to a very kind resident) that needed a proper trim. And trim it they did. Three bags and 60 minutes later, everything looked spacious again.

Meanwhile, Lilan, John, and Steve joined the Ivy League. This creeper had wrapped itself around a wall, a tree, and a resident’s garden. Not that it could match the skills of this hard-working troupe 😊

Thank you, everyone! You all did a huge amount! Here’s to next time!

8 GoodGymers made a wonderful difference in Central London

London is an especially bustle-y city and it is especially especially bustle-y during the rushing hours.

But it is also a city rich with quiet — gentle — calm spaces, such as the American International Church on Tottenham Court Road.

Although... that's true only when the Stranger Things Musical cast aren't using the AIC to practice their screams and yells and best impressions of the Demogorgon...

...which were our welcoming sounds yesterday evening!!

Not that this affected our especially brilliant crew – Brooke (our lovely host!), Emilie, Imogen, Jackie, John, Lilan (on their first good deed – welcome!!), and Steve – who got down to good-deeding business in a flash!

❤️ Emilie, Jackie, and John focused on the lower garden 👉 they pulled weeds, laid fresh gravel, rearranged a greenhouse, and collected all strewn litter!

❤️ Imogen, Lilan, and Steve headed to the upper garden 👉 they planted fresh seed pots, laid fresh compost, and gave new life to flower-filled planters!

❤️ And Brooke coordinated and organised the whole thing — thank you!

Here's to next time, folks!

7 GoodGymers dodged the rain – captured the leaves – and sewed the seeds!!

Six pm on Wednesday was a very wet six pm. It pelted and plummeted and we considered – for a fleeting moment – whether to cancel our evening!

But we very happily proceeded and three of us – Gemma (on their first good deed – welcome!!), John, and I – took a conversation-filled run through (a drying...) Camden Town, where (en route) Sarah called out and made our three into a merry four.

Arriving at Cecil Sharp House, we were met by Ana (also on their first good deed – welcome!!), Siobhan, Steve, and our host Susannah.

And we quickly got to it.

Ana, John, and Sarah demonstrated the quickest way to build a gazebo, before planting hundreds of seeds into fertile pots – I am looking forward to seeing what grows!

Meanwhile, Gemma, Siobhan, and Steve grabbed rakes, brooms, and gloves, and they turned a leaf-strewn garden into picture perfect site of lawn and path!

Thank you, everyone!! Here's to next time!!