It was cold and it was with some trepidation that 7 Good Gymers convened at Charlton house in anticipation of a cold night’s weeding at Charlton Manor primary school. It was cold so formalities were dispensed with and we set off for a gentle run through Charlton park where we got our first bonus of the night, a sneak preview of the Sparkle in the Park light trail, which had the advantage of lighting the first part of our run.

Soon we were at the task and we received our second bonus of the night. Sometimes you look forward to a fun task only to find it has been replaced with something more arduous or boring (for example, bulb planting being replaced by shifting a ton of topsoil as some of us had found at Lewisham the previous Monday) but tonight we had the reverse: the weeding outside had been replaced a perennial Good Gym favourite, painting (and inside to boot).

Task owner Joe to us into the dining area of the school to some walls that were probably last cleaned, let alone painted, when Joe was a schoolboy himself. Down to work we got with several of the teams getting to work scrubbing the walls and others applying paint to these long-neglected walls. And, as usual, the sheer power of Good Gym meant that short shrift was made of the task, with many square metres of wall (and a few Good Gym T-shirts) receiving a fresh coat of paint. Proud of our work all that remained was a quick group photo before braving the cold again for the short run back to Charlton House.

This was a great fun task at a great location and we’re already looking forward to going back and paint more of the school.

When I was a child I think I was middle-aged.

Other children liked Pokemon - or Power Rangers - or other popular past times like playing.

Not for me - I knew what I liked - and what I liked was the 8pm-9pm slot on Monday nights on BBC One: Ground Force and Changing Rooms.

And last night - thanks to the frost-beating efforts of this wonderful group - I felt like my childhood friends (Alan Titchmarsh and Carol Smillie) were present in shaping our very own garden makeover at Cecil Sharp House!

Seven of us - Alex, Gosia, Jackie, John, Rose, and Steve (and me) - met in the King's Cross buzz and we became the only group (of adults) in London to be outside playing Simon Says whilst icicles formed.

Taking our smiles (like Carol Smillie) with us, we started our journey up and through Camden, meeting Emilie early en route!

Arriving at Cecil Sharp House, we met Natalia and Yumei, both of whom were on their first day of GoodGym good-deeding - a huge welcome, both!!

And then our makeover started. I am not certain how it happened. All I do know is that I turned round to find my gardening gloves and a million scattered leaves had already been placed into a neat pile.

It genuinely was miraculous - the lawn and paths were a sea of fallen leaves... and then they were grass and paving again - it could even have been a spring night :)

Thank you, everyone, for your work, time, and fun - it was great to see you!

Here's to next time!

Tonight we were leafleting for Age Exchange's Christmas fair alongside promoting GoodGym!

We started out by sharing our responses to Trump's election victory which ranged from sticking fingers in our ears and going la la la la laaaaa and mine which was a compiled video of my three year old whining 'I don't like Donald Trump on 20 different occassions.'

Tonight was special for two reasons- the twins were back in Greenwich! AND we were marking Marta's mammoth 800th good deed!

That's 800 times she's... donned some gloves to do planting and pruning, or gained some guns from digging 💪🏼 or avoided the dogs while leafleting, or got splattered from painting, or filled a bin liner litter picking, or put ceiling panels up after guilding.

In short, she done a lot of stuff! 🏅 🏆

After securing the sash of glory on a well deserving Marta, we had a quick round of Simon says and ran up the hill to split into 2 groups and dashed round the streets posting as many leaflets as we could. And quick work we made of it too, with lots of good GoodGym chats on our way. Another task complete and one step closer to Marta's 1000th which she'll probably achieve in the next couple of years!

Nice work team. Next week we're weeding at Charlton URC.

Until next time!

Every garden has a story... there are the soil and the seeds, then the shoots and the leaves... and I really didn't intend on that rhyming, but as I'm here... perhaps you grew veg next to the hedge, turned vines into wine, cut blooms for your rooms... and maybe you planted an orchard of trees, together with new friends... your community!

But whilst every garden has a story, not every garden is the Story Garden! Which was our own place of community yesterday evening.

Our wonderful group of Alex, Anne, Cat, Chloe, Jackie, John, Nivia, and Steve met by the Crick, warmed up whilst reciting the alphabet, and swiftly turned on our heels towards the British Library and the green space we'd be helping.

GoodGym has a few tasks that epitomize GoodGym. These include bramble bashing, moving unwieldy objects together, digging large holes, and (as was our task yesterday) filling skips!

Met by the brill Holly - the Story Garden's Manager - we got swiftly to our skip.

One group (Alex, Anne, Chloe, and John) took command of one area, sorting and then shifting an assortment of cardboard, wood, and metal.

Whilst one group (Cat, Jackie, Nivia, and Steve) headed to the garden's far end, sorting and wheelbarrowing an assortment of... cardboard, wood, and metal!

Over an hour, our fabulous group filled the skip under the evening's darkening sky - amazing work, everyone!!

Thanks so much for your company and work, and see you next time!!