10 GoodGymers turned out for the most autumnal of all autumnal tasks AND Emily hit 200 good deeds!

This special group – Alex, Danny, Emily, Helen, Jackie, John, Kareem, Siobhan, and Steve – donned head torches and gloves and grabbed rakes and brooms in our first properly dark task of the season!

Our home for the evening was Cecil Sharp House, which is itself home to the biggest and best trees in all of Camden...

... which does mean there are plenty of leaves!

Cue 10 GoodGymers meticulously collecting bag upon bag upon bag of falling autumn :)

And amidst all of this effort we were celebrating a very special milestone yesterday evening: Emily – who frequents Camden, Islington, and other GG areas – hit a whopping 200 good deeds! A huge well done and thank you, Emily!

We will back to Cecil Sharp every 3 weeks during the leaf-falling season, and I'm already looking forward to the next session :)

Thank you, everyone!

The rain had gone by the time we all arrived at Camden Square, but we were hoping the earlier downpour had softened the ground a little, because our task today was to prepare the ground for bulb planting, by removing leaf cover, clearing the weeds and churning up the ground a bit

Emilie turned up looking fit from recent Big Half training, while newbie Susannah (sponsored by Google DeepMind) arrived from Texas, USA, via a nearby road where she now resides. Rhonda also attended her first ever task, and similarly had minimal distance to travel to this task. Hope to see you again at distant tasks a whole mile or two away...

By diligent clearance of unwanted foliage and plantage, we were in a position to hose the ground so it was nice and soft, helping us to disrupt the earth and various small creatures living therein with a variety of implements

We were kept busy for an hour, until the ground was in perfect condition for bulbs to be planted. Bags of debris were taken away at such a speed, my picture was all blurry!

There's no truth in the rumour, however, that the snail sitting on Alison's running shoe was a comment on her pace...

In mid-August heat 10 wonderful GoodGymers caught a lovely evening in Kentish Town!

Cressfield Close is an unassuming cul-de-sac — houses and quiet — and yet hiding special community spaces!

There's the city farm — with goats and guinea pigs and sheep and more — and there's also the sheltered housing, which was our home for the evening :)

This lovely group — Alex, Alison, Claire (on their first Camden good deed – great to meet you!), Danny, Jackie, Jessica (on their first good deed — welcome!), John, Lydia, and Steve — were welcomed by residents Marie and Michael, and we got quickly to our evening work.

The communal garden is a bountiful space (fruits, vegetables, and flowers aplenty) and we were tasked with targeting the thistles and weeds that have sprung over the summer.

Armed with trowels and forks, this group donned gloves and made light work of everything — and all while connecting and sharing stories :)

Thank you, everyone! See you soon!!

Wednesday evening saw 9 of us head to the beautiful St Luke's Church for a spot of midweek cleaning. Half of the crew, led by Julian, clocked up 3.5km from the Naval College, while the rest of us met at the task. We were warmly welcomed by Liz and Rick, ready with lots of jobs to keep us busy.

Speaking of stairs – some of us decided to climb the incredibly steep, narrow, and very old spiral staircase up the tower. It might have been built hundreds of years ago, but it still gives the quads a workout today. And the view at the top? Absolutely worth it. Coming down? Let’s just say our knees will remember it. Shout-out to Alex and Louise who somehow managed to dust on the way down?! At the bottom Louise assured us her trainers were always that shade of grey...

Outside, Ashton took on the job of giving a wooden bench a fresh coat of teak oil and although we didn’t see the final result, we’re confident it now gleams fantas-teak-ly.

Meanwhile, inside the church, Jenny and Marta worked their magic on sorting out a collection of candles into a 'won't ever light again, bin it' and a 'probably light again keep it' pile. The rest of us took on hoovering, dusting, and the oddly satisfying job of scraping melted wax off the glass table panels. In just 30 minutes, the place was looking noticeably more polished, and we wrapped up with a classic team photo.

What’s next?

This weekend we’ve got more garden clearance at St Richard's and a bonus run on Sunday to Mycenae Gardens for a bit of weeding.

Next Wednesday we’re heading back to the Memorial Hospital for more bramble bashing and a run up Shooters Hill Road (brace yourselves!)

Until next time

Rachel