There was so much to celebrate on a sunny Saturday morning in Battersea, including

• A double birthday celebration, with both task owner and Doddington community garden lead volunteer Malissa and GG Wandsworth's Felix both marking a very special occasion!

• Ali reaching a huge milestone - 100 good deeds! That's such a huge amount of community impact, commitment and positivity spread throughout Wandsworth. Way to go Ali!

• Welcoming Armin to his very first GoodGym session - lovely to have you join us!

There was lots to get done, including sorting pots, digging up grass, snipping strawberries, sweeping leaves and replanting Japanese anemone - so we grabbed tools and got down to business!

After an hour of hard work the garden was looking a lot tidier and the Doddington team were pleased with everything we got done. All that was left to do was celebrate with cake and then on to a coffee nearby! Well done everybody, what a way to kick off the weekend.

GoodGym Lambeth Run Report: Chip Happens! 🏃‍♀️🌳 What a woody wonderful evening at Agnes Riley Gardens! Our magnificent crew showed up ready to get down and dirty (literally) with the Friends of the Park, and boy did we mulch things happen! 💪🏼

The Dream Team Our usual legends Jo, Fi, Tilly, and Ben were firing on all cylinders, and we were absolutely thrilled to welcome back the long-lost Marie-Noelle! We’d really pined for her return! 🌲

The Mission Armed with shovels, wheelbarrows, and questionable dance moves, we tackled two timber-rific tasks: ∙ Shifting mountains of wood chip onto the mud kitchen (because every tiny chef deserves a splinter-free workspace 👨‍🍳) ∙ Levelling ground for a new bench (future bottoms will thank us!) The Work There was shovelling. There was barrowing. There was laying. There was soil-turning. Basically, we were one wheelbarrow away from starting our own landscaping empire. You could say we really barked up the right tree with this one! 🎯

The Grand Finale What’s a GoodGym session without totally embarrassing ourselves? We wrapped up with a spontaneous Cha Cha Slide on our freshly laid wood chip dance floor. Slide to the left? ✅ Criss cross? ✅ Charlie Brown? Absolutely! 💃🕺

Same time next week, legends? 🍾✨​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

**GoodGym Lambeth Run Report 🏃‍♀️

**When Life Gives You Manure, Make… Well, Compost! 💩➡️🌱

What a night at Brixton Waterworks allotments! We had a plot twist (see what we did there? 🌿) with a late session change, but that just meant we got to meet the absolute legend that is Jane - who at just shy of 90 is still out there gardening when the sun goes down. Talk about growing old gracefully! 🌙👵💪

**The Leadership Shovelshuffle

With AA Yianny stuck crawling down the motorway (probably behind someone doing 20mph in a Fiat Panda), our superhero Fi stepped up to lead the troops. She really rose to the occasion - unlike Yianny’s speedometer! 🦸‍♀️🚗💨

**Getting Down and Dirty

The crew got stuck in with: ∙ 💪 Shovelling manure (proof that we’re not afraid of a crappy situation!) ∙ 🚜 Barrowing it about (wheely hard work!) ∙ 🍎 Apple picking for those nursing dodgy backs (the core of our operation) ∙ 🪓 Clearing Jane’s plot of chopped trees (we really branched out!)

**The Results

By the end, we’d shifted an enormous amount of green waste 🌲🌲🌲 - enough to make even the compost heap jealous!

Big thanks to Annick and Jane for having us. We had a growing good time! 🌱😄

Remember: We came, we sawed, we mulched! 🎉​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

GoodGym Lambeth Group Run Report: The Tree-quel! 🌲

The Return of the Pines

Last week was so pine that we decided to spruce up our schedule and do it all over again! Welcome to our second group session of 2026, and honestly this is one of our absolute favourite missions of the year.

Weather Report: Stormy with a Chance of Dedication ⛈️

Mother Nature clearly wanted to separate the saplings from the mighty oaks, serving up some properly dark and stormy weather. Our turnout was trimmed down to the hardcore trio of tree-rescuing legends: Tilly, Ben & AA Yianny 🤗

These three weren’t going to let a little wind and rain leaf them at home!

Mission: Operation Needle Drop 🎄

We raced around Clapham on our Christmas tree treasure hunt, seeking out the poor abandoned pines who’d been cast out post-festivities. Seems like some people really struggle with the grief of de-tree-ment - we found MORE trees piled up than last week! 😊

Clearly the “New Year, New Me” crowd forgot that applies to their living rooms too.

The Haul 💪🏼

By the end of our festive cardio session, we’d successfully relocated:

• 5 Christmas trees (may they rest in compost)
• A pile of mystery logs (seriously, who leaves logs on Clapham streets? We may never know, but we yew-nited them with the recycling spot anyway!)

All trees and timber are now safely on their way to be composted by the council. From tinsel to topsoil - the circle of life continues! 🌲♻️

Verdict

Wood we do it again? Absolutely! Until next time, stay evergreen, GoodGym! 🌟

Remember: Tis the season to be jolly… and to recycle responsibly! 🍾​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​