One by one the GoodGymers arrived at Rocky Park this evening, ready for a big lifting task.

We've been enjoying regular sessions with Margaret and Ash this year, on this particular project which has seen old planters demolished, new ones built and filled with new soil.

Margaret and Ash, on behalf of the Estate's TRA, support the Estate gardens, which, over the years has seen multiple sites transformed into allotments, orchards and play areas.

We've enjoyed sessions right through from the summer, with Task Force leading many weekend sessions, and throughout the Autumn too, which has seen us shovelling and wheeling in some pretty rainy conditions.

Tonight we were continuing with the emptying and relocating of tonne bags of soil in Rocky Park.

With a short briefing from Margaret, the team soon dispersed throughout the garden emptying large bags at a great pace. It was heavy work, but rewarding to see the bags speedily empty with a good bit of teamwork.

It was fun, it was fast- and it was fab to see some familiar faces. And as usual, the time flew.

As we approached 8pm, Margaret indicated which bags we were to finish up with, and then the team gathered shovels, rakes and brooms to load into wheelbarrows, ready to be packed away.

It seemed like no sooner had we arrived were we gathering for the final pic, before leaving several members in the capable hands of Chris and the Central team for some final GoodGym pics and soundbites.

A great evening's work, and particular shout-outs to Team Pun, headed up as usual by the legendary Lucinda and Ilana.

Next week, it's another big leaf clearance over at Cranbrook.

You snooze, you lose…

Until then.

A still, crisp, Monday night saw a great-sized group of GoodGymers gathering at the Cranbrook Community Centre tonight to help clear a big build-up of leaves.

(Leaves collecting - and staying - on the ground isn’t great for the soil. The leaves also make their way into the centre continuously at this time of year, creating an endless sweeping task for the centre’s regular users).

With the annual AGM taking place tonight, it was a question of us gathering equipment, donning gloves, dividing bin bags and getting on with it.

With teams spread out over all four corners of the little garden, the GoodGymers wasted no time in raking, bagging and binning most of the leaves.

When the AGM finished, Janet headed out to inspect the garden, delighted at what she found.

With our task completed shortly before 8, we headed out to the Mace Street wall to finish with a little bit of flexibility work to get the week off to a splendid start.

As we strolled down the street, the team concluded that The Angel and Crown would be a good bet for this evening’s post-task pint. A cracking end to a lovely evening.

Until next time.

One night a year, in the dark alleys of Richmond, a group of unsavoury characters meets to spread terror through the borough as they run to a task. This year saw a blood-covered butcher, a poisonous snake, spine-tingling skeleton, trouble-making Beetlejuice, soul-stealing mobile phone, time-jangling Marty McFly and a zombie school girl... chasing down a terrified squeaking banana! 🍌

Starting with some spooky squats, lurch-away lunges, Scooby Doo sprints and stretches worthy of the torture stretching rack, we also welcomed KC for his first task, straight into the wicked chaos of Halloween!

Following a shrieking run over the river, the ghoulish group arrived at St Christopher's Fellowship and met with Theresa and her terrifying hound, Sam and Adam unveiling their mortifying masks and Chris brandishing a disturbing MAGA cap!

While the plan was to do bad, the spirit of GoodGym was too powerful to fight and the team completed the task of cutting back and tidying the front area of the building, despite cackling protests and evil scheming.

Back to normal next week for more friendly adventures with GoodGym Richmond!

It was our October visit to the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park this evening, which is always good fun.

At our last visit in September, we'd raked hay and grass around gravestones and monuments close to the entrance of the park.

Tonight, Park Manager Ken's plan was for us to plant crocus and camassia bulbs around this area, to produce an array of colour by the Spring.

With everyone arriving close to 7pm, we were ready to head to the well stocked tool shed shortly after, to grab trowels and barrows, bulbs and gloves.

We welcomed Sal to his first GoodGym session, and grabbed head torches and lights for the ground.

Making our way to tonight's spot, Ken proceeded to tell us a little bit about the area of the park, the purpose of our planting mission and the best planting know-how.

Wasting no time, the team divided into small teams, taking care to cover the entire area, distributing both types of bulb evenly. Returning to the wheelbarrows to restock buckets and occasionally relocate to a new planting spot, as always, the time flew.

Several broken trowels - and one spectacular pun - later we were calling it a night.

Wandering back to the Soanes Centre and tool shed, we concluded it had been a handy little upper body workout, and that we're looking forward to returning later in the Autumn.

Another fun night in the borough - well done team, and a big shout-out to Lucinda for this evening's pretty awesome pun.