18 Goodgymers ran 4km to help Thornhill Square Gardens

Thanks for coming along on such a cold night, we got lots done and it was great to see you all.

In the news this week:

1. Community Mission helping Crouch End Open Spaces in February is on the website - sign up here.
2. Goodgym races as well as doing good, check out all the races going on here.

Corrrr blimey it's definitely winter isn't it, dark and cold. But hey we did some good for our community, got a bit fitter and it was light until 5pm today - progress me thinks.

After warming up (kinda) we headed to Thornhill Square Gardens through the Barnsbury back streets. There in the dark we met Christopher, he informed our tasks were as follows:

Team One - Shifting two tonnes of mulch to be spread across three flower beds and growing tree saplings. Team Two - Cutting down three tree's. Team 3 - Collecting up a huge amount of twigs, branches and sticks.

We got to work, with head torches on and carrots fueled eyes straining in the darkness. Team One worked across a wide area with three wheelbarrowers, two shovellers and three spreaders in operation.

Meanwhile Team 3 went searching for trees marked with white cloth; Harry and Nicola found a little one to take down but Chris and Laura found a big one which in the end defeated them (due to time not strength).

HEDGEHOG DENS!

The majority of Team 3 became twig/stick collectors, putting them in bags and collecting them to be made into a HEDGEHOG DEN! After 40 minutes of work we were done, we headed home for a stretch and a biscuit.

Sorry for the bad photos, it was so dark! Sign up for next week here, we are helping Rose Bowl.

PB out

19 Goodgymers ran 5-6km to leaflet for the Met Police and help Waterside Adventure Playground!

Welcome along to Frankie, tourist from Hackney. Thanks to you all for coming along on such a cold evening.

In the news this week - it's all about Saturday's double - people are doing Finsbury Parkrun and then coming to Islington's Starter Session - come join :)

Waterside Adventure Playground:

Eleven of us headed south via Higbury Fields and Essex Road to help the wonderful Waterside Adventure Playground. This awesome play area is on the canal close to Angel and has been part of the community for years, as has Dawn the Manager we met.

The task was simple but essential, each armed with a fork we dug and turned over the woodchip/soil to loosen up the hard ground around the climbing frames - this makes it safer for the kids when they jump and fall. Upon arrival quite a few of the group didn't expect for us to be able to finish the whole task but with ever better fork skills it was only 15 minutes that we'd covered the whole area.

After a group picture everyone had a go playing on the equipment and having some fun! We took a slightly different route home and were awarded with our efforts with home made biscuits from Meg - yum!

All about safety last night!

Leafleting for the Met by Steve Lee:

The GoodGym Islington Flyering Squad were tasked with delivering flyers on behalf of the London Met Police warning of scammers in the area pretending to be from utility companies to gain access to houses. Boooooo.

The team ran 3k to the starting point in the centre of the areas identified as most at risk from this cynical crime. Splitting into three teams of three, we shared out the areas the Met Police had designated as red, orange and yellow levels of risk. We had a big area to cover and a lot of flyers to hand out, but juuuust in case, we agreed on sharing out a much larger section marked pink that teams could tackle if they surged ahead and got everything done.

Good thing we did, too, because all three groups not only delivered flyers through the doors of their entire areas, but all three also completed their special bonus areas and met in plenty of time to head back. Must be the cold weather keeping everybody moving quickly!

Once regrouped, we had a brisk jog back as the temperature kept lowering, and a cheeky indoor warm stretch while Paul’s group arrived.

Sign up for next week here when we'll be helping Thornhill Square Gardens.

PB out

33 Goodgymers ran between 6-8km to collect Christmas trees and move tons of soil for St Lukes Community Centre!

Welcome along to the newbies - Amy, Fiona and Anita - thanks for coming along guys.

In the news this week:

1. GG Starter Session next Saturday - bring your friends!!
2. Also people from GG Islington are doing Finsbury Park Parkrun on 26th February if you'd like to join.
3. There is a Community Mission helping Crouch End Open Spaces this Sunday, it ends with an epic picnic - come along :)

Woah it's our 4th birthday and we had a huge turnout! We started the evening by singing happy birthday to ourselves ha - nice!

Thank you very much for coming last night and over the last four years to GG Islington; it means a lot to me, the first trainer Simon and GoodGym Central. We've done lots of good in that time (over 5900 good deeds) and have run really far! Well done!

Last night we had two tasks:

Christmas tree collection:

James led a team of 10 people to Barnsbury area to collect up Christmas tree's, after last week's epic 125 tree's (arguably a GG record) and all the Islington Council pickups it was going to be a proper hunt!

Having running around the streets in Barnsbury and Caledonian Road areas the team collected a lovely 10 tree's to be sent over for recycling.

St Lukes - Earth Move:

After a 3km run down hill we arrived to help the wonderful St Lukes Community Centre, there were 23 of us to help and get stuck in!

The task was big but simple, the aim was to empty two huge planters of soil, then move those planters to their new positions outside the new shed! It took over 30 minutes to empty the planters of soil and the logs weighing them down; filling wheelbarrows, pots and tubs with soil. Meanwhile teams moved large garden pots and cleaned up.

One of those BIG TASKS!

Once the soil was emptied the next logistical challenge was moving the planters, this involved strength and smarts - luckily you guys had both! After they were moved we quickly refilled them with all the soil.

We returned home for a stretch, bourbon biscuits and a pub birthday party which included a quiz!

Thanks for coming everyone!

Sign up for next week here when we'll be helping the Met Police and Waterside Adventure Playground.

PB out