GoodGym Barnet: Digging In for a Charity with 500 Years of Local Care

Last night’s GoodGym Barnet run was all about celebrating the variety of good deeds we’ve done over the years — from scrubbing graffiti off cinema walls, helping local businesses learn about waste disposal, delivering community leaflets, to good old-fashioned graft that leaves you tired but satisfied, and with a deeper bond to the local community.

This week we turned our legs and hands to one of Barnet’s oldest community pillars: The Finchley Charities, which has been supporting local people in need for over 500 years. They run almshouses, allotments and vital welfare projects — and last night’s mission was at their community allotment, used for educational projects and to supply fresh produce to the Essential Food Bank.

As usual, we gathered at the Phoenix Cinema — our regular HQ — where we swapped favourite mission stories and congratulated Beattie on completing her 101st GoodGym good deed! With the sun blazing down on a warm summer evening, we set off for a gentle jog along the High Street to Fuel Lands, about 1.5 km away. Subham Basu back-marked the group safely as we paused by the locked gates, stretching and doing a few bus-stop squats, which must have amused the passing traffic.

Once Peps from The Finchley Charities arrived to let us in, we joined other local volunteers and got stuck in — clearing brambles, tidying up plots, and helping make the site productive and welcoming for the charity’s projects and future visitors.

It was hard work under the warm evening sky, but everyone agreed it felt great to contribute a small piece to a legacy that has helped underprivileged local residents for half a millennium.

Tools down, brambles conquered, we regrouped and jogged back to the Phoenix — another GoodGym Barnet evening done, and another bit of Barnet made better, together.

Huge thanks to everyone who came — and to The Finchley Charities for their tireless local support and for welcoming us onto their allotment. Here’s to the next 500 years!

Operation Orchard: GoodGym Barnet in Cherry Tree Woods

GoodGym Barnet assembled once again at our usual HQ—the Phoenix Cinema—thankfully free of last week’s MI5-style bag checks and suited security guards (though a few of us might have missed the VIP treatment).

After a soggy day of drizzle and damp forecasts, the skies cleared just in time for our latest community mission. Clearly, even the weather knows not to mess with a GoodGym evening.

We were thrilled to welcome Memory on her very first outing—though judging by her confident use of a rake and her tales of family farming, you’d never have guessed she was new. Beattie and Rachel brought their usual cheerful energy, and Subham joined us on-site at Cherry Tree Woods, slipping in like a stealth volunteer just as we arrived.

Warming up with the usual blend of light jogging (along the glamorous side pavement of the cinema), we set off on our ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ short run to the park.

Waiting for us were the wonderful Friends of Cherry Tree Woods with a mission: ( thank you Andras and Roger) Operation Orchard. Our task was to weed around the orchard trees and give them a nourishing compost boost—because even trees deserve a bit of pampering.

Armed with rakes, shovels, and occasionally just our bare hands, we dug in—literally. There was something deeply satisfying about restoring a bit of order to the wild growth. In just half an hour, we’d circled the trees, cleared the undergrowth, and emptied a whole bag of compost like eco-minded superheroes.

With the trees now happily mulched, there was just enough time for a spontaneous frisbee session in the fading light. Turns out frisbee + running = a surprising aerobic workout and a lot of laughter.

Thanks to everyone who came out—especially Memory , for making such a strong start! Same time next week, minus (we assume) the secret service.