We were a blaze of red helping the Friends of Danson Park this morning.

Some of us got a good workout shovelling wood chippings into barrows, wheeling them to the Woodland Path and raking them out to spruce up the trail.

Others flexed their muscles to move logs into a defined edging along the path. 🪵

And we also got busy with secateurs cutting back saplings and brambles to help the trees thrive. 🌳 🌿

There was plenty of chatting between ourselves and with the regular volunteers.

After some final fun trying to set up a group photo using the camera timer, we rounded off the task with tea, coffee and shortbread. What a nice treat!

Well done Team GoodGym!

Today we joined the Friends of Lesnes Abbey Woods for a spot of conservation work.

Pushing a wheelbarrow of tools to the heath area at the top of the woods was a workout in itself.

Once there, we set about pulling up bracken and digging out brambles to give the purple heather a chance to thrive.

There was plenty of chatting while we worked and afterwards at the cafe where we rounded off the morning with coffee and ice creams.

Join us next month when we're back for more!

The team arrived on a warm evening to one of our favourite place St. Michaels Church. Tonights mission involved pruning back bushes and trees, cutting back rose bushes (ouch) and laying mulch to nearly found world war one graves. All this hard work was finished off with a well deserved cuppa and chocolate biscuit. This evening we also welcomed Anne on her first Goodgym session, we hope you loved it and we'll see you on the next one.

Celebrating the Great Get Together we had great fun helping at St Michael's Parish BBQ.

After setting up tables in the summer sunshine, and putting out the breads, salads and drinks, we were invited to join the party and it was lovely chatting with the friendly parishioners while enjoying the delicious food.

Then it was back to work: Helping to clear plates, washing up and packing away tables.

Such a nice task. Thank you for having us.

What a brilliant evening at St.Michaels. Our mission was to make and lay a path to a WW1 soldiers grave.

The grave was rescued from years of bush and bramble growth. Once chopped back we revealed this beautiful grave stone so the team got together to make a path route so many more people to see and pay their respects.

Its always great when a mission shows all the hard work done, this mission was definitely one of those. Hope to see you guys at the next mission.

Himalayan Balsam, actually!

Today we joined local residents for a 'Balsam Blitz' along the River Cray, organised by the independent charity, Thames21. Our mission was to wade along the river from Bexley, pulling up Himalayan Balsam plants.

'Why are you being so mean to Himalayan Balsam?', I hear you ask.

Well, when it flowers and goes to seed Himalayan Balsam spews out hundreds of seeds which thrive in wet conditions and outcompete native plants. This leads to reduced biodiversity and erosion of the riverbanks.

So Balsam is bad!

However all is not lost: removing the Balsam before it flowers can stop up to 90% of the plants returning next year. And that's where we came in, ready to tackle this voracious invader!

Clad in waders and using sturdy poles for balance in the fast-flowing water we stepped down into the river and made our way downstream eagerly scanning the banks. When we came across Balsam plants we carefully pulled them up roots and all, and transported them away in our floating trugs.

Being in the water was a unique way to see the River Cray. There was lots of chatting and it was such a nice way to meet new people, enjoy the outdoors and do good for the local environment.

Find out more about the work of Thames21 and sign up for their next Balsam Blitz later this month at https://www.thames21.org.uk/

PS: We didn't take any photos because our phones were safely tucked away in pockets that weren't accessible in our waders. Thank you to Michael from Thames21 for allowing me to use his pics.