Thursday 20th February
Written by Kash
Another after-work shopping mission for Ms F, this time remarkably successful as both breaded haddock and Cornish yarg could he found at the counter in Waitrose.
Wednesday 19th February
Written by Alex Murtough (he/him)
Our GoodGym Camden group's work was a touch more visible last night.
This wonderful group - of Emilie, Jackie, John, Rose, Susannah (our brilliant host) and Steve - turned up, ready for work, at Camden's Cecil Sharp House.
Nestled in a grand building in Camden Town, it's a haven for folk music. And the secret has clearly filtered into the community. We started our work amidst a steady stream of people arriving for the evening performance.
There were some marked differences between us. The most marked being:
Well, um, that really was the only difference I could discern.
Anyway! Our work!
This group swept, weeded, pruned, and tidied last night. And the results, for 7 folks happily chatting away, were remarkable. The pathways were transformed, the remaining leaves were bagged, and the flower beds' weeds were comprehensively pulled, and a great pile of bags captured the natural remnants of our work.
Thank you, everyone! We'll be back in March to sow summer seeds!
Saturday 15th February
Written by Alex Murtough (he/him)
4 wonderful GoodGymers (Emilie, Emily, Matt, and Steve) and 1 Alex took GoodGym to the West End today.
Explore one of Theatre Land's side alleys and you may stumble across a lush plot of trees, flowers, and calm. The Phoenix Garden has been in the community's hands for 40 years, and it's a haven from the bustle from dawn until dusk every day of the year.
Our brilliant group stepped fully into the GoodGym spirit today.
The garden uses gabion cages to hold raised growing beds. And the cages are filled with Covent Garden's debris from the area's bombing in World War 2. These bricks and this rubble hold a history, and we were moving them to give life to a new structure today.
Our task was to empty the existing cages, move the cages to a new (sunnier) spot, and re-fill them. The new bed will be lined and filled, and the hope is that the sunnier climes will result in better growth this year.
Over 90 minutes, this wonderful troupe emptied, shifted, wheel-barrowed, and re-assembled, and the result was a huge difference :)
Thank you, everyone! We will be back here soon!!
Friday 14th February
Written by Nick Moore
No, not a continuation of a previous week's football related theme, but just that today's list for Mr T took me to M&S (tinned soup and wholemeal bread), Tesco #1 for 400g of stewing steak, Lidl for pretty much everything else, including (hurrah) the small pots of natural yoghurt but still no sardines, and so to Tesco #2 for two tins of sardines to complete the list, and get the step count up.
After emptying my pocket of slightly crumpled receipts and change, we got down to discussing his (cross)words of the week, which this week happened to be "token" and "outre"...for which the clues were, it's fair to say, somewhat misleading - however we did both agree that it kept the grey matter ticking over which can only be a good thing.
Thursday 13th February
Written by Kash
It was the first time I've seen Ms F this year, so it took a while to update ourselves about what's been happening in each other's lives. Ms F sadly had an accident in December which left her with broken wrist. Today was the first day when Ms F didn't see any carers, so she was happy to welcome GoodGym's help with shopping. She was expecting a new GoodGymer tonight, convinced that they are called Ash. What a surprise it was to see good, old Kash back.
I ventured to Waitrose to buy Ms F's usual staples like poached salmon, rounded beans, baby potatoes, a couple of ready meals, Ryvita, and, of course, the signature six-pack of Buxton water, which I genuinely enjoy carrying up the stairs. Ms F was pleased I managed to get the most of the items and she rewarded me with her birthday chocolates, which I didn't say not to after a long day.
Wednesday 12th February
Written by Alex Murtough (he/him)
(Check out Gosia's wonderful Insta video here!)
There is a large hall in Tottenham Court Road's American International Church.
It's the sort of hall you can imagine Charles Dickens in - he'd probably say something profound like - this is a nice hall.
And it's usually home to West End casts rehearsing plays and musicals - if you sneak in on a Wednesday night, you'll usually glimpse costumes and sets and a large double bass.
But last night we were tasked with turning the hall into the evening's winter shelter. And by 'we', I mean our wonderful group of our first good-gymers Auriela, Kiera, and Kayla (welcome, all!) and our Camden regulars Alex, Emilie, Emily, Gosia, Louise, Jackie, John, and Steve!
On arrival and having been welcomed by our brilliant host, Brooke, a smaller group of Auriela, Emilie, Kiera, and Kayla headed straight to an empty room that they soon turned into a welcoming dining room!
And while our smaller group were good-deeding, our larger group were doing the same - the hall popped with beds and the beds got dressed with warmth!
After 30 happy minutes, we turned out into evening Camden just as the shelter's guests were starting to arrive - nice one, everyone!!
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