After attending Dawson's Heights for five group runs this summer to help create and build their community garden, we've finally arrived at our last session with Ellie and the Dawson's Heights residents.

Sam met up with Mikhail, Steve, Paulin, David, Emma, Daryl, Rebecca, James, Gemma, Alex and Andrada at Old Spike Peckham.

Sam briefly mentioned about the protests and riots to reassure that if anything should be planned in and around Peckham, he would either have to cancel the session or take a different running route as safety for runners is paramount. He went through his usual GG intro speech and his ice-breaker question for tonight was to do with the Olympics as it's still on: "What has been your favourite moment or athlete at the Games so far?"

There's been so many outstanding moments at these Games, but the majority said Simone Biles as well as the other gymnasts. There were special mentions for the Team GB athletes, but every athlete at the Games are doing incredible things for themselves and their country.

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Let the garden flourish

After a quick warm-up on the Green, Sam led the group out and along Peckham Rye park before turning into Dunstans Road and climbing up Underhill and then Overhill Road to reach the top. Mikhail backmarked the run and we met Phil at the task as he had cycled there.

Ellie and the Dawson's Heights residents couldn't believe it was our final session and wanted to show their thanks for our work and effort at the community gardens over the last three months. Yet, before gifting us with a lovely designed and heartfelt card and biscuits, we had some work to do:

• Rebecca and Steve took on the first role of painting wood planks to be used as signage.
• Andrada and Emma were on watering duty as they watered the community garden.
• James and Paulin took care of filling up the water tank whilst preparing the compost heap with cardboard too.
• Gemma and Nathan
• Finally, Phil, David, Alex and Daryl used secateurs and a lopper to cut and trim back the overgrowth around.

These group runs seem to go by in a flash as before we knew it, it was 5 to 8 and we had to put back the tools. Yet, before we left, Ellie gift us with a handmade card which was signed by a few residents of Dawson's Heights and of course, the customary biscuits to fuel our run back!

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night! Ellie and the residents of Dawson's Heights appreciates everything that we have done at Dawson's Heights Community Garden this summer. Thank you toMikhail) for backmarking the runs to / from Dawson's Heights and for taking photos too.

As Sam opened up Old Spike Peckham, he was met by Richard who came for his first ever GoodGym experience as he wanted to get more involved with his local community on the days that would allow him. With his son, who practices karate on Wednesday nights, but had a week-off, Richard made sure he could be present and get his document checked for the DBS checks.

With Alex coming back from a weekend road trip to Berlin (to support England) and Emma getting ready for her trip to India in a months' time, we all contemplated on the lack of a summer in London. Yet, the night belonged to David, who on Saturday reached his 50th good deed, but we celebrated his milestone with the traditional black cape, ballon and party hat! Congrats David on reaching this first major milestone!

Sam got going with his usual speech and his ice-breaker tonight was about World Emoji Day as well as World Snake Day (which was the day before). The snap poll showed that half of us are afraid of snakes, but he also asked that: "What emoji would you be?"

🤗😬☺️🫶🤝

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Hampton Court edible garden

The eight of us headed out for a quick warm-up in the humid weather before dashing off to make it to Dawson's Heights in time. With Sam leading from the front and Maria back marking, we took it in our strides to make it to the top of the Overhill Road to meet Ellie and a few Dawson's Heights residents including a few of the young ones.

Ellie told us that they had a whole edible garden donated to them from the Hampton Court Flower Show. Although, the garden was beautifully re-planted, it still needed to be mulched, watered and have a woodchip path going through the middle.

Emma teamed up with Paulin to collect, wheelbarrow and dump the woodchip whilst Alex, David, Nelly and Richard collected bags of mulch to spread around the new garden and the existing garden beds. They all had a few little helpers as the young kids of the estate wanted to get involved where they could. Maria took on the last remaining job of watering all the plants, but needed to get the hose from the garage.

Despite the simple tasks we had, we still needed the full 40 minutes to finish off all three tasks. By the end of it, we had a thick woodchip path, all plants mulch and absorbing all the nutrients and minerals from it after being watered.

We said our goodbyes knowing that the next time we come back would be our last session in 2024. Emma and Richard dashed home from Dawson's Heights whilst the rest of us enjoyed the downhill run back to Old Spike Peckham.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night. It was our penultimate session at Dawson's Heights allotment after going there for four sessions prior. We have been a massive help in getting the allotment setup. Let's finish it off with a bang on the 7th of August. Kudos to all and if I don't see you next week, see you soon!

On the eve of Election Day, we were all getting Election fever. Momentum, a shift in dynamics, something was in the air... nope, it was just Sam opening Old Spike Peckham to the seven other runners that decided to come and help out.

We had two tasks tonight, so Sam was glad Paulin came along as she could lead the second group. The two tasks on offer were woodchip moving and...woodchip moving, but in two different spots. Sam welcomed not only Paulin, but Steve, Rosalind, Daryl, Cecilia, Isaac and Benjamin. Everyone arrived before 18:45, so Sam got going with his usual speech and his ice-breaker question. Tonight's ice-breaker was about the Elections, so he asked: "Who do you think will be the top 5 parties (in order)?" and he also did a ice-breaker poll: "Yes or No, will Nigel get the Clacton seat?"

Most of the predictions went Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems, SNP and Greens whereas unfortunately, most of us predicted Nigel would get a seat in Parliament...

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A chip on our shoulders

We headed out to a different part of the Green to warm-up and after getting everyone's heart rate elevated, Sam led the whole group out with Paulin splitting with Steve, Rosalind and Cecilia off down Barry Road to head to meet Earth Tenders at Roseberry Lodge in Dulwich Park. Where they moved 30 wheelbarrows of woodchip to lay it down in the community garden at the back.

The rest of us ran along Peckham Rye Park and up Dunstan's Road, Underhill Road and Overhill Road to meet Ellie and two other Dawson's Heights residents. Our task? Similar to the other group, but we had to clear an area by the compost as it was overgrown by nettles and weeds. Benjamin and Sam concentrated on this clearance minding the itchy and stinging nettles whilst Daryl and Isaac used the one wheelbarrow to take it in turns and bring woodchip to cover the space to prevent the weeds from growing back.

The election playlist from Spotify kept us going, but time catches up with us. Before we knew it, it was almost 20:00, so we had to pack away our tools back to the storage unit and run back to Old Spike to meet the other group.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night. Two tasks done in quick sessions and both task owners were very pleased with the results. Great to have a little impromptu social afterwards too. Kudos to all and if I don't see you next week, see you soon!

It started to feel more like summer as Sam opened up Old Spike for Maria, Steve, Lindy, Cecilia, Gemma, Daryl and newbie, Robin. We welcomed Robin in after he came last week to do his document checks, but was raring to give GoodGym a try. Sam knew a few GoodGymers would meet him at Dawson's Heights, so as 18:45 arrived, he got going with his usual speech, but added extra bits for Robin to hear. Yet, before leaving Old Spike, his ice-breaker question which was to do with UN's Refugee Day, was: "What one item would you take with you if you had to leave your home immediately due to a war?"

Many of us opted for a phone whilst others had power bank, passports, swiss knife, backpack (empty, of course) and even a bicycle...

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Berry Fun: mulching, watering and moving top soil

As we headed out to the Green to warm-up, Steve volunteered to back-mark to ensure no one would be left behind. After the warm-up, Sam led from the front taking the most direct route to Dawson's Heights, which included running up Underhill and then Overhill Road.

At the site, we met up with Ellie and some of the Dawson's Heights residents as well as Olive, Emma, Nathan, Andrada and Adrian.

This time around, Ellie had a few tasks for us to do. Firstly, Adrian, Daryl, Nathan, Robin and Steve took on the heavy lifting job of moving tonnes of top soil to fill two deep planters that hadn't been filled the last time we came. Andrada and Lindy followed the boys as they needed to get buckets and buckets of woodchip to help mulch the area around the berry saplings to give them a fighting chance and grow into big berry bushes! The third task involved untangling the hose pipe and feeding it to the water tank that had been recently installed. Emma and Maria put up their hands to do this job, which was rewarded with watering the plants afterwards. Finally, the fourth job was attended by Cecilia, Gemma and Olive. They went around the site to collect grass cuttings as this would be used in their compost.

The 40 minutes went by in a flash and we were all rewarded for our efforts with warm peanut butter cookies!

After our customary group photo, we dashed off quickly to see London's skyline from Dawson's Hill before we ventured back to Old Spike. We had an impromptu social at Herne Tavern as we were invited by Peckham Rye Junior parkrun team and volunteers, who were glad to see our group.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night. A massive thank you to everyone for getting stuck into whatever task you were given - sometimes we are spoilt for choice. Thank you to Robin for coming for your first GoodGym session and hope to see you again. Kudos to all and if I don't see you next week, see you soon!

"I promise it will stop raining as soon as we start the run"...

On a Wednesday evening in late May, one would expect it to be raining cats and dogs all day, but the forecast was set for it to stop at 19:00... 👀

Arriving early to get change and open Old Spike, Sam spotted Paulin outside the Georgian wine bar having just ordered a coffee and pastry. He was thankful that everyone that signed up started to show their face despite the rain howling it down. Nathan was back from his Central American adventures and it was great to see Alex and Tony who hadn't been around for some time. Maria, Isaac and drenched Daryl arrived all before 18:45, so Sam got going with his speech and his ice-breaker question first which was to do with Cultural Diversity Day the day before: "What culture, that is not your own, do you appreciate or are obsessed with?"

Many chose European cultures like Italian and French, but we had some Mexican, Japanese, Mauri and thinking outside the box, coffee and drinking/pub culture.

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When it rains, it pours

Seeing that the Green was wet and uncut, Sam opted for the warm-up to be done in the alleyway as he proceeded to lead the group out and down along Peckham Rye park, cut onto Dunstan's Road before we all took our time to run up Overhill and then Underhill Roads. Thanks to Maria for backmarking. It all started off dry with a pause in the rain, but as we rushed up that hill the taps were turned on again.

We met James who cycled and Emma who walked from her house viewings with Ellie and the residents of Dawson's Heights. It was great to see Ellie again after months away and we were here to start on a project that was planned for last summer. The planters were already established from earlier in the week by Dentsu. Our task for tonight was to fill these planters with compost. Ellie had 40 out of the 90 bags, delivered earlier in the week, in her garage. The team all went over to work in pairs to haul them from the garage to the community garden space (about 20-25 metres) away utilising their sheer strength and a couple of sack trucks. This was all happening whilst Sam was putting on some mixed tunes and Maria opted to help with drilling holes in the planters to ensure there is drainage.

Once the team brought out the 40 bags, we filled the planters with the compost in minutes! Noticing that we still had 10 minutes left despite the rain bashing our bodies, we helped the residents re-plant herbs, fruits and veg whist James and Nathan sowed seeds hoping for squash and courgettes to grow, but expecting a giant bean stalk...

We ended the session with a quick weeding and pruning near the forest to ensure the berry trees could stand a chance to grow whilst Sam prepared gingerbread biscuit/cake that he brought back from his travels in Grasmere over the weekend. Breaking up the 6 big pieces of gingerbread into smaller sharable chunks, everyone enjoyed the delicacy of this famous little shop in Cumbria, but none other so than James.

After a quick group photo and our goodbyes, we took in the views from Dawson's Hill before rushing off downhill for a quick stretch and impromptu drinks at Nags Head.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night as it wasn't pleasant with the rain, but we made most of the situation! Kudos to all and if I don't see you next week, see you soon!

After weeks in the planning, Storm Babet had other plans for Alex and the staff of Temper as the task of gardening for Thames Reach in South Bermondsey had to be switched with an indoor task. Luckily, Sam and his GoodGym run club on Wednesday night had visited Dawson's Heights Community Centre to put on a first coat of paint and the task owner, Thai would happily welcome a second group sooner rather than later. The stars were aligned!

On Friday morning, Sam arrived at Dawson's Heights Community Centre for 09:30 to see Landen, one of the Temper staff, sitting outside. An eager beaver full of beans ready to take on today's volunteering task. He would have happily painted the whole community centre room by himself, but as we got closer to 10:00AM, the rest of the Temper staff including Alex (the General Manager of Temper) showed up.

As Sam does with his running club, he started the intros off with his GG speech explaining how to get involved with GoodGym before asking his ice-breaker question for today, which was: Since we're in Autumn and the weather is getting colder, what is your favourite type of soup?

We had a generational difference of opinion regarding having soup.... but those who did answered spicy lentil, chicken and mushroom, a hearty garlic soup, Thai chicken soup and even the original Heinz tomato soup to name a few!

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Don't 'palette' with me; I'm feeling 'brushy' today

After our intros and answering the ice-breaker question, we got down to business as everyone made their way into the community centre, picked up a brush or roller and choose a wall to get started on. The main room had the first coat of paint up on by the GoodGymers who came on Wednesday night, but there was one wall near the kitchen that still needed a first coat as well as the ceiling. With some 90s tunes banging through Sam's speakers, everyone got in the mood for painting.

Everyone focused on their section as they worked as a team to transform this community room in the hour and a half that they were there. Brushing away and turning the pale yellow walls into bright white, they not only added fresh coats to the aging walls but also breathed new life into the heart of the community. This was the much-needed facelift this place needed.

Sam hopes that the act of volunteering itself fostered a sense of togetherness and unity among the Temper staff as it did bring a smile to Thai who could see the instant aesthetic improvements. A truly heartfelt thank you!

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Thank You to Temper

A personal thanks from me to all the Temper staff for coming and experience a GoodGym session with me! There were plans to get you dirty with a bit of gardening, but with Storm Babet lingering around Alex and I opted for a soothing painting task instead. All the best with your future endeavours and possibly, see you at a GoodGym session in the near future

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Thank You to Thai

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Thai, who opened up the community centre and prepared the paint for us. GoodGym sessions wouldn't be possible without the task owners, so a massive thank you again!