Arc Centre
105 GoodGymers have supported Arc Centre with 66 tasks.
Top supporters
Previous sessions
Making the River less Fowl
Monday 12th January
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
On a slightly rainy Monday evening, Area Activator Simon met with early Goodgym arrival Steph Ducat at The ARC Centre, Islington. Stephane told me that he had passed through the area for another mission just the other day, and was happy to join us for our riverside plogging session that evening. As the rest of our crew gathered up, we took our our hardy gloves, litter pickers, head torches and bin bags ready for our brisk walk, along with small bags of bird seed for feeding the local water fowl on Regent's Canal. The birds have had a hard time recently, especially with the icy conditions and frozen water!
Within 50 minutes, we had walked together through the Riverside Gardens (on the Packington Estate) and along the canal side to De Beauvoir, Shoreditch, collecting loads of rubbish and debris on route. Almost 7 full bags of rubbish had been gathered from the parks and the towpath. Well done everyone!
GOODGYM ISLINGTON NEWS
—------------------------------------
SESSIONS IN JANUARY
Group Run - Camden Estate Gardens Monday 19th January, 6.45pm, Arsenal Community Hub
Community Mission - Thornhill Square Gardens Monday 26th January, 7.15pm, Thornhill Square Gardens
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/community-mission-thornhill-square-gardens-bulb-planting
Group Run - Highbury Quadrant Estate Gardens Monday 2nd February, 6.45pm, Arsenal Community Hub
—-----------------------------------
Goodgym Social & Area Activator Simon’s Last Session
Monday 2nd February, 8.30pm, The Tollington Arms, Islington
After 6.5 years, Area Activator Simon will be hosting his final group run session with Goodgym Islington this evening.
After our group run to Highbury Quadrant Estate, we will be making a trip to the award winning local pub, The Tollington Arms, less than 200m away from our bag drop location on Benwell Road!
As well as offering excellent refreshments, the pub has been well known for offering delicious Thai food with loads of varied dietary and vegan options available!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/aa-simon-s-last-session-the-tollington-arms-arsenal
—----------------------------------
Achilles International VI Guide Running Sessions
Every Thursday, 6pm, Various London locations
On Thursday evenings, the all abilities sports charity Achilles International holds a group run session at a London location.
Here is a list of our upcoming events and sign up pages. Runners, supporters and guides of all abilities and experiences welcome!
JANUARY
Paddington Rec Track (Maida Vale underground) Thursday 8th January, 6pm
Stratford Olympic Park (Stratford underground station Westfield exit) Thursday 15th January, 6pm
Emirates Stadium (Arsenal underground) Thursday 22nd January, 6pm
Paddington Rec Track (Maida Vale underground) Thursday 29th January, 6pm
—-----------------------------
Achilles International UK- Greenwich Peninsula parkrun takeover
Saturday 17th January, 8.20am, North Greenwich tube station
Achilles International UK, the pan-ability charity who host regular social running events are planning on hosting a meet up at the new Greenwich Peninsula parkrun.
The team are looking for runners willing to help as a VI (visually impaired) guide for the run, but also also helpers to look after guide dogs and to offer support on the day!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/achilles-international-uk-greenwich-peninsula-parkrun-takeover
—-----------------------------
Track and Towpath - January Challenge Edition!
Come and join Area Activator and UK Coach in Running Fitness (CiRF) Simon for a fun mixed pace training session
Over the month of January, Simon will be hosting a weekly morning running workouts in various parks in the Islington and Tower Hamlets boroughs.
All paces and abilities welcome!
The intention is to build up fitness together towards the Runthrough Victoria Park 10km on Sunday 1st February.
Thursday 8th January 7.50am, Arsenal Community Hub, Emirates Stadium
Thursday 15th January 7.50am, Poplar Union, Bartlett Park
Thursday 22nd January 7.50am, Common Ground coffee, Finsbury Park
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/track-and-towpath-january-challenge-finsbury-park-kenyan-hills
Thursday 29th January 7.50am, Mile End Climbing Wall, Meath Gardens
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/track-and-towpath-january-challenge-meath-gardens-kilometres
Runthrough Victoria Park 10km Event!
Sunday 1st February, 9am, Victoria Park
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/track-and-towpath-runthrough-victoria-park-10km-february-2026
(Strava group link)
https://strava.app.link/3aQu4W5ISYb
—------------------------
Caledonian Park junior parkrun- January 2026
Sunday mornings, 8.45am, Caledonian Park
Junior parkrun is a wonderful free weekly timed 2km social running initiative, with events occurring all across the UK (and now the world!).
Children aged from 4-14 years old are allowed to run this safe looped course in Caledonian Park however they like, with the encouragement of friendly marshals, volunteers and parents.
The core team are always on the lookout for:
Course marshals
Barcode scanners
Funnel managers
Course set-up and close down assistance
A tailwalker!
—------------------
Upcoming sessions:
Sunday 11th January
Sunday 18th January
Sunday 25th January
—-----------------------
Maria's Gardens, Isledon Gardens - Shed Building
Sunday 25th January, 11am - 1pm, Maria's Gardens, Islington
We are planning to lend a hand at Maria's Gardens, a Nature Trail between Isledon Gardens and the Sam Morris Nursery Gardens. One of the key objectives for this session is to build a new tool shed for the regular local gardening team.
—------------------------
Green Guardians- Whittington Park Sessions
Tuesday and Thursday morning sessions, Whittington Park, Archway
We have six really interesting gardening session happening at Whittington Park. We'll be planting native wild flowers, hedging and bulbs, creating a stumper and planting fruit trees.
These are relaxed friendly sessions where the emphasis is on spending time outside in nature, whilst learning and sharing skills and meeting new people.
The sessions are free and open to all, though under 16's must be with a responsible adult. No experience is needed. We provide tools, gloves, guidance and refreshments.
Session Dates
Tuesday 6th Jan 2026, 10am to 12pm ; Orchard tree planting with the Orchard Project (with optional free volunteers lunch at 1pm)
Tuesday 13th Jan 2026, 10am to 12pm ; Wildlife hedge planting
Tuesday 20th Jan, 2026, 10am to 12pm ; Loggery habitat creation
Tuesday 27th Jan, 2026, 10am to 12pm ; Loggery habitat creation
—-------------------
Next session
Tuesday 6th January, 10am - 12 midday:
—---------------------
Friends of Canonbury Square- Volunteer Morning
Saturday 17th January, 10am - midday, Canonbury Square Gardens
The Friends of Canonbury Square Gardens host an open community gardening session on the 3rd Saturday morning of every month.
Usual tasks would include bulb planting, trimming, laying compost, maintaining flower beds and litter picking.
—------------------
Penn Road Gardens Monthly Open Volunteer Morning
Sunday 25th January, 10am - midday, Penn Road Gardens, Islington
Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road. Local volunteers will be on hand to direct anyone who arrives to offer their help between 10am- midday. Come on down to enjoy a lovely morning community task!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sign-up/penn-road-gardens-open-morning
Canal Canter
Friday 17th May 2024
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Areas Activator Simon, Anne, Dan and Patrick met with lead gardening volunteer Mariana at The ARC centre on a gloriously sunny Friday evening. Together, we were tasked with a 1 hour time limit to help with moving a newly donated sack of fresh soil, over to Riverside Gardens on Regent's Canal, with the use of shovels, wheelbarrows (of varying quality!) and buckets. Each trip was approximately 400m from point to point, so we were putting in some solid wheelbarrow mileage between us!
Riverside Gardens is a lovely protected wildflower garden just off the Packington Estate. Full of flora and fauna, and cultivated to remain semi-wild. We successfully deposited almost 2/3rds of the full bag of soil between us- great progress for a big task!
We will return next week to complete the job!
Sign up here to get involved:
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/the-arc-centre-riverside-gardens-part-2
Keep PALM and Carry On
Monday 22nd January 2024
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
On a really blustery evening, Dan and Area Activator Simon met up at the Arsenal Community Hub for our Monday group run to The ARC Centre, Angel. After a dynamic warm up, we ran together to Highbury Fields, past Union Chapel, down St Mary's Church pathway and to the Packington Estate.
Upon our arrival, we met with Lucy outside the ARC centre coffee bar (open for yoga classes). This awesome community hub frequently helps out with green maintenance projects in Riverside Gardens, Union Square and along the Regent's Canal towpath. Our plan was to clear as much litter and discarded waste as possible from these three locations, using litter pickers, sturdy gloves and waste bags, especially after a night of powerful winds across London.
We began along the entrance of The ARC centre, and then walked to Regent's Canal to continue our task. Over the course of 40 minutes, we walked back to the two local parks, and filled 5 bags of rubbish within that time- super impressive! We completed our task alongside a huge palm tree in Packington Gardens, a wonderfully unexpected thing to see on a De Beauvoir estate! Well done everyone.
Goodgym Islington News
ON Running and JENKI run club- Thursday morning matcha runs!
Every Thursday, 7am, ON Running Spitalfields, Brushfield Street
Area Activator Simon has set up a series of morning runs, hosted every Thursday morning at the new ON Running store in Spitalfields market.
A social 5km before work, with the option to take out a pair of ON Running shoes for a test spin. Followed by complimentary matcha and hot drinks provided by the team at JENKI, Brushfield Street.
Next run is on Thursday 25th January:
Achilles International VI Guide Running Sessions- Paddington Rec Track
Thursday 25th January, 6pm, Maida Vale Underground station
Every Thursday, the all abilities sports charity Achilles International holds a group run session at a London location. This week, we will be meeting up at Maida Vale tube station, ready to run around Paddington Rec Track. Open to runners and guides of all abilities! Follow the link to get involved:
The Garden Classroom- Weekly Volunteer Mornings in Islington Parks!
Various parks and gardens on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
The Garden Classroom has started multiple weekly open garden mornings in Newington Green, Market Road and Hillside Park (near Caxton House). Set up by trained horticulture specialists and open to all!
Newington Green Next Wednesday- 10am - midday
Hillside Gardens, Caxton House Next Thursday- 10am - midday
Market Road Gardens Next Friday- 10am - midday
Penn Road Gardens Volunteer Open Day- January
Sunday 28th January, 10am - midday, Penn Road Gardens
Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road.
-------‐--------------------------
Post Group Run Social- Happy January!
Monday 29th January, 8.45pm, Memsaab Islington
Following our final group run of the January Challenge, and Frannie from Octopus Community Network's last Goodgym task, we are planning on visiting Memsaab Indian restaurant for delicious curry and refreshments!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/post-group-run-social-memsaab-islington-happy-january
ON-wards to The ARC Centre
Thursday 23rd November 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
On Thursday evening, our Goodgym crew from all across the boroughs met with Area Activator Simon for a bonus additional group run across Shoreditch and De Bouvier estates. This time, we had the opportunity to start our run at the wonderful ON Running Spitalfields store (newly opened 3 weeks ago- East London's newest running hub). Expect more runs from this smashing location in the very near future.
On Store London Spitalfields https://g.co/kgs/MHkouJ
Dan, Harvey and John joined Simon for 2 mile run towards North London, via Pitfield Street and Shoreditch Park, before crossing the river to the Packington Estate. Mariana, the local gardening expert for The ARC Centre community hub was thrilled to see us all. Anne, Kareem and Lucy met us at the entrance to the centre, and we git cracking with the evening's task.
Our objective was to move several bags of mushroom mulch and compost from the Waterside Park near Regent's Canal, over to the prime rose bush patch just off St Paul's Street. This would require a mix of wheelbarrowing and heavy lifting to make our way over- some top team work. Upon our arrival, we then had to mix up the mulch and compost together (a ratio of 1 : 2) before spreading the mixture across the beds. This should create an excellent "blanket" for the flower beds over the winter, to save the plants for springtime.
Harvey took on an additional unexpected good deed during our wheelbarrowing journeys. A lady by the canal towpath had been stranded by her Uber, and had a lot of belongings in her possession. She asked if anyone would be willing to help her to drop these item off at her canal boat just by the next bridge. Harvey loaded up his wheelbarrow, and ferried the suitcases in no time!
Smashing job everyone- we celebrated an excellent task completed with refreshments and snacks at The Hanbury pub just off the estate. Well done all.
NEXT GROUP RUN
We will be meeting back the the Arsenal Community Hub on Monday 27th November for a trip to Caledonian Park for a top wood chip lifting and shifting task!
Sign up here for more information:
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/group-run-cally-park-bark-chip-paths
Canal pals
Wednesday 16th August 2023
Written by John Shirley
For the second time in three days, GoodGym assisted Frannie and Marianne from Octopus Community Network, removing some large, dry plants to leave space for the nicer ones., and making the canal-side space nicer for everyone.
Hose before hoes
Monday 14th August 2023
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Area Activator Simon caught up with 4 other Goodgym runners at the Arsenal Community Hub last night, prepped and prepared for a group run over to The ARC Centre and Canalside Gardens near De Beauvoir and Packington Estate. After a short warm up, we ran together past Highbury and Islington station, Compton Terrace Gardens, Canonbury Square (all previous Goodgym Islington tasks!) and down to St Paul's Street.
Frannie, the main coordinator for Octopus Community Network had already set up some tasks for Kim and Victoria, who had arrived earlier. Between us, our project was to:
- Soak all of the tree trunks around Canalside Gardens using a hosepipe, to ensure that moisture permeates through to the roots.
- Wheelbarrow as many bags of compost and mulch as possible from the glorious Riverside Gardens (next to Regent's Canal) up to Canalside Gardens.
- Spread the mulch around the plant beds and in proximity to the tree trunks to enrich the soil where necessary. Hoes and spades to be used!
Between the 8 Goodgym volunteers, we successfully prepped all of the trees ready for the possible heatwave next week! It was incredible to see such a transformation over the course of 45 minutes. Luke wheeled up the hosepipe at the end of the evening, and the rest of our team assisted with guiding the hose back the reel without any kinks or twists.
Another successful group run, concluded with a pleasant trip back to Emirates Stadium via Highbury Fields on foot. Great job everyone!
Goodgym Islington News
—-----------------------------------
Extra Goodgym Islington Wednesday Task! The ARC Centre and Canalside Gardens
Wednesday 16th August, 6pm - 8pm, The ARC Centre.
Come and help Frannie from Octopus Community Network with some great green maintenance and tree care.
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/wednesday-evening-extra-canalside-gardens-near-the-arc-centre
—-----------------------------------
Caledonian Park Junior parkrun - Summer Time Marshal Help!
The team at Caledonian Road Junior parkrun (a free weekly timed 2km run designed for youngsters and families to run safely and independently - ages 4-14) are in need of more marshals and volunteers to allow the event to happen. Many of the core helpers are away for Summer, so any assistance would be hugely appreciated. It's the best way to start a Sunday!
Sunday 13th August, 8.45am:
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/volunteer-at-caledonian-junior-parkrun-summer-holiday-help-2
Sunday 20th August, 8.45am:
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/volunteer-at-caledonian-junior-parkrun-summer-holiday-help-3
Sunday 27th August, 8.45am:
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/volunteer-at-caledonian-junior-parkrun-summer-holiday-help-4
—------------------------------------
Weekday Community Mission- Housing21 Aftercare and Retirement Home Gardening, Mildmay
Wednesday 16th August, 11am-2pm (flexible with times)
We had a referral through Goodgym Islington from the team at Mildmays and Housing21 regarding an ambitious gardening project for their residents. The community gardening spaces are in need of some attention for anyone who would be up for some digging, lifting and shifting! Super satisfying task!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/weekday-garden-fix-up-at-mildmays-housing21
—------------------------------------
Goodgym x Jog On Recycling Clothes Swap and Group Run @ The Running Works
Wednesday 23rd August, 6pm, The Running Works, Aldgate
Come join us for a social group run with Goodgym and The Running Works, in collaboration with Jog On and Athletic Brewing Company! We will be hosting a clothes swap and donation drive for running and athletics kit as well. A great night to be had! https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-x-jog-on-recycling-clothes-swap-and-group-run-the-running-works
—----------------------------------
Penn Road Gardens Open Volunteer Morning
Sunday 27th August, 10am - midday, Penn Road Gardens, Islington
Every last Sunday of the month, the residents of Penn Road invite keen volunteers to help with maintaining this lovely community spot just off Holloway Road.
Local volunteers will be on hand to direct anyone who arrives to offer their help between 10am- midday. Come on down to enjoy a lovely morning community task!
September Social- Medal Monday at The Victoria Tavern, Holloway Road
Monday 4th September, 8.45pm, The Victoria Tavern, Holloway Road
As Summer is closing in, we thought we would take the opportunity to celebrate the running or exercise achievements we have completed during this time, especially with The Big Half over the weekend.
Come and join us for £7 pizza and refreshments after our group run to The Rose Bowl Youth Club, and bring the running medals you are most proud of!
https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/september-social-medal-monday-at-victoria-tavern
Loading...