The London Permaculture Festival is an annual celebration of natural ecosystems, and it's being hosted at Camden's Cecil Sharp House this Sunday!

Which was why our wonderful group – of Alex, Dani, John, Lydia, Nivia, Sarah, Siobhan, and Steve – assembled for an hour of nature-based volunteering!

Our task was to make sure Cecil Sharp's gardens were crisp and tidy, and ready for London's permaculture devotees!

We started amidst a flurry of brooms, rakes, and conversation – under a July sun we swept the paths and combed the lawn – and we filled bag upon bag in short order!

We then turned our attention – en masse – to the entrance gates.

John, Lydia, Sarah, and Siobhan tackled the main pathway – and they made quick thrift of weeds and leaves – leaving things looking perfectly wonderful!

Dani and Nivia focused their efforts on an area under a large tree – and they cleared the debris (and weeds and leaves!) – leaving an inviting shade spot!

And Alex and Steve helped our brilliant host (Susannah) move a chunk of festival fare down to the basement storage!

We finished by piling up bag (upon bag upon bag) of green waste into the van, before meandering off into a gentle evening :)

Thank you, everyone!!

Why does sweeping never end with just sweeping?

This is my experience of GoodGym...

"...yeah – that sounds about right – maybe just start with some sweeping over there..."

...and before you know it... you've built a gazebo or painted a bench!

Just sweeping was how our wonderful group – of Charlie, Danny, Emily, Gosia, Gus, Imogen, John, Michael, and Steve – started at the beautiful Cecil Sharp House on Wednesday evening.

In perfect May sun, sweeping strewn leaves is a good place to start – I even thought perhaps it really will just be sweeping – but then...

... Emily grabbed a hose and started dousing the (bountiful) flower beds around the house – I even flowers inch their heads towards the flowing water, and then...

...Charlie, Danny, Gus, Imogen, and John descended on a pile of... well, I'm not too sure what it was really – wooden crates, fallen branches, cut ivy – a pile of things that needed discarding! I turned my back and before I knew it... the van's boot was cleared, the crates had been snapped, and everything had been tidily bagged up! And then...

...seemingly everyone was busy planting seeds (all manner of wonderful flowers) in a row of planters! And not to forget...

...the sweeping that everyone started with... that was all finished too :)

And we finished off by cutting some fresh mint (all gifted to us by our brilliant host, Susannah) to take home – very wonderful!

Amazing work, everyone! Thank you for a lovely evening!

Every month it gets a little brighter.

That was our feeling as our wonderful group - Charlie, Emilie, Kathleen, Jackie, John, Siobhan (on their first GoodGym good deed - welcome!!), and Steve - met at our regular haunt for green-fingered activities, Cecil Sharp House.

Spring is nearly here - we all said - even if - we still need our head torches.

With the garden lit and tools distributed, this special group swiftly started on a list of helpful tasks:

✅ Charlie, Emilie, Kathleen, John, and Steve tackled (magnificently) the sneaky weeds living between the cracks (and who were about to shoot high for spring!)

✅ Jackie bagged leaves and picked weeds behind the shed and by the front gate (making a huge and very visible difference!)

✅ Steve (taking a break from the sneaky weeds) and Alex pulled 2 severed rope-esque roots from (deep) in the ground!

✅ Siobhan (also taking a break from the sneaky weeds) filled watering can upon watering can and gifted the greenhouse a spot of hydration :)

Thank you, everyone for your time and energy - it was a wonderful evening!

Here's to next time!!

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:

• It's apparent that folk music lovers don't wear shorts on February evenings (while GoodGym lovers often do)

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!

Most folks have to leave their leaves, especially if they're on a leafy street.

Most people don't want to leave their leaves out, but they just don't have the levers to not leave their leaves out.

Some (hopeful) souls erect signs saying - "LEAVE IT OUT, LEAVES" - but in all cases, the leaves did not leave it out.

Camden's (magnificent) Cecil Sharp House (just a hop from Camden Town) usually had this problem - they had to leave their leaves - and this usually affected the grass, flowers, and wildlife.

But not this year!

Our wonderful GoodGym group (of Alison, Gosia, and Steve) arrived yesterday and were met by the brilliant Susannah - we were there for our fourth visit of the season and we were under final leaf-clearing instructions.

We started by a HUGE stack of bags of leaves, each of which had been carefully packed (and squashed) by a GoodGymer over the past few months - and over the next 40 minutes, our small group added over 12 bags more - we targeted the nooks, the crannies, the behind-bin-spaces, and the other hidden places that seem to accumulate tonnes of leaves.

Our group of 5 left the space leaf-less - a task that would have easily taken 5+ hours for a single soul :)

Nice work, everyone, and thank you!!!

Twas the week before Christmas... and one special group (Amna, Emily, Jacqui, Jackie, John, Rose, and Steve) of good-deeding Camden folk were about to meet three Christmas ghosts...

After a traditional (as seen in A Christmas Carol) festive game of count to (20)24 and an inclusive run through Christmas Camden, this wonderful group arrived at Cecil Sharp House.

Head out of Camden Town and look for giant trees. This is the best way to find Cecil Sharp House. Home to music and creativity, it's also a resting place for a deep archive of folk music.

We don't know whether the evening's ghosts knew (/know) the real Cecil Sharp nor whether they like folk music, but we do know their names...

...the first ghoul was called The Ghost of Leaves Previously Picked, and this friendly spirit (who had a leaf on their head) delighted in showing us the clear lawns and tidy pathways that were the result of GoodGym's work this winter - several of our group joined TGoLPP by jumping up and down and shouting "but where are the leaves - there aren't any leaves!"...

...which was when The Ghost of Leaves Still to Pick popped up from behind a bush, and this fastidious spirit (who had a torch on their head) waved their (transparent) hands to show us oodles of hidden leaves in the bushes - and our group joined TGoLStP by bagging bag-upon-bag of leaves in the bushes and on the flower-beds - and then we were done and about to leave...

...which was when The Ghost of Leaves Yet to Fall stood in the gateway, and this forward-looking spirit (with a diary and pen in their hands) reminded us about the gardening work that is never really complete, and we booked in our next visit for 2025!

Thank you, everyone, for your work and energy - I had a wonderful evening seeing you all!

Here's to 2025... and next time!