*Credit to Khai, the GoodGym pun King

We started the evening at Charlton House, discussing what we would do if we had more time in our lives. The thoughts ranged from more walking, sleeping, reading to traveling, painting and phone free time. Maybe we can try to carve out more time this year to do the things that bring us joy. 🌳📖 ☀️

But, back to the task in hand - one thing that brings us joy is a good old painting session and that's what we got stuck into at the lovely Charlton Manor Primary School after a quick run around the block. Mr Turner-Wing had everything prepared for us and we got to work on three sections of the school restaurant to give it a fresh coat of paint to try and make it look as dashing as the back wall which the team painted last time. It's amazing how a lick of paint brightens up a room! After 45 minutes the tubs of paint were all used up and we'd enjoyed a good chat and therapeutic rolling. Hopefully it looks better than it did before – the morning will tell! We’ll be back for more painting in a month and will have soon got the whole room done.

This weekend we’re back at St Richard’s and next Wednesday we’re at Dee’s nursery.

Until next time!

It was cold and it was with some trepidation that 7 Good Gymers convened at Charlton house in anticipation of a cold night’s weeding at Charlton Manor primary school. It was cold so formalities were dispensed with and we set off for a gentle run through Charlton park where we got our first bonus of the night, a sneak preview of the Sparkle in the Park light trail, which had the advantage of lighting the first part of our run.

Soon we were at the task and we received our second bonus of the night. Sometimes you look forward to a fun task only to find it has been replaced with something more arduous or boring (for example, bulb planting being replaced by shifting a ton of topsoil as some of us had found at Lewisham the previous Monday) but tonight we had the reverse: the weeding outside had been replaced a perennial Good Gym favourite, painting (and inside to boot).

Task owner Joe to us into the dining area of the school to some walls that were probably last cleaned, let alone painted, when Joe was a schoolboy himself. Down to work we got with several of the teams getting to work scrubbing the walls and others applying paint to these long-neglected walls. And, as usual, the sheer power of Good Gym meant that short shrift was made of the task, with many square metres of wall (and a few Good Gym T-shirts) receiving a fresh coat of paint. Proud of our work all that remained was a quick group photo before braving the cold again for the short run back to Charlton House.

This was a great fun task at a great location and we’re already looking forward to going back and paint more of the school.

Winter is coming. There was definitely an autumnal feeling in the air as four Good Gymers convened at Charlton House for Wednesday’s group run. Tonight, we welcomed a guest in the form of Steph from our Ealing Chapter. Welcome Steph, we hope you enjoyed the task tonight.

The task tonight took us to Charlton Manor Primary School, and after a gentle jog through Charlton park in glorious sunshine, we arrived at the school to be met by the amazing Joe, one of the teachers at the school, who now has the responsibility for looking after the garden. The school used to have a full-time gardener but this is no longer the case and sadly their lovely garden has fallen into some disrepair. The task had been set to be painting benches but the afternoon’s rain had put paid to that so we were directed to the raised beds to attack the weeds. The beds were certainly overrun with all sorts of undesirable growths, but many hands make light work and soon the beds were looking a lot clearer and it was time for the short run in the cold back to Charlton house. We can certainly see now the improvements that two Good Gym visits have made at the school and with a few more trips I’m sure we’ll have the garden looking back to its best.

Next week we’re back at the gardens outside Trinity Hospice and there will be fun down by the river for anyone who wants to join us.

Everyone loves a new venue for a Goodgym adventure, and tonight's did not disappoint. Wednesday 17th July gave us a balmy summer evening for 7 GoodGym-ers to met outside Charlton House to share childhood memories and a few warm up games before a short run to Charlton Manor Primary School.

We were shown to the beautiful Secret Garden at the school, which has recently lost its gardener so needs a few extra hands on deck to get the weeds under control and the growing areas ready for the children to start planting flowers and crops. Much digging and cutting down of unwanted vegetation ensued, being careful to avoid the good stuff like potatoes, leeks & wildflowers. We were joined by the chickens from the school's coop who had a great time pecking around for worms, along with several villages of snails. Before long we'd run out of space in the huge bin we were using for what we cleared and it was time to jog back to Charlton House for some cool down stretches.

There's still lots of work to be done, so we'll be back to this lovely hidden garden with its beehives, chatty chickens, fruit trees and so much else.

Next week we're at Glyndon Community Centre. Thanks all & see you soon!