A nice little crew, part GG, part Friends of Betts Park got together to tackle a few tasks.

First up we freed some space on the steps down to the canal, chopping back brambles, pulling up weeds and Kelly did an ace job eking out the grass between steps.

Then we took a wheelbarrow of logs to a little wooded area to line the paths - cute.

Finally we spread some wildflowers in one of the community planters, hoping to bring some new life to them.

We even found some potatoes growing there. Dinner sorted.

For tonight's task we headed to the delightful Betts Park, home of the last remaining section of the Croydon canal and a lovely new obelisk "dedicated to all the people who never get memorialised".

A few weeks back the council did some work chopping down some dying trees but they just left a couple of piles of logs and ivy. Our job was to sort the logs from the ivy, building up the "compost heap" and leaving the logs - maybe they will be a path edge one day?!

It turned out ivy was stubborn as hell but we did manage to free it all from the big logs eventually 💪

Whilst all this was happening, Molly was on a solo mission to de-weed the entrance to the shed - I hope those splinters have come out?!

Lovely stuff everyone, and I can't wait for our knowledge exchange event! 🙌

On a very wet Sunday morning Mark and I headed over to Betts Park to help out the Friends to keep the park looking lovely!

Thankfully the rain help off whilst we worked on an area that needed some TLC. We pulled out lots of tall weeds where they start the tours of Betts Park. That's right, they offer tours!

They says you only get one first impression! A job well done ✅️

Love may have been all around for Valentine's earlier in the week, but Sunday was soppy on another level!

GoodGym'ers David, Kelly (with a guest appearance by Ed), Rebecca, Mark and James met the Friends of Betts Park team at the end of the Croydon Canal to tool-up for the task ahead. We were led down to the playground, which resembled a boating lake because the accumulated winter 'gunk' around the edges was stopping water running off freely. We were put to work de-gunking, weeding and giving the space a much needed tidy up.

The team spread out and attacked the task from all sides. Rebecca proved to be effective with a rake, Kelly and David were deadly with a range of hand tools and Ed excavated an enormous amount of debris with a hoe and mini-scythe thingy! A trusty, rusty wheelbarrow was soon filled and then again, and again, and again...

A lot was accomplished in the time. The task was declared to be a success by the organisers and confirmed by kids pouring in to enjoy the freshly cleared area. With soggy socks and tired arms we headed back to the meeting point and got snippets of the area's fascinating history going back to 957AD. See you again soon Betts Park!

First time meeting Izzy for this good deed, and what a pleasure. Particularly because unlike lots of us to migrated to London, or different parts of London to end up in the lovely Penge, Izzy is born and bred Penge!!

We met Alan from friends of Betts Park, and the three of us managed to fill five big bags of litter! It’s always a surprise how much you pick up on these!

Special shout out goes to the can of coconut milk, the two water guns (various colours and sizes) and finally the mop…

Great start to Sunday :)

I met Mark and Bex at Betts Park this morning and it was coooold. My feet haven’t warmed up since.

We met to plant the remaining bulbs in the park to make it pretty in the spring. But we discovered a lot of were moldy!

So while I sifted through moldy verses non-moldy bulbs, Mark and Bex started the planting!

Towards the end, I discovered a couple of potatoes in the big planter! I’ll be giving them a wash and tasting them for dinner this week.

Goodgym, not only is it giving me exercise, good deeds, socialising, it’s also feeding me! Wow!