Five runners ran 1.5 km to help hydrate the orchard at Chapman's Green.

We avoided the main road, and took some side streets, that despite having run round there plenty of times before, got Dave a little turned around. Still we made it in plenty of time!

Last time we shocked the park volunteers by how much we were able to do in. But this week, with our illustrious leader laid low, and a couple of members off chasing the moon round Battersea Park, there were less of us. Spoilers, we still managed to get a shocking amount done! Beth and Ellie made it for the third week in a row, so Dave unilaterally declared them to be regulars now The trees there have had a rough summer, and despite the recent grey weather, there's not been much rain. So the little water they get, gets guzzled up by the grass. Our ongoing mission, is to dig up the turf around the base of these trees, to allow the water to soak down to their roots. This turns out to be quite the arm work out, and by 7:50 we were starting to flag, and moved on to an apple tree at the back of the meadow. But tough times can be good for fruit and volunteers. The apples were super concentrated and sweet, and we powered through the turf in record time!

There was chat about upcoming races, but no-one can beat Chis Hadfield's 28,800 kilometers per hour (aboard the ISS).

Good luck at your Half Neil!

See you next week

12 incredibly haaawwwwt Goodgymmers donned head torches and smiles as they lent a hand at Chapmans Green

Kudos Corner

Everybody make some noise for Beth, Ellie, and Gina who joined us for their first ever Goodgym task and were absolute naturals. They didn't skip a beat and got stuck right in into the evening shenanigans. Rock stars! You can all come again....

... which is exactly what Super James did tonight, returning for his second task ever in row, despite the GGH motley crew's best attempts to scare him away the previous week. Hero!

We also welcomed Mehmet for his first run with us. As the legend that he is, he fitted right in.

Shovel-ready

Our audacious and bodacious crew turned up at Chapmans Green as the last of the day's light was slipping through their fingers but they didn't let that deter them. Oh no! The Friends of Chapmans Green awaited them with a mission to dig out the tree wells in the orchard so the lovely trees can get a good feed ahead of the cold days of winter. With a clear mission in front of them, our Goodgymmers began working like hank marvin honey badgers.

Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Task. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster.* #NoContext

The Friends group had conservatively put red rings around 4 of the 13 trees in the community orchard and you can see why - the ground was hard, harder than explaining to your friendly Area Activator how to use TikTok without crying in frustration. Nevertheless, our heroes cracked on with gusto and not too much complaining, and we ended up finishing the evening having prepped not four but six trees, ready for a good protein milkshake drink or whatever it is thhat they're getting ahead of the winter months.

The Friends were so impressed that they asked us to come back in a couple of weeks and who are we to say no to such lovely folk, eh?

A good successful night, if I say so myself.

Join us on Weds as we visit Russell Park in Wood Green for a spot of park gate painting.

*You had to be there for that one to make sense. Sorry!

5 Goodgymmers paid a flying visit to the wonderful gang at Chapman's Green for a spot of flowerbed maintenance.

Come on you Reds!

Let's be honest, good ol' Gramps was very preoccupied with finishing the task at hand in time to get his eyeballs in front of a television set at 8pm for the start of the second leg of the Champs League semi finals to see his glorious reds (#COYG)

Nevertheless, always the professionals, we took instructions from the Friends group to clear the "goodgym bed" from all weeds in time for a volunteering session this weekend.

We jumped at the task with gusto. Niamh in particular found the time to regale us with some rather unconventional running commentary about pulling up weeds but for the sake of Goodgym's PR department we will not print it in here.

Luckily, or unluckily in hindsight, Gramps managed to get away in time for the start of the game in which the reds put a valiant fight but went on to lose and be eliminated from the competition.

Gramps will recover eventually, we're sure.

Eight Goodgymmers suffered under the heat but did not wilt as they lent a hand at Chapmans Green for a spot of reclaiming the walking path from the always overenthusiastic North London nature.

GGH High Five

It'd be remiss not to congratulate and commiserate all Haringey Goodgymmers in equal measure as they united to observe in forbearance the fifth anniversary of their attempts to rescue a semblance of competence and triumph from the jaws of inefficiency under the rule of the rather tattered and blundering Gramps. Well done to all of them for putting up with me for this long. Truly a testament to the strength and endurance of human nature! <3

Onto the task at hand. Because Gramps is fond of things like this, he had arranged tonight's task at Chapmans Green, where he had led his first ever GGH task five years ago, and Rob from the Friends Group did not disappoint.

The Green has exploded with the warm, moist weather and the walking paths have been devoured by a multitude of weeds. Rob walked us through what should be saved and what should be pulled and before you knew it, our Goodgymmers had jumped into action.

It was a very warm evening, though thankfully the burning sunshine had eased a tad. Nevertheless, it was a sweaty and tiring affair. .

We pulled thistles and other weeds to our hearts content while we had a good natter. Beautiful timelapse of the action courtesy of Super Dave here.

With around 10 mins to go, Nurjehan abused her position as the appointed GGH timekeeper and tricked Gramps into an early finish with the pretexts of giving the team a rest from the heat, but it was instead so they could ambush Gramps with cards, sweets, and sashes - punishment by showering him with love and attention knowing full well he can't cope with it. They know him just too well. <3

We then made time for selfies and hugs, and made plans for our forthcoming BBQ this weekend. Boom.

*Are pork chops ok for vegans? *

Five Goodgymmers rolled up their sleeves and pulled up a multitude of weeds from the playground at Chapmans Green on this stormy May Day.

The Famous Five Go Playing

We met Alex from the Friends group at Chapmans Green who had a few options of tasks for us. Needless to say, as soon as we heard the rubber mulch at the playground needed a bit of maintenance, we jumped and grabbed onto that task with greedy hunger.

We hopscotched our way into the playground and before you could say Fireman Pole, we were on all fours. Weeds were coming through the mulchy membrane - a situation that if not dealt with regularly will affect the integrity of the fall-breaking material - and no sooner had Alex given us some tools than we were right into the swing of things.

We merry-go-rounded our way through the whole playground, pulling up weeds and chewing the fat until Gramps seesaw what the time was and called an end to the proceedings. Proving he's no longer a Spring Horse, Gramps ungracefully clambered up the playhouse to join Clare and Charlie, while Nurjehan and Veronika opted for a more grounded approach for our group photo.

Alex offered us a tour of the meadow to finish the session but we had to leave before an untimely slide into disrepute as Nurjehan had started to shout at everyone about the size of her hole as we inspected the progress on the orchard - cf. here.

On that note, we all left, making our way home before the torrential thunderstorm. 

Come next week for not one but two different tasks: Tuesday is back to nursery at Tottenham Green and Wednesday it's party time at Wolves Lane. Fun!

#MayDay #UpTheWorkers #Solidarity #NothingToLoseButOurChains  

3 runners and 1 cyclist appeared Chapmans Green to get into some serious weeding.

Alex reached out to us before the task, reminding us to bring along head torches. But with the clocks going forward at the weekend, we had plenty of light through to Nurjehan-o'clock.

We started the task with a brief tour of the old bowling green, which GGH has helped to transform. It's turning into a lovely orchard. Crab Apple jelly coming this autumn. Then out to the public park, and over to the Allium, Marigold, and Lavender bed, we planted up previously. It was being taken over by grasses, and some sort of creeping vine from beyond the pale.

Hand rakes were particularly effecting at gathering up large bundles of the creeper. The soil was clearly very fecund with amount of weeds that had sprung up, and the amount of worms hiding just below the surface. Bodes well for those spring flowers soon! Before too long we'd filled 4 bin bags full. And Alex could start covering the ground with some weed preventing mulch. With the locals admiring our handiwork, we waved goodbye and headed off into the (now conveniently timed) sunset.