Mildmay Community Centre
91 GoodGymers have supported Mildmay Community Centre with 14 tasks.
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Lumber Support
Monday 10th June
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
A trio of Goodgym cyclists met at Mildmay Community Centre last night, to help the neighbourhood gardening team with regenerating their planting space.
Emily and Caitlin were led by Dom and Teena of Mildmay to their lovely organic growing space for their foodbank visitors at the back of the centre. Our task for the evening was to move a pile of disassembled wooden decking and long palms from the garden, over to the Islington Council drop off point for wood and lumber. We carefully used heavily padded work gloves and wheelbarrows to direct the awkward objects to the appropriate spot (while avoiding various neighbourhood cats, who were fascinated with what we were up to!). Crowbars and mallets were used to pull away the last of the decking, and we swept up all of the debris into a woodchuck bed to complete a very satisfying task! Well done everyone!
GOODGYM ISLINGTON NEWS
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!
Thursday 13th June- Paddington Rec Track
Thursday 20th June- Battersea Park
Thursday 27th June-
Thursday 4th July-
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The Garden Classroom- Weekly Volunteer Mornings in Islington Parks!
Wednesday mornings, 10am - midday, Newington Green
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
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Lighthouse Community Group- Uplifting a new living space for residents!- Morning Task
The Lighthouse Foundation sent a special referral to Goodgym Islington!
The team will be meeting at over Evershot Street, Stroud Green for an early morning, pre-work task!
This location is in need of some attention, ready for new residents to move in.
Expected tasks would include:
Clearing the space as best we can
Moving few heavy things around to new locations
Tending to the garden space at the back
Wednesday 12th June:
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Friends of Canonbury Square- Volunteer Morning (June)
Saturday 15th June, 10am, Canonbury Square Gardens
Lending a hand with this beautiful neighbourhood maintained garden in Islington, a perfect post-parkrun task!
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Crouch End Open Space (CREOS) Volunteering Day
Sunday 16th June, 11am - 1pm, Hanley Tennis Club Car Park, Greenways
Our monthly trip to CREOS this year for a woodland regeneration- loads of smashing forest path building has been planned!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-june-2024
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Dulwich Runners- Midsummer Relays 2024
Wednesday 19th June, 6.45 - 8.45pm, Dulwich Park
Dulwich Runners have a proud history of organising summer races in Dulwich Park to support and publicise the Club in the South London community.
Goodgym are planning on entering at least one relay team to this awesome grass roots event!
Feel free to organise teams of 3 in advance, or we can try to form teams of individuals from sign ups to this page.
All abilities welcomed and encouraged!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/dulwich-runners-midsummer-relays-2024
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Guide Runners and Supporters needed for Metro Blind Sport Athletics 2024
Sunday 29th June, 10am - 5pm, Mile End Athletics Track
We are proud of the Metro Games, the only remaining national athletics event specifically for visually impaired people. It’s a great opportunity to take part in athletics at a great facility, have fun, making new friends and catching up with some old friends!
All abilities, ages and sight levels are welcome!
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Highbury Quadrant Greening with Elizabeth House
Every Saturday, 10.30am - 12 midday, Highbury Quadrant Meadow
A fantastic task for post-parkrun runners at Highbury Fields or Finsbury Park!
Elizabeth House Community Centre, in partnership with Islington Council, Highbury Quadrant Tenants and Residents Association, Highbury Councillors and community organisations transformed three unloved and unusable green spaces on Highbury Quadrant estate.
These green spaces have been designed into three distinct spaces, improving bio-diversity and the local environment. There is now a beautiful meadow, an orchard and woodland areas.
Local residents have the opportunity to access these green spaces and take part in gardening and nature based activities, every Saturday mornings 10 am to 12 pm.
Saturday 22nd June-
Saturday 6th July-
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Highbury Fields parkrun Meet Up
Saturday 6th July, 8.45am, Highbury Fields
Come and join us for a free weekly timed 5km event at Highbury Fields, catching up with fellow Goodgymmers! We plan to visit Rindo cafe for post run coffee and breakfast too!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/highbury-fields-parkrun-meet-up
Followed by:
Fussball Table Shifting at Hilldrop House!
Saturday 6th July, 11am, Hilldrop House Community Centre
After our meet up at Highbury Fields parkrun, some of us will walk 1 mile up Holloway Road to help the crew at Hilldrop House with moving an old fuss ball table out of a youth club. Classic Goodgym task!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/fussball-table-shifting-at-hilldrop-house
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Compton Terrace Gardens Open Volunteer Morning
Saturday 13th July, 10am - midday, Union Chapel, Islington
A friendly gardening group started to look after the park about 10 years ago. We are always looking for more help - with planting, mulching, pruning, and all the other things a garden needs.
Everyone welcome, no special skills needed! Lots of fresh air and a nice chance to meet local people.
A smashing community mission for those partaking in Highbury Fields or Finsbury parkrun on a Saturday morning!
Careful with the (s)nails!
Monday 20th May
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
After an incredibly busy weekend for the London running scene (check out our report on the Night of the 10,000m PBs at Parliament Hill Track here, our crew met up at the Arsenal Community Hub on a sunny Monday evening. Area Activator Simon was joined by Ralph and Louise for a lovely 1.6 mile run through Highbury Fields, along Petherton Road footpath and to Newington Green, linking to Mildmay Community Centre. Upon our arrival, we met with Dan, Lucy and Caitlin before heading through the a lovely secret garden area at the back of the community hub. The plots, beds and greenhouse are actively used for growing organic produce at discounted rates for local residents and users of the food bank.
Our task for the evening involved removing a large mass of overgrown plants from a forgotten flower bed (neglected from a previous owner). Due to the recent rain fall, the roots were looser than expected, so we could mostly pull the shoots straight from the soil! We collected up the green waste into black bags, that were covered in wildlife and mini-beasts. Loads of snails, slugs, beetles, stink bugs, woodlice and even centipedes!
Since we made excellent progress on shifting the greenery out of the planters, we then moved on to dismantling some rotted wooden decking from the back of the garden. Again, due to the wet weather, we were mostly able to do this by hand (with sturdy protective gloves)- but also had to be very careful not to come in contact with sharp nails protruding from the wood. More time, less haste, more care!
We will be returning to Mildmay Community Centre on the 10th June- watch this space!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/group-run-mildmay-community-centre-garden-fix-up-2
We have a special Bank Holiday edition of our group session next Monday. Meeting just by Clissold Park for a series of classic fitness games before flyering around the Highbury Quadrant Estate for London Open Gardens Festival!.
Sign up here to get involved!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/group-session-bank-holiday-fitness-games-and-flyering
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GOODGYM ISLINGTON NEWS
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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!
Thursday 23rd May- Emirates Stadium
Thursday 30th May- Stratford Olympic Park
Thursday 6th June- Green Park
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London Orienteering Klubb- Finsbury Park Go Orienteering Event
Tuesday 21st May, The Twelve Pins, 6pm onwards
Orienteering is really great fun! All abilities running, walking and map reading.
Follow a map offered by London Orienteering Klubb, and find the "controls" (flags and scanning points) across Finsbury Park in order.
2.5km and 5km distances on offer
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/london-orienteering-klubb-finsbury-park
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Penn Road Gardens Volunteer Open Day
Sunday 26th May, 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.
The Garden Classroom- Weekly Volunteer Mornings in Islington Parks!
Wednesday mornings, 10am - midday, Newington Green
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
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The ARC Centre Riverside Gardens
Friday 24th May, 7pm, The ARC Centre, Angel
Come and help the local volunteer gardening team with some lifting and shifting on Regent's Canal. Followed by a trip to The Hanbury Arms in Packington Square!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/the-arc-centre-riverside-gardens-part-2
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Highbury Quadrant Greening with Elizabeth House
Every Saturday, 10.30am - 12 midday, Highbury Quadrant Meadow
A fantastic task for post-parkrun runners at Highbury Fields or Finsbury Park!
Elizabeth House Community Centre, in partnership with Islington Council, Highbury Quadrant Tenants and Residents Association, Highbury Councillors and community organisations transformed three unloved and unusable green spaces on Highbury Quadrant estate.
These green spaces have been designed into three distinct spaces, improving bio-diversity and the local environment. There is now a beautiful meadow, an orchard and woodland areas.
Local residents have the opportunity to access these green spaces and take part in gardening and nature based activities, every Saturday mornings 10 am to 12 pm.
Saturday 25th May-
Saturday 1st June-
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Compton Terrace Gardens Open Volunteer Morning
Saturday 8th June, 10am - midday, Union Chapel, Islington
A friendly gardening group started to look after the park about 10 years ago. We are always looking for more help - with planting, mulching, pruning, and all the other things a garden needs.
Everyone welcome, no special skills needed! Lots of fresh air and a nice chance to meet local people.
A smashing community mission for those partaking in Highbury Fields or Finsbury parkrun on a Saturday morning!
Friends of Canonbury Square- Volunteer Morning (June)
Saturday 15th June, 10am, Canonbury Square Gardens
Lending a hand with this beautiful neighbourhood maintained garden in Islington, a perfect post-parkrun task!
Crouch End Open Space (CREOS) Volunteering Day
Sunday 16th June, 11am - 1pm, Hanley Tennis Club Car Park, Greenways
Our monthly trip to CREOS this year for a woodland regeneration- loads of smashing forest path building has been planned!
https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/crouch-end-open-space-creos-volunteering-day-june-2024
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Strim before a swim!
Friday 7th October 2022
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Yesterday evening after our busy days at work, Simon, Alison and Emily made their way to meet head gardener Dom at Mildmay Community Centre for about an hour of garden clear-up. The Mildmay is an incredible hub of activity just located off Newington Green- it is also a listed Passiv Haus, a completely carbon neutral building for the local neighbourhood. There is even a recording studio downstairs, where members of The Noisettes were actually rehearsing as we were gardening!
We began with some weed whacking with an electric driven strimmer, while keeping our distance from other Goodgymmers. This certainly helped to clear a lot of the immediate grass and undergrowth, but some of the bushes and brambles proved to be heavy going. Luckily, we also had some rakes and forks available to assist with shifting the green waste off these steep sloped gardens.
Unfortunately, after about half an hour of gardening, the heavens opened, and we deemed that it would have been dangerous for us to continue working on a slippery wet slope, and definitely not good for electrical strimming! We packed up our progress, and bagged the weeds we had collected before calling it a night. Top stuff, folks!
We will return next Friday evening (same time, same place- 6pm) to help with some more garden clear ups!
Spring Fling! (Mildmay & Rose Bowl)
Monday 2nd March 2020
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
12 hardy Goodgym folks joined us last evening (narrowly avoiding the 10 minute hail storm) for what proved to be a lovely double task combo night! Quite a few of our regulars admitted that they were in recovery after some sterling performances at the Big Half on Sunday (too many to list here!), but we still had two super capable teams (including some GG tourists from Lambeth and Camden- welcome!) available to help at Mildmay Community Centre and The Rose Bowl Youth Centre. For the count-off, we asked the question: "Shorts or Leggings- pick one!". The results were:
- 8 for Leggings
- 3 for Shorts
- 1 for "Both, as I am demonstrating tonight..."
MILDMAY COMMUNITY CENTRE
Trainer Simon lead the 3.5 mile run to Mildmay Community Centre, via Highbury Fields, Canonbury (past the Snooty Fox) and towards Newington Green. Upon our arrival, we tentatively introduced ourselves to the staff (who were in the middle of a meeting), grabbed our gloves, and made our way to the distinctive sloped garden behind the building. Mildmay Community Centre is a super unique organisation, and uses a completely carbon neutral Passiv-Haus as their main base. Maintaining a seasonal garden for their visitors is really important to the group, and our job involved protecting the green space after the abundance of storms and bad weather.
Our task involved laying black tarpaulin onto the soft muddy growing patches, to allow the ground to recover after the rain. Half of our group stayed at the top of the slope, and dropped the material down to the rest of the team, who stationed themselves at the bottom, and took it in turns to hammer the sheeting down with pegs. The job reminded a few of our team members of camping with friends, and pitching tents as part of a group.
Mildmay Community Centre were amazed at how much work we covered in such a short amount of time, and have invited us to come back anytime! We even met a few cat friends towards the end of our task, who were curious about the strange red t-shirt people in their garden.
ROSE BOWL YOUTH CENTRE
Taskforce member Aidan took the second group over to the Rose Bowl Youth Centre, just past St Paul's Way (a classic GG Islington task), where the team met up with Dawn, the lovely volunteer coordinator and general good egg!
Goodgymmers set about cleaning and sweeping the main play area ready for various sports groups throughout the week, and a few of our team started cutting down some over-hanging branches near the main entrance of the site. However, the key task that Goodgym Islington will be assisting with over the next month involves helping to build a sensory area for autistic youngsters. Our team helped out with the early stages of the construction (based near the triangular wooden hut near the tool shed, for folks who have visited the centre before), mostly clearing out the space after the recent storms. We have been promised some sawing and hand-on building work for when we return on the 16th March!
Both teams returned to the Arsenal Hub at almost the same time, and we all engaged in some group stretches together whilst chatting. Trainer Simon brought out some accidentally vegan bourbon biscuits, and we set off into the night.
Cracking stuff, folks! See you next week!
NEWS
Monthly Social with GG Islington!
After next week's task at Sunnyside Community Centre (Monday 9th March), we will be heading over to the Victoria Tavern on Holloway Road for a 2-for-1 pizza, drinks and good times!
The Victoria Tavern, 203 Holloway Rd, London N7 8DL
Sign up to this event page for more information!
Goodgym Camden Takeover!
Trainer Simon has been asked to cover Goodgym Camden on Wednesday 11th March- leading the session, and directing our runners to C4WS Homeless Action or to Cecil Sharp House- two great organisations in Central London.
If you fancy some Goodgym tourism with some familiar faces, sign up here for more information!
CREOS March Community Mission (Crouch End Open Space)
If you have never done a community mission before, this monthly project is a great one to get involved with!
The friends of CREOS have been maintaining a green space for over 50 years, keeping it available to the public and allowing the neighbourhood to ensure it is in good shape. Loads of volunteers from around the area will pitch in with gardening projects, and loads of Goodgym runners from all different boroughs will be present for a regular catch up.
A picnic always follows this task, with snacks, hot drinks and occasionally something a bit stronger on offer!
Sunday 15th March, starting at 11am. Come on down, and sign up here!
The Arc Centre Deep Clean and Free Fitness Session
On Sunday 22nd March, GG Islington have been asked to help out The Arc Community Centre with some bi-monthly cleaning and tidying tasks- a great indoor activity to wrap up the weekend.
In return, we have access to the main hall and the accompanying gardens before the the task. Trainer Simon will be offering a free all abilities circuit training session before we start with the cleaning duties. Strength and conditioning are under valued pursuits for a lot of runners, and we will be introducing some simple body weight exercises you can do as part of a group (the best way IMHO!) or in your own free time.
The Arc Centre, 98b St Paul Street. London N1 7DF
Sign up here to get involved! It will be great fun.
(Ramsey) Flower Power and Mildmay Massive!
Monday 21st October 2019
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
Double deeds! It's a two task combo!
Absolutely gorgeous evening for running and doing good last night- We had 19 runners at each of our tasks (including first timer and local runner Julianne, who spotted us running past her house a while back, and decided to see what we were about! Welcome, and thanks for coming down!). Massive congratulations to our race participants last weekend- Task force runners Patrick and Steve C for running PBs at the Yorkshire Marathon (and Steve winning his overall age category!), and Kike for running and cycling the Cowman Duathalon. Awesome and inspiring stuff, folks!
Before heading off to our task locations, we discussed our podcast and listening habits, particularly whilst running- lots of podcast suggestions from the group (surprisingly no running podcasts!). Some top options included:
- Reasons to be Cheerful
- Passenger List
- My Dad Wrote A Porno
- 99% Invisible
- The Brexitcast
- Anything by Brian Ferry...
(please add other suggestions in the comments below!)
We proceeded to perform a few warm up drills on the slope next to the Emirates Hub (leg rotations, open-close gates, lunges and leg swings), and then we separated into two groups for our tasks.
Mildmay Community Centre
Steve Coman lead Group 1 over to Mildmay Community Centre, near Newington Green, meeting Mustafa, the volunteer coordinator and head gardener at the door. The centre itself is an award winning "Passivhaus", or completely eco-friendly site, operating as a hub for the North London community- looking forward to working on their new cafe investment next year- watch this space! Our Goodgymmers set to work on clearing ivy from the surrounding fences, and brushing up the leaves from the main entrance and exits to the centre. It was a relatively quick turnaround, so our group was treated to tea, biscuits and bombay mix, before taking a slightly extended fun jog back to base.
Ramsey Flowers N1
Group 2 was lead by trainer Simon, Frances and Steve Lee, approaching Ramsey Flowers N1, near St Paul's Walk. We had a variety of tasks around the gardens and around the connecting public footpath- the area needs to be ready for the group's annual Pumpkin Carving event for the local children. Our team set about planting lots of fresh plants, recently picked up from Columbia Road Market, and then sweeping and raking all of the flower beds and pavements to clear the path for local residents. All of the green waste was then collected and dropped off next to the Rose Bowl Youth Centre (another one of our regular tasks).
Amazing work everyone, we made a real difference to both of these locations!
News
Social Pizza and Drinks next week!
After our task at Single Homeless Project next week (sign up here, you are welcome to join us for 2-for-1 pizza and drinks at the Victoria Tavern on Holloway Road.
GG 10 Year Anniversary Social
Talking about get-togethers, there will be a big party on 8th November, celebrating 10 years of Goodgym, and marking Pritesh Mistry's final event as social secretary. Sign up here, and give him an awesome send-off for his years of organising good times!
Halloween Headtorch Run
Tis the season for spooky stuff! Come and join Trainer Simon for a dark, creepy but ultimately stunning run around Hampsted Heath on Halloween night, setting off from the Bull and Gate pub in Kentish Town at 8pm. 7 miles total distance- headtorch required! If you have never run in the woods with a torch before, it is great fun, and this would be a perfect opportunity to try it with Goodgym friends. Sign up here!
Mildmay Monday: Thistle Do Nicely!
Monday 19th August 2019
Written by Simon Fitzmaurice
It is my pleasure to announce that 21 lovely Goodgymmers joined us for Simon Fitzmaurice's first outing as GoodGym Islington's new trainer, and ran to fix up an overgrown garden at the amazing Mildmay Community Centre. Great to see familiar faces, Goodgym tourists (Thanks Nurjehan!) and new participants (Becca, Caitlin and Gerry- welcome everyone) getting stuck in!
Shout outs to the Goodgymmers who helped out at the Crouch End Open Space over the weekend- the well-deserved picnic looked delicious. More information can be found here.
If anyone fancies a long social training run (not for setting PBs!) next weekend, Trainer Simon will be leading the Goodgym Monthly Long Run on Sunday, a route called "The Tour of the Docklands". 10km, 10 mile and 16 mile distances are available, starting from Greenwich and finishing in Stratford Olympic Park, passing loads of River Thames landmarks on the way. Sign up here if you want to get involved!
After a few warm-up exercises, and learning everyone's favourite biscuit preferences (I think Dark Chocolate Hobnob was the most popular...), our crew ran through Highbury Fields Park and past Newington Green to Mildmay Community Centre, and were greeted by Mus, the head gardener for this evening's task. Armed with secateurs and trowels, the team uprooted weeds and snipped back thistles and thorns from the main garden area at the site, whilst concentrating on staying upright on a steep slope! Lots of really impressive teamwork on display, and we ended up with loads of bags full of green waste by the end of our session.
The Mildmay Community Centre is a fascinating building- the whole place is fully sustainable and eco-friendly, boasting a roof full of solar panels for everyday energy usage, green gardening spaces and rain water receptacles to store water for the plants. Some really exciting projects are coming up, so we will be sure to return soon.
Just a reminder- next weeks task to Caledonian Park will start at a different location due to the Bank Holiday. Our start location will be:
The Arc Centre 98b St Paul Street London N1 7DF
(Nearest tube stations are: Highbury & Islington or Angel)
Have a fantastic week! Happy Running! See you soon!
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