Great session with MindFood yesterday. The team from Brompton rolled up over individually, by bike and car. Lucy gave us an introductory talk, on the work they do and some easily actionable tips for mindfulness. Including the five point check list - who can remember it?

We did absolutely loads:

• Cleared the Poly-tunnel debris, including huge metal rods and timber posts with concrete bases
• Emptied a tonne bag full of compost to make space
• Weeded two paths to neaten things up a bit

What a difference 5 people can make in 90 minutes, well done for getting involved. Get in touch with MindFood for more sessions, also check out your local GoodGym if you want to meet awesome people, get fit and give back.

Pleasure to meet you all.

Brahma

GoodGym and Brompton continued our excellent partnership with a bumper group of new inductees to Brompton coming out to see what GG is all about and make a difference to a local organisation.

Despite the weather there were 9 volunteers ready and willing to go and due to some logistical challenges we decided it was best to head over by public transport meaning we were not only there in record time but also still dry!

We were met by Lucy from Mind Food a wonderful organisation who support the mental health and wellbeing of people who are feeling stressed by getting them outdoors and teaching them not only to learn how to grow their own food but be present in the moment. (For more information click the link above)

Lucy took us through the tasks that needed doing including plenty of weeding, chopping up and shifting the bramble waste, rescuing strawberries from weeds and putting all the green waste out to dry to be used as compost in future. The possibility of drying anything in this weather though....!

The group split into smaller units with Anna, Josh and Jan attacking the brambles, Ade, Clemence, and Shalini weeding the pathways and Andre, Ivan, Many and Darren heading over to rescue strawberries.

We had a decent chunk of time so were able to get through plenty of work and the rain mostly held off although we did have to run for cover at one point.

Thank you so much to all the Brompton volunteers for their hard work, hopefully everyone left feeling suitably refreshed mentally and the conversation on the way back felt light and breezy despite the weight of some of the topics.

If you are interested in joining GoodGym or continuing to support Mind Food please check out the respective websites and for Ealing GoodGym our AA Kash is your point of contact.

See you soon!

It was a chilly old November day but that didn't stop 11 wonderful members of the Brompton team getting stuck into an awesome GoodGym session for the first time!

Today we headed for a lovely cycle along the canal from Brompton HQ in Greenford straight towards MindFood's site in Hanger Lane.

Mindfood are an Ealing based charity that supports people with depression, anxiety and stress to improve their wellbeing through gardening, mindfulness, horticulture & creativity. They had tons of great tasks around their site for us to help with and were all things that will really benefit everyone who uses the site in the future!

It was great to introduce the Brompton team to the such a great cause and get them out of the office on an urban adventure that will also benefit the local community!

We were on the Mindfood site for about an hour and half and what was achieved in that time was incredible! Here's just some of what we go up to:

• Draining and filling in an old pond

• Rebuilding a brick spiral planter

• Cutting up a HUGE black underlay for plant beds

• Weeding around the whole site

• Cutting up twigs

• Shifting compost around the site into planters

• And the biggest task of the day - Rehoming a very stubborn sage tree!

The team absolutely smashed it and I think they definitely they got just as much wellbeing for themselves as they will have provided to future visitors to MindFood by helping out!

Hopefully we'll see lots of them back on GoodGym in their local areas in the future.

On an unusually warm September morning, 9 awesome members of the Brompton team came out to get stuck in to some outdoor tasks to help the local mental health charity, MindFood.

MindFood are a food-growing charity there to help if you're struggling with stress, depression or anxiety and they aim to make better mental health accessible for all.

We started by meeting at the Brompton office where we got ready for a lovely 3 mile cycle along the canal to get to our destination at the MindFood allotments near Hanger Lane. The team didn't know what was in store for their morning, which was happening as part of their immersion day, but they all seemed very excited to get involved with their surprise GoodGym session!

Once we arrived, Lucy (who's the wonderful woman in charge at MindFood) started us off with a chat about everything they do with the sight. We then did a mindfulness exercise before getting stuck in to all sorts of tasks around the garden.

• We had a mountain of soil to move into some donated containers
• We had some hoeing to do, removing weeds around the site
• We had bindweed attacking around the paths
• And we had lots of mixing it up so everyone got a chance to do whatever they fancied getting stuck into!

The time absolutely flew by and everyone left with a big smile ready to take the canal route back to Brompton HQ. The weather was even more glorious than when we'd first set off so the pedal back was even more fun!