It seemed straightforward. The Friends of Russell Square, one of Camden's many historic areas, had arranged a delivery of mulch for spreading over the plant beds. Mulch retains moisture in the soil, suppresses weeds, keeps soil cool, prevents it swelling in winter, and makes the garden bed look good.

One snag - the heavy bags of mulch were delivered to the opposite side of the square from where the plant beds were. Enter GoodGym: runners from Westminster, Southwark and Tower Hamlets joined three Camdeners - including Rashmi, who walked down from Tufnell Park to take part in her first ever task - welcome Rashmi!

We spaded the mulch out of the bags, and using three wheelbarrows, established a relay system to transport it across the park, before spreading it over the beds in the North-East corner. The tasks were rotated for maximum efficiency, and after 90 minutes' work, much mulch had been laid. A further task was arranged for next Saturday - Boxing Day - until the Tier 4 announcement later in the afternoon put a spade in the works. But we'll be back in 2021.

(Apologies to Emily who isn't in any of the photos!)

Once again GoodGym were in Russell Square to assist the square's Friends group in planting bulbs. After last night's rain, the ground was nice and soft for inserting the metal bulb-planting tool into. The earth thus removed could be replaced after the bulb had been planted. The best technique is initially to jump on the bulb-planter, ensuring a deep cut.

After more than an hour's hard work, the drizzle turned into proper rain, so we all sheltered in the cafe. As the downpour showed no signs of easing off, we returned only to fill in the holes already dug, but we'd achieved a lot in the time spent, and come spring the square will be brightened by blooming flowers.

Special thanks to the assistance of a mysterious grim-faced stranger who had eyes in the back of his head (see picture)...

Claudia, Richard, CJ, Ceiling, Lici and Geraldine joined the Friends of Russell Square community gardening volunteers for another crack at getting more daffodil bulbs planted so they can bloom in the spring. Last year's bulb-planting session was managed in a single day, but both weather and reduced volunteer numbers (thanks to the pandemic keeping students and local workers away) has meant the bulb-planting has had to be spread out over several weeks. Still, it was another lovely, social morning in the square, digging, planting, chatting and answering questions from curious passers-by, followed by lunch in the pub for those who lingered on. Community-making in action.

This Saturday, we ran, cycled and walked back to Russell Square to keep helping the Russell Square gardening volunteers with planting bulbs for the Spring. We tried to make a start on this about a month ago, but the ground was far too hard. This time, we'd had a lot of rain to make the task easier. A few people had to head off to another community mission in Islington, while the rest of us stuck around for longer (some staying for a social, but socially distant, lunch in the pub, courtesy of one of the local hotels which has been supporting the volunteering effort. We've made a dent in the 10,000 bulbs, but there are still more to plant, so stay tuned for another Saturday community mission at Russell Square next week.

Beth, Claudia and Lici joined the Russell Square community gardening volunteers for another spot of sowing grass seeds (aka feeding the very spoiled pigeons of Russell Square). GoodGym has been helping the local volunteers with weekly tasks since August, helping to rake away fallen leaves that have killed the grass, planting seeds and trying to plant bulbs. The weather may be getting cooler, but as always, the gardening session warmed our hearts - a great opportunity for people from different backgrounds to come together and do something for their local community.

There will be another bulb-planting session next week, so watch out for the community mission listing. There are 10,000 bulbs to plant and the ground is a lot softer than on the last attempt, thanks to the recent rain. One of the photos (courtesy of David) shows the bulbs planted by the volunteers last November, which bloomed during lockdown - something to look forward to as we head into winter again.

GoodGym is all about making communities and making a contribution to our local communities. And what better illustration than to discover that three GoodGym volunteers have all been neighbours in the same block of flats for years, and all members of the same GoodGym area, but had never met until doing a community mission together!

We had another great community mission at Russell Square this week, helping David and the other volunteers from the Friends of Russell Square community gardening group sow grass seeds where the leaves have created bare patches in the lawn. It was a wet, but not at all miserable morning as we raked, sowed, and patted down soil. As we set off for a post-mission coffee together, a flock of pigeons descended to dig up some of the seeds we'd planted. It's the circle of life in Central London!

Stay tuned for more planting next week.