Three chips off the old Goodgym block made their way to St Mary’s Church in Walthamstow Village this evening to help replenish the woodchip pathways through the churchyard, easing accessibility and enhancing the aesthetics. Our task was relatively simple – shovel up the heap of woodchip that had been dumped outside the church and relocate it to the pathway. We made pretty short work of it, and managed to get finished just before the rain started. Before getting stuck in, we had a brief chat with the lovely Reverend Vanessa, who seemed delighted to have us there. Hopefully Tim, chief gardener at St Mary’s, will be just as delighted when he gets to work in the morning to find that – as if by magic - the heap of woodchip has disappeared! Look out for another St Mary’s gardening task in September, and come and join us for some fresh air, exercise and community!

Four enthusiastic Goodgymmers met at St Mary’s Churchyard in Walthamstow to give Tim the gardener a helping hand with some out-of-control undergrowth, which has been taking over the pathways around the church. Armed with shears and secateurs we got to work cutting back the offending brambles, cow parsley and grasses. The sun shone and many hands made light work. Before we knew it, we’d filled a ginormous rubbish bag with cuttings, and the path looked twice as wide as when we started! The Battle of the Bushes is an ongoing challenge for Tim, and he’s looking for as much help as he can get, so GGWF can look forward to spending some more happy summer evenings at St Mary’s over the coming weeks. Watch this space for more tasks! Enormous thanks to those who participated today, and a special “merci” to Elise, who was participating in her very first GG mission.

✅ Another path done

Kath, Claire and Kat were at St Mary’s church this week helping shovel wood chip and wheeling it over to lay down a new path in the graveyard.

Well done to everyone who came along on a cold night! It looks like the wires have crossed and the goodgymmers and Tim the gardener didn't find each other to complete the mission. Good to get out in fresh air on Wednesday night anyway;)

Six chips off the old Goodgym block (Charlotte, Kat, Kathryn, Matt, Nerys and Sarah) braved the weather to lay some woodchip path in the churchyard at Saint Mary's, Walthamstow. Despite all six being headtorchless, the team energy was strong and the spirits were high as we shovelled and moved barrowloads of woodchip on a cold, dark, soggy night! Many hands definitely made swift work and the job was done in no time at all. Very well done to all who turned out on such a wild and woolly evening, and a particularly big Goodgym welcome to Kathryn, who joined us for the first time!

Tonight’s BadGym Halloween task at St. Mary’s churchyard was attended by Rosalind, Charlotte, and *Hell-en. Area activator Julia was not able to attend unfortunately, because she’s been *coffin’ (get well soon, and have plenty of iBOOprofen).

So, it was just the three of us basic witches. We, naturally, ran to the task under the cover of darkness.

On arrival, we located the bag of treats (secateurs), and tricks (chainsaw, bloody axe 🪓, the usual). After some tomfoolery, resulting in the near decapitation of yours truly, we set about the business of the task at hand. We remained surprisingly sanguine🩸 and, creeping it real, we diligently attacked the ivy in the churchyard, which had become frightfully overgrown. Do not take us for ghouls, we came well prepared with head torches and gloves. *Reader, it was an absolute massacre. *

Make no mistake, this was no task for arachnophobes. Several particularly hairy specimens were lying in wait for us in the shadows.🕷

We had some lovely thanks from the people at the church, where a service was going on in the welcome centre, so that was a real BOOOOn.

And, with that, after a village jog, we scattered into the night. *An absolute thriller. *

Until next time: Moooo hahahahaha.

Report by Helen 🧟‍♀️Scare👻brother-Naylor