Last night we tackled a mission at South Mitcham Community Association, to clear a large garden bed and prepare it for planting. With spotlights and all the right tools for the job we were in for a real treat as the rain held off and we got busy unearthing lots of weeds and roots, filling many bags, and salvaging a few potatoes! 🥔

With the bed cleared in just 30 minutes, the team took the initiative and set about tackling the rest of the garden area, then tidied up and went on our way. 

Most of us joined the group run back to base via the beautiful River Wandle. While it will undoubtedly be a stunning path in the spring and summer daylight, running it as a group at night provided an excellent fitness boost.

A big welcome to Ivo, on your first Merton task, and we hope to see you again soon. Well done team, we totally aced those spuds!

As ever, the regular volunteer day at the community garden was a hive of activity. We got stuck in loading wheelbarrows, mulching flower beds, digging over the compost and generally having a good workout in the mild weather. A mischief of mice, an armada (yes!) of newts and an inquisitive robin all livened up a very enjoyable session and meant we stayed well over the hour. We'll be back!

Tonight we headed to Raynes Park Station to assist FORPS with a monumental task: shifting two bags of topsoil for their planters, along with some essential pruning.

We knew the topsoil challenge was steep - on previous visits it took ten people who could access the platform to shift one bag, in 30 mins! Tonight, with half the hands on the platform and the rest of the team helping outside, we had our work cut out!

Challenge accepted. Everyone flew into action, carrying bucket after heavy bucket, while keeping to safety protocols (no running etc), and avoiding disruption to passengers disembarking. Despite a huge effort and an extra ten minutes, we had to concede defeat with a small amount of soil remaining.

A massive welcome to Alia who completed her first mission, we hope to see you again soon.

After helping pack up we headed to the pub to drown our sorrows knowing we gave that topsoil our best shot.

Great work, team! We may have been defeated by the soil, but we definitely won the battle for community spirit, marking our one-year anniversary with cake and celebrations.

What a great example of adaptability from the team tonight! We headed to the Tranquil garden at Mostyn gardens, originally tasked with painting the remaining planters. However, thanks to the day's heavy rain, we had to quickly switch gears and embrace some other jobs.

Fortunately, the rain stopped just as we arrived, leaving us with a clear (if very dark!) sky. So we got stuck in: - Digging a new bed and preparing for future bulb planting. - Clearing vines that has overgrown along the fence. - Weeding the woodchipped area, relying on torchlight to scan the space.

It was a productive and unique session that proved GoodGym can shine even in the darkest corners.

A huge well done to everyone for making the most of the unexpected change of plans and leaving Mostyn Gardens a little neater.

A fantastic effort by the team on our mission tonight, helping the Merton Garden Streets project get their flowers in order - literally! We successfully delivered packages of bulbs to addresses across three different areas (Raynes Park, South Wimbledon and Colliers Wood) showing splitting up can lead to a lot of blooming good.

Prioritizing safety, each team either walked, ran or cycled ensuring an energized evening of community effort, sowing the seeds for a brighter, more colorful spring for residents in Merton!