Winter is coming. There was definitely an autumnal feeling in the air as four Good Gymers convened at Charlton House for Wednesday’s group run. Tonight, we welcomed a guest in the form of Steph from our Ealing Chapter. Welcome Steph, we hope you enjoyed the task tonight.

The task tonight took us to Charlton Manor Primary School, and after a gentle jog through Charlton park in glorious sunshine, we arrived at the school to be met by the amazing Joe, one of the teachers at the school, who now has the responsibility for looking after the garden. The school used to have a full-time gardener but this is no longer the case and sadly their lovely garden has fallen into some disrepair. The task had been set to be painting benches but the afternoon’s rain had put paid to that so we were directed to the raised beds to attack the weeds. The beds were certainly overrun with all sorts of undesirable growths, but many hands make light work and soon the beds were looking a lot clearer and it was time for the short run in the cold back to Charlton house. We can certainly see now the improvements that two Good Gym visits have made at the school and with a few more trips I’m sure we’ll have the garden looking back to its best.

Next week we’re back at the gardens outside Trinity Hospice and there will be fun down by the river for anyone who wants to join us.

It was back the Hervey Road today for lots of lovely Good Gymers, where a garden and wildflower area is slowly being created alongside the sports fields. The sun was threatening to come out but earlier rains had softened the ground from concrete-like (our last mission there) to quite soft, and there were new jobs to be done.

Today the team broadly split into two, with one group diligently removing the thistles and other weeds, and the other uncovering the old path, which had become quite overgrown, and laying down new chippings. Many thistles were found including some extremely large specimens and multiple bags were soon full of these pesky weeds. The pathfinding was slower, with care needed to ensure that we didn’t go beyond what could be covered with new bark but, despite this, around 10 metres was refreshed and the new path almost followed the route of the old one.

All that remained after that was some very fine weeding to separate the last few unwanted plants from a dense area of more valuable ones before a chat with Annie and Richard, the wonderful organisers, after which we left the garden with it looking mush refreshed

After meeting in Hornfair Park we had a sunny, chatty run to Mycenae House to join the regular Friends group that maintains the garden and woodland for the local community to enjoy.

We split up to help with several tasks: Three grabbed shears and went to 'mow' the wildflower meadow, leaving the cuttings in place to seed the area. A duo did battle with brambles and green alkanet. Two lopped low branches off trees and added them to the dead hedge fencing protecting the wildlife area. We rounded off the morning with coffee and cakes at a nearby cafe. The perfect blend of running, volunteering and great company!

Good job team! On Wednesday we're joining forces with Camden - this will be a great session so join us if you can.

Until next time!

Everyone loves a new venue for a Goodgym adventure, and tonight's did not disappoint. Wednesday 17th July gave us a balmy summer evening for 7 GoodGym-ers to met outside Charlton House to share childhood memories and a few warm up games before a short run to Charlton Manor Primary School.

We were shown to the beautiful Secret Garden at the school, which has recently lost its gardener so needs a few extra hands on deck to get the weeds under control and the growing areas ready for the children to start planting flowers and crops. Much digging and cutting down of unwanted vegetation ensued, being careful to avoid the good stuff like potatoes, leeks & wildflowers. We were joined by the chickens from the school's coop who had a great time pecking around for worms, along with several villages of snails. Before long we'd run out of space in the huge bin we were using for what we cleared and it was time to jog back to Charlton House for some cool down stretches.

There's still lots of work to be done, so we'll be back to this lovely hidden garden with its beehives, chatty chickens, fruit trees and so much else.

Next week we're at Glyndon Community Centre. Thanks all & see you soon!