*5 Goodgymmers cut it close as they hustled to complete the evening's task in time to make it home to watch the Three Lions semi-final tonight. *

It's Coming Home

Busy summer days mean smaller, ninja teams for GGHaringey but we didn't let that stop us from tackling a big task tonight. We were lending a hand to Haringey Council as they get on with their annual basal growth removal programme.

We concentrated on trees in the Noel Park Estate and our Goodgymmers were fantastic. Efficiently and methodical the moved through the road swiftly, as people who were in a rush to get to the pub for the footy.

We had to take a couple of breaks as the suckers on the trees we were removing were covered in dust, causing a bit of grief to a couple of hay feverish Goodgymmers. Nevertheless, we persisted and before you knew, we had completed one of the very long avenues in the Noel Park Estate. WE didn't finish as early as Euclides had promised, our Goodgymmers punished him by adding him to one of the big piles of detritus we collected. Standard.

Fun times!

Eight Goodgymmers suffered under the heat but did not wilt as they lent a hand at Chapmans Green for a spot of reclaiming the walking path from the always overenthusiastic North London nature.

GGH High Five

It'd be remiss not to congratulate and commiserate all Haringey Goodgymmers in equal measure as they united to observe in forbearance the fifth anniversary of their attempts to rescue a semblance of competence and triumph from the jaws of inefficiency under the rule of the rather tattered and blundering Gramps. Well done to all of them for putting up with me for this long. Truly a testament to the strength and endurance of human nature! <3

Onto the task at hand. Because Gramps is fond of things like this, he had arranged tonight's task at Chapmans Green, where he had led his first ever GGH task five years ago, and Rob from the Friends Group did not disappoint.

The Green has exploded with the warm, moist weather and the walking paths have been devoured by a multitude of weeds. Rob walked us through what should be saved and what should be pulled and before you knew it, our Goodgymmers had jumped into action.

It was a very warm evening, though thankfully the burning sunshine had eased a tad. Nevertheless, it was a sweaty and tiring affair. .

We pulled thistles and other weeds to our hearts content while we had a good natter. Beautiful timelapse of the action courtesy of Super Dave here.

With around 10 mins to go, Nurjehan abused her position as the appointed GGH timekeeper and tricked Gramps into an early finish with the pretexts of giving the team a rest from the heat, but it was instead so they could ambush Gramps with cards, sweets, and sashes - punishment by showering him with love and attention knowing full well he can't cope with it. They know him just too well. <3

We then made time for selfies and hugs, and made plans for our forthcoming BBQ this weekend. Boom.

*Are pork chops ok for vegans? *

On a sunny Wednesday evening, five of GoodGym's top-notch garment gurus swooped in to assist Traid with their epic stock changeover. We couldn't help but wonder why pulling clothes off hangers and chucking them into huge boxes was way more enjoyable than the reverse process. This revelation probably explains the chaotic state of some GoodGymers' wardrobes! With our illustrious leader out of action (get well soon, Euclides :)), Julie stepped in to showcase the finest finds from the racks, some of which were more racy than race-y. The sheer volume of stock to be sorted meant we worked hard to wrap things up within the designated hour. However, not wanting to leave a task unfinished (my personal nightmare!), we powered through and wrapped up 10 minutes late. Apologies to Nurjerhan, our Official GoodGym Timekeeper!

8 Goodgymmers pushed the envelope as they implemented a paradigm (and compost) shift at the Harmony Gardens for an evening of blue sky thinking and wheelbarrowing.

Deliverable Goals and Low Hanging Fruit

Mike from the Friends of Harmony Gardens reached out to Mr Corporate Goodgym Gramps with an eleverator pitch for a game changer of a session, helping to transport a mountain of compost to the kid's garden at the site to rehabilitate an elliptical path for children to access the gardens.

Mr Corporate Goodgym Gramps evaluated whether we had enough bandwidth for such a task, and once he ensured enough buy-in from our talent pool, he committed our tribe to the job.

Working in perfect synergy of invested stakeholders and proactive actors, the evening got off to a flying start. We drilled down on a complex pile of compost and proceeded with a multi-layered transference strategy. Getting all our ducks in a row, we put our heads down and really took a deep dive into the task at hand.

We even had to time to unpack some personal conundrums, including the merits of bird watching, the scrumping of under-ripe apples, and some family dynamics catch 22s. But we had to put a pin on that as before we knew it, Nurjehan was telling us it was squeaky bum time so it was all hands on deck.

We circled back on discussions for future activities with Mike, and agreed to a few more visits going forward. We then came to a hard stop, but not before we scheduled some time for a photography sesh.

A wonderful evening where our core competencies were the stars.

Today's wordsmithing-lacking report is courtesy of Sarah who suggested a corporate-themed report title.

I feel a little queasy after all that jargon so I'll stop here because I feel like I need a sick bucket now.

Seven Goodgymmers journeyed deep into the heart of darkness as they battled with the temperate jungle that had taken over the Westbury Banks Nature Reserve.

Watch It Bring You To Your N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-nees. Knees!

It was a 'welcome to the jungle/ we got fun and games/ we got everything you want, honey/ we know the names' kind of evening for our Goodgymmer tonight as they put pedal to the metal and partook in some heavy-duty gardening at the Westbury Banks Nature Reserve.

Let's call a spade a spade, that was a hard task. The Reserve has found itself without a lot of attention over the last few months, and it showed as the site was overgrown to such an extent that we had to start strimming from the gate to create a way into the tool shed! It turns out you leave nature alone and it explodes.... who knew!

Our Goodgymmers were undeterred and on they ploughed like total badasses, with Nasser in his sophomore task leading the way blazing a trail for the rest of us with his trusty strimmer.

Not far behind, Julie armed herself with a hedge trimmer and attacked the overgrown fields of stinging nettles with gusto, while Nurjehan and Niamh, armed with loopers, gave the taller trees a trim. Ed and Clare in the meantime, cleared Amazonic levels of foliage and debris and made sure it was all composted nicely at the back of the Reserve. Our hour came and went before you knew it, so we tidied the tools away, took some selfies, and made our way home, the stinging of the nettles burning strong on our naked legs. Definitely a win for the Hardcore Crew! 

New task next week - Come!!!