Ian, Hannah, Ruro, Shelley and Ingrid welcomed Jenna and Natasha for their first GoodGym session. Ruro's mum, a keen gardener, also joined us. It was a beautiful day at Coombe Wood Gardens and Pam welcomed us along with her group of volunteers.

We were split into groups to tackle the various tasks which included working in the vegetable garden to clear nettles, plant potatoes and install fencing to prevent deer eating the produce. In the main garden, a section of bedding was tidied up and mulched.

Pam then gave us an informative session on propagation including repotting Begonia seedlings, taking cuttings and sowing sunflowers.

Ruro, Shelley, Peter and Ingrid met volunteer Pam for our first visit to Coombe Wood Gardens. Pam gave us a tour of the gardens and showed us the impressive work done so far.

Our first job was to move wood chippings to create paths, we had to barrow the chippings up hill so it gave us a good workout and warmed us up as, although the sun was out, it was a bit chilly.

Next we cleared a bed where grasses had been cut down, filling large bags which we dragged down to the gate for green waste collection.

Our last job was to scrape the edges of the paths, sweeping up the dirt and leaves.

Finally we went to the cafe which is handily situated in the gardens and had a well earned coffee.

Ruro, Ian and Ingrid joined volunteers from East Croydon Community Organisation (ECCO) to tidy the raised beds on Addiscombe Road.

We met Jerry from ECCO who gave us our tasks for the evening, the main one being removing the ivy covering the beds by pulling and cutting with shears. We also picked up litter and finished by sweeping up the trimmings. In total there were 24 bags to be picked up by the council.

Ruro, Ros, Liz, Paul, Ian, Nikki and Ingrid braved a cold night for a community mission at Croydon Refugee Day Centre. We gathered at our usual meeting place and were delighted to see fellow GoodGymer Conroy and have a quick catch up.

After making our way to the centre, we were met by Simon who gave us our tasks for the evening. These included ensuring clothes were in the correct size order on the rails, were labelled and removing any summer clothing. The session ended with us moving all the rails into the storage room. This is more of a squeeze with each visit, we're not sure whether there are more rails or the room is getting smaller!

After saying our goodbyes to Simon, we made our way back to the meeting spot.