This session was a lovely excuse to engage in some nice peaceful gardening.

As a typical city dweller, it can be easy to overlook simple yet impactful acts of garden preservation such as weeding or socialising with people from diverse aspects of life. This mission offered the perfect excuse to do both by gifting us a loving and vibrant atmosphere where people could momentarily escape their hectic routines and dwell upon the peacefulness of reconnection with nature and other humans.

In the end, all we are, are creations of nature meant to connect while helping each other grow like a tall and magnificent sunflower.

On Wednesday evening we gathered at Charlton House, in an unusually negative spin for us at GoodGym - sharing our pet peeves. This evening we were joined by Sunaima and Lisa for their first group runs with us! WE ran to Prince Philip Maritime Collection Centre where Khursheed had a load of tasks for us, including weeding, watering, propping up a giant sunflower, giving the bug hotel a makeover and throwing some rubbish out. Jobs complete some of us ran and some of us walked back to base for a stretch.

Great work everyone!

On Saturday we have gardening at St Richard's and next Wednesday we're back for a Charlton House start to help with the garden at Hervey Road.

Until next time!

It was wonderful to see quite a few signed up, some last minute sign ups and easily persuaded GoodGymer's joining us at a brand new task in Deptfod.

We didn't really know what was in store for us but what we did find was an amazing community garden tucked away from the street. I'm not sure you'd know it was there unless you were in the know.

There was plenty of tasks for us to get stuck into and our hosts were very excited to have us there. Once we divided up tasks, we all got stuck in. There was the standard alkinet removal, digging up some plants, sweeping up leaves, clearing under some bushes and then last but not least, sitting on a yellow chair to fill the buckets with water.

That leads me to mentioning it was Mo's last group run before his move to Geneva. We celebrated with some swiss rolls! We'll miss you Mo and thank you for all your hard work. You've been a big part of the group!

One of those are edible and one of those is stinky but excellent for the plants!! A gaggle of GoodGymers went up and over the hills to meet us at Seniors, whilst those of us meeting at the task had a lovely chat with our hosts for the evening.

Once we'd arrived we set about assigning jobs for the evening, who wanted to dig, who wanted to rip up some comfrey leaves, who wanted to water and who wanted to tackle a delicate job of digging out some seedlings.

There's always a task for everyone and Monday evening was no different except at Senior's there always seems to be a last minute rush for the hosepipe or a last minute dash to make sure something is watered. On Monday we had to make sure the comfrey tea fertiliser was topped up with water so when we come back in September we can water over the plants and give them the goodness.

Tonight we were celebrating Darryl's birthday which meant cupcakes and a drink at the Blythe Hill Tavern for those not running back to Glass Mill.

Thanks to Paul for leading the group safely to Seniors whilst I'm still waiting on the sign off from the physio! Next week is a brand new task so sign up!!

A lovely Tuesday evening saw Rachel, Sarah, and Cecilia meeting in Woolwich for a short but cheerful run up to Glyndon Community Centre. Once there, we were greeted by Andy, who had a couple of satisfying tasks lined up for us. Armed with brushes, gloves, and plenty of enthusiasm, we got stuck into sweeping the car park and tackling the weeds in the garden area. Between chatting and catching up, we managed to fill four bags full of weeds and debris in just 30 minutes, leaving the space looking much tidier and more welcoming. With the job done and a quick team photo snapped, we said goodbye to Andy and set off on our run back down to Woolwich, a great end to a productive evening.

Coming up: This Saturday, we’re heading to Hervey Road for a gardening session. Next Wedensday, we’re back at St Alfege’s School for some more weeding.

Until next time!

Rachel