No new runners tonight but returning to the fold, after a year or so away, we were happy to welcome back Angela for her second group run.

Just a short (but uphill) run to our task tonight as we returned to Sloane Court. This is a council run residential home for the over 55’s and resident Tony explained that due to cutbacks the large garden is somewhat neglected. Tony does his best to keep the weeds at bay but is always happy to have some Goodgym help.

Our last visit here was in May and as the weeks have passed the weeds have grown. We focussed on 3 main areas, with Team up front, Team out back & a crack patio team with barrow boy Martin clearing away the detritus.

After 30 minutes or so weed made a big difference and now I’m sure the residents will enjoy the garden a whole lot more. Tony was very grateful for our help as were 2 other residents who expressed their appreciation with thanks and a round of applause from their flat windows.

A lot of the residents in this block are house bound and the garden is their view on the world and I’m so glad we’ve made that view a little bit better.

Just time for a quick fitness session in nearby Queens Park where we partnered up and took on a running, squatting & press upping challenge before heading back to base for a cool down.

Good job guys, see you next week when we are back at the Community Kitchen.

Tonight we headed out along ‘The Highway’ to one of our favourite tasks The Bevy.

First we warmly welcomed Sarah, all the way from Hong Kong for her first Goodgym run and shared the ‘bad’ news that we weren’t gonna be on the tele after all due to a poorly cameraman. And then shared the ‘good’ news that we will be on the tele next week when we visit the Community kitchen!

On arrival at The Bevy Dave the gardener gave us a reminder of some of the reasons why The Bevy is such as amazing space. It’s a community owned pub that does what any good pub should and serves the community. That includes hosting groups such as Friday Friends for a weekly lunch, putting on talks from university academics at Brains at the Bevy and so much more. You can even go there for a pint!

Dave and Jonathan have been doing an amazing job of looking after the gardens, including creating a kitchen garden growing apples, sweetcorn., beans, raspberries, gooseberries, salad, herbs & so much more. Rikesh, Helena & Sarah did a great job of helping Dave in the kitchen garden weeding those hard to reach edges that Dave can’t manage on his own. Meanwhile the rest of the crew were helping Jonathan in the front garden where there is another hard to reach area that needed our attention. Frances, Michael, Sherman & Laura braving the raised bed with strict instructions not to fall off! Madeleine, Nipun & Scarlett tidied up the lower areas with a good sweep and some tender pruning of the planted boxes.

Dave & Jonathan as always were delighted with out work and Dave declared we’d done a month’s work in half an hour! Awesome stuff!

Well done to all on a long run and a job well done. See you all next week.