Today's group run started in a new location and a new time - 6:30pm in Finsbury Park. And, in fact, run leader Sarah decided there would be no run as it was still 31⁰ and we were in the middle of an amber heat warning ⚠️.

The first excitement came when a fire truck arrived to douse a smouldering tree stump next to where Sarah was waiting.

Gradually, Team GGH filtered in, clutching various homemade and makeshift eclipse-viewing apparatus. Not being of these isles, Sarah asked - "would you say this is Blue Peter?" Paul confirmed that yes, it was very Blue Peter. "Shame there's no badge though". "We could MAKE them!" Sarah suggested.

The park was full of other people, some of whom also had homemade devices. The group gradually moved around the park, chasing the best viewing angles to see the tiny pinhole (or colander) projections as they changed shape and the sky darkened - and was that the wind changing?

Once the eclipse had peaked it was time to make our way to the task - conveniently located close to the park. The aptly named Olive Tree House is a sheltered housing scheme with a garden dominated by a large olive tree.

No tools, no problem!

Unfortunately today's task owner had forgotten to drop off tools at the task - but as the team were already in a mood to improvise nothing could stop us. Utility knives were found, muscles were flexed and before long the bins in the bin store were full and there was a pile of black bags full of weeds and prunings at the side of the garden.

After some quick refreshments, it was time for our team to leave, with a promise to return to do even more.

Today's task owner was feeling a little under the weather, but heroically came up with an alternative plan for our group: giving the parklet on Gladstone Avenue a bit of TLC.

It was lovely to meet newcomer Henriana and also to welcome Jessie back from her travels in South America. Sarah selflessly handed her gardening gloves over to Henriana so she could pick up discarded dog poo bags while Sarah took photos for the run report.

Armed with two Veolia sweeper bags, the team quickly organised to put recycling (beer cans, energy drink bottles) in one bag and general waste (dog poo, dirty cardboard) in the other. "Why are we doing this when Veolia is going to collect it all as general waste?" Sarah mused. "Because I can take it home and put it in my bin" Dave said. Then Yann pointed out that he lived only a couple of if minutes' walk away and also had a recycling bin. Problem solved!

A lot of the litter tonight was in planters that sadly don't contain any plants or soil any more. Paul and Dave put their heads together and came up with a solution: attaching some mesh across the opening of one of the planters. Paul ran home for the mesh and screws, before making short work of attaching the mesh across the planter.

Finishing with loads of time to spare, Latoya suggested a round of Sallies to round off the evening. There was unanimous agreement to this suggestion from unsuspecting newcomers and seasoned Goodgymmers alike. Hazing ritual complete, Sarah declared tonight's task officially over.

On a very balmy evening Sarah met Yann and Dave at Blue House Yard, for a very gentle run to Harmony Gardens, where we met Paul, Ed and task owner Mike.

Mike explained our task was to give some very thirsty trees a big drink. He had already filled various bottles, watering cans and a giant Camelbak-style bottle and had them lined up in wheelbarrows and a rickety cart waiting to go.

So we proceeded around the Rec to various trees that needed a boost - serving doubles ) double watering cans that is) to each. We also got stuck in to mulching some of the trees with cardboard and woodchip.

About halfway through it was lovely to see Niamh who had turned up to Harmony Gardens but was guided across the Rec by our voices and our vibrant red t-shirts.

Our work done, some of us then visited the pond in Harmony Gardens to spot frogs and a rather magnificent dragonfly, before heading off to slake our own thirst.

We are back at Harmony Gardens next month - let's hope the drought breaks before then!

On this balmy evening Sarah arrived early at Blue House Yard, and started unwinding some bind weed that had taken over the bed we cleared in a previous task - sadly the people who promised to look after it had not done so. Yann was next to arrive, and it was nice to see him return and congratulate him on his tenth good deed.

Still early, new member Imantha was third to arrive. After a quick warm-up and briefing we were ready to go.

A 2.4km run took us to Abyssinia Court, a sheltered housing scheme run by Hornsey Housing Trust. We were met by Debz, who explained that the courtyards needed a bit of sprucing up ahead of an upcoming BBQ. So armed with gloves and bin bags today's heroes set to sweeping up leaves, picking up litter and pulling weeds out of the cracks in the paving. It was lovely to meet and chat with some of the residents too, who were very welcoming and offered cold drinks for our thirsty team.

Soon it was 8pm and we had filled four black bags. Debz showed us where to put the rubbish, and we scattered into the night.

Three GoodGymers came together to help tidy the gardens at Margaret Hill House.

It was wonderful to welcome Helen to her very first GoodGym session. Welcome to GoodGym, Helen! She worked really hard from the beginning. Dave also did a fantastic job, and together we cleared the garden, trimmed bushes and trees, cut the grass and collected garden waste.

We also enjoyed chatting with the staff and residents, including a lovely lady in her nineties. It was great to see everyone smiling and enjoying the evening together.

A special thank you to Dave for taking some old pieces of scaffolding home so they could be recycled instead of being thrown away. It was a great example of caring for the environment.

Thank you, Dave and Helen, for a wonderful evening. It was great teamwork, and I look forward to the next task! 🌿♻️

I really enjoyed volunteering at the Mulberry Tree Community Garden. I joined the session at around 10:30 and stayed until 12:00. I helped with weeding, cutting the grass and tidying up the garden. Although I had limited time, I was happy to contribute and work alongside the other volunteers. It was a great experience, and I hope to join again in the future. Thank you everyone!