I visited Mrs. J's home around 11 and had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with this lovely person. I promptly began working on the front garden, accompanied by the beautiful Pink Floyd tunes coming from her house. I trimmed the bushes, removed dead branches and weeds, and picked up small bits of trash that had blown into the garden. After sweeping and cleaning, I was pleased to see that the front yard was looking better. But above all, Mrs. J seemed happy about the work I had done in two hours. I took great pleasure in being able to assist her, even though it was not much.

I didn't have time to work on the backyard, but I look forward to doing it if another opportunity arises.

Ms R needed a chair moved so she can have a new recliner delivered.

We got straight to work moving the chair from Ms R's home and into a neighbour's flat who kindly offered to store it for her.

Then Ms R's daughter asked if we could change the time on a clock for her as she could not reach it. Ramon being the one with the height advantage was able to get this done.

We then moved some other boxes into storage spaces in another room and disposed of what was not needed anymore just to ensure there was enough space for the new delivery.

Ms R and her daughter was happy for our service and was looking forward to getting the new recliner delivered.

Seven Goodgymmers met for a good forking and nattering session at Tottenham Green on a lovely mild Spring evening.

Rake It Until You Make It

We had been invited to Tottenham Green to lend them a hand with the by now mythical renovations to the Nursery building that the Friends Group has been patiently waiting for going on... erm.. an eternity.

Alas, it wasn't to be this time either but lucky for us, Laura from the Friend's Group always has a plethora of jobs to complete. Tonight we were entrusted with turning over and transporting two big piles of compost (which we had helped create last year!) over to one of the flowerbeds at the edge of the Green, and also move an awful lot of sticks into a more manageable stick pile in the composting area of the Nursery.

With no time to waste, our Goodgymmers literally dug into the evening, armed with forks, spades, and in one particular case (hi Clare), one of our Goodgymmers embraced her inner ursine nature and attacked the pile with some bear claws, thus providing the unspoken third and most important option to the whole 'Man v Bear in the woods' discussion du jour - Be The Bear! #WomanPower #SmashThePatriarchy But also, #MenDoBetter

Anyway, we worked swiftly and efficiently, finding time to catch up with our lives, bother Charlie asking him to identify every little insect and bug we found, put Julie in a bin, and make plans for a social when our Alex is back from Glasgow for a bit. 

Before you knew it, our self-appointed time-keeping martinet Nurjehan was tapping her foot and banging on about it being 8pm so we said our goodbyes, but not without giving Laura a hand and taking some selfies.

As a I said, a lovely Spring evening

Join us next week as we help the folk at Moselle Meadow create a natural pond!

8 Goodgymmers dug deep as they helped the wonderful folk at Wolves Lane to transport a mountainous amount of soil from one side of the Centre to the other under a wonderful dusk sky.

A Barrel Of Laughter

It was party preparation Wolves Lane-style as we were tasked with moving a large mound of soil into tonne bags and some foundational beds in order to free up the track for easy access to the site. A straightforward mission for our team, who immediately armed themselves with spades, wheelbarrows, and pallet trucks and got on with the job at hand.

Gramps' mum, a veteran of Goodgym tasks, was in full Colombian whinge mood and her utterances in Spanish as she looked for opportunities to sit down were a constant source of entertainment. She even managed to rope in our resident Doctor Niamh for a mid-task massage.

In the meantime, you can't take Julie and Gramps anywhere without the two of them trying to put people in bags or bins, and there was some performative bag-posing worth of the Met Gala and an abortive attempt to ride the pallet truck - after a thorough risk assessment, mind.

The team worked tirelessly and by the time we reached Nurjehan o'clock, we were pretty pleased with our progress. We dust ourselves off and headed out into the sunset but not before making the time for some selfies and high fives.

Particular thanks to Dave for the fantastic timelapse vid!

A classic Goodgym Haringey night <3

Join us next week as we visit Tottenham Green for a multitude of tasks.

Five Goodgymmers rolled up their sleeves and pulled up a multitude of weeds from the playground at Chapmans Green on this stormy May Day.

The Famous Five Go Playing

We met Alex from the Friends group at Chapmans Green who had a few options of tasks for us. Needless to say, as soon as we heard the rubber mulch at the playground needed a bit of maintenance, we jumped and grabbed onto that task with greedy hunger.

We hopscotched our way into the playground and before you could say Fireman Pole, we were on all fours. Weeds were coming through the mulchy membrane - a situation that if not dealt with regularly will affect the integrity of the fall-breaking material - and no sooner had Alex given us some tools than we were right into the swing of things.

We merry-go-rounded our way through the whole playground, pulling up weeds and chewing the fat until Gramps seesaw what the time was and called an end to the proceedings. Proving he's no longer a Spring Horse, Gramps ungracefully clambered up the playhouse to join Clare and Charlie, while Nurjehan and Veronika opted for a more grounded approach for our group photo.

Alex offered us a tour of the meadow to finish the session but we had to leave before an untimely slide into disrepute as Nurjehan had started to shout at everyone about the size of her hole as we inspected the progress on the orchard - cf. here.

On that note, we all left, making our way home before the torrential thunderstorm. 

Come next week for not one but two different tasks: Tuesday is back to nursery at Tottenham Green and Wednesday it's party time at Wolves Lane. Fun!

#MayDay #UpTheWorkers #Solidarity #NothingToLoseButOurChains  

Seven Goodgymmers enjoyed a peaceful night of shovelling manure and wood chippings at the wonderfully tranquil Meadow Orchard in Crouch End.

When Push Comes To Shovel

After a whole day dominated by a sky that augured imminent downpours, it was in the end a lovely, sunny evening at the Meadow Orchard as our Goodgymmers assembled for an evening of tasks.

It was amazing to see Queen Khan make her glorious return after conveniently finding an excuse to spend a few weeks in bed during the cold months of winter - but we'll forgive her because she wasted no time in getting into the flow of things (much to Gramps and Niamh's chagrin who were terrified to stymie her recovery). Welcome back and all that!

Nurj, Niamh, Dave, Sam, Julie, and Charlie wasted no time in attacking a massive pile of wood chippings that had been left for the Orchard in the car park outside. Armed with shovels, plastic containers, and wheelbarrows, our Goodgymmers began transporting the chippings into site and spreading it in a variety of beds and storage piles. Our busy bees buzzed and like a well oiled machine, the pile grew smaller and smaller by the minute. So much so, in fact, that Katie from the Friends group took a splinter squad to help move a massive bag of manure into the beds as well. Sam and Julie shovelled it into place in no time.

We even had time to explore the site a bit, take pictures of tadpoles, imbibe some freshly brewed cuppas, almost break a hammock, and take some selfies in the glorious crepuscular light. All in an hour's work. Boom.

Chapmans Green has requested our help looking after some new plants and the by-now named Goodgym bed so we're going there next week - you should come!