Flyering to find the root cause

A quieter week after an intense session at Bells Garden Community Centre last week. Yet, wherever the number of members that show up on a Wednesday evening, Sam knows they are keen and ready to take on anything...even two tasks in one evening?

As Sam arrived at Old Spike Roastery, Andres (the manager of Old Spike) hadn't finished packing up, so Sam had someone to talk to whilst he waited for GoodGymers to arrive. As the time ticked past 18:30, there were none to be seen. Yet, suddenly Nelly then Paulin and finally, Sophie arrived as the clocks were about to hit 18:45. Still, there was one other signed up and there was no sign of Liam. Sam franticly texted him to find out whether he was meeting us at the task or at the start. Luckily, Liam was prompted to respond "at the task". Thus, we were ready to warm-up after a very short speech from Sam due to the time constraints. Why were there time constraints? Well, Sam had accepted two tasks. The original task was to help out Thorlands with some evening gardening and the second task was to assist The Sisterhood of Arts flyer for their female-led pop-up market at Peckham Levels this Saturday. Too much to handle? Probably, but with GoodGym, we like to test our limits.

Sam ushered out Nelly, Paulin and Sophie out of Old Spike Roastery to warm up in the alleyway. A quick blast warm-up session was followed by distributing the flyers and asking the ice-breaker question of the night, which was: It was Employee Appreciation Day last Friday, what work perks/benefits do you enjoy at work or would like to have?

Paulin has a bowl of sweets at her office, which is currently filled with Creme Eggs. Sophie has a childcare centre in her office, so she often see babies and kids around. Nelly would like a birthday day off without using annual leave as a perk that her company doesn't have and Sam enjoys a team building night out every other month. At the task, Liam mentioned a decent spread and cost efficient canteen at Sky and finally, Emma the Vet spends her day cuddling animals and if that's not a perk itself I don't know what is! She also has wellness days.

---

Time management by the second

Our first road to flyer was just around the corner as Sam and Sophie covered one side of Relf Road and Nelly and Paulin the other side. Thinking that they could do another road, but realising that time was not on their side, they pressed on with the uphill run up Grove Road towards Denmark Hill and beyond pass King's College Hospital to Thorlands. The uphill part of the run was tackled with efficient running from all the runners as they took their time and had good breathing techniques! Super impressed by the progress.

Upon their arrival at Thorlands, they could hear Simon, Liam and Emma come out of the darkness towards the gates as they had already collected the tools we needed for tonight.

Once we were in the "Forest" garden, we continued where we left off last time and where the Saturday crew have been concentrating their efforts. Digging out roots and weeds by the wall where the "would be" yoga tent and "would be" wooden swings would go. Paulin and Sophie paired up to tackle that area with assistance from Liam when they had to cut down a tree. Liam concentrated on digging out the remaining roots along the wall and switching it up with the loppers to cut a tree stump further down. Emma and Nelly were determined to clear up another corner of the "Forest" garden. Their tasks were to clear the area of bricks, using a wheelbarrow to transport them to the playground mat. These bricks will either be thrown away on Saturday or used for the small kitchen oven Simon would like to install in the "Walled" garden. There was also a mixture of clearing ivy and litter picking as the elements, residents and foxes bring these unwanted rubbish in! It was a great effort for all members of the team tonight as we cleared three wheelbarrows of bricks and a wheelbarrow full of ivy, roots and other greens! 💪 🙌

Thirty minutes does flash by in a...flash! However, we were on a tight schedule to ensure we delivered the remaining flyers to as many flats and residents as possible. After bringing in the tools and taking a group photo, we were off into the night. Liam and Emma split off back to their respective homes whilst taking some flyers off Sam to flyer around their area. The rest of the team ran half of the way before flyering for exactly six minutes down Grove Road. There were still a few flyers at hand and Sam encouraged the team to flyer around their local area to "get rid of" the flyers.

We arrived with two minutes to spare (until the session officially ends), but Sam wanted to ensure Paulin and Nelly had a good stretch as Sophie ran off back home. The session did run slightly over, but there's always lessons to be learnt....you can't do two tasks in one night with limited volunteers! It felt rushed for everyone. We live and learn.

After the session tonight and upon writing this report, Sam realised it was Liam's 100th Good Deed! A missed opportunity to celebrate this amazing milestone. Liam has honestly been a massive help since he joined the taskforce and he is a true gentleman with the kindest of hearts. He has helped the communities around him and his willingness to get stuck in with any task that is thrown at him is applaudable. Yet, his biggest task is yet to come (hopefully) within the next few weeks. We wish him all the best with fatherhood and when he is ready to come back to GoodGym, we will welcome him back!

---

Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night for the uphill challenge of doing two tasks in one night! Firstly, to squeeze in flyering Relf Road before running uphill towards Thorlands. Luckily, at Thorlands, the tasks were light compared to the previous three weeks. Yet, when you thought there couldn't be more, we flyered along Grove Park on the way back. Thank you!

---

Thank You Simon (Thorland Gardens) and Holly (The Sisterhood of Arts)

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon for opening up Thorlands to us on a dark Wednesday evening for a spot of light gardening. Also, to Holly for dropping off the flyers to my flat, so that we could spread the word about her organisation's pop-up market this weekend! Hope it goes well!