We had one big challenge last night, as a community space which has been locked since before the pandemic has finally got the green light to be opened up again. Luckily we had a group of GGers willing to brave the impending rain, and we also got to welcome two new faces to the group. Give a big cheer to Jasmin and Isabel, who came along to their first session. Great to meet you!

After a warm up, we took the short run down to Doddington to check out the state of the space we were were to be working on that evening. We had helped local residents work hard to clear the garden in 2019 and open the area again for community use. Unfortunately it wasn't able to happen and has since become overgrown with vegetation. The outdoor furniture and play space have become dilapidated and dangerous.

A voluntary organisation, s.labs, is leading a project to bring this space back into community use this summer - and asked us to be involved! s.labs' mission is to deliver more social and sustainable spaces for everyday communities to thrive. They believe in spatial justice, but have a lot of work ahead of them to make the space usable again. Lydia, who volunteers for S.labs and is also a local resident, asked us to come down and tackle the first steps.

So without wasting any time we got started on the first job - litter picking. It didn't take long to collect several dozen bags full to the brim with trash, so we then moved on to sweeping away debris, pulling up weeds and cutting back brambles.

It was pretty amazing to see the big change that can happen in just an hour with so many pairs of eager hands and a playlist to keep us motivated! It's going to be really exciting to see the changes that are going to happen over the next few months - watch this space...

On the way back to base we stopped for four different fitness stations, each working on a different area. First it was planks for core, followed by wall sits for quads and glutes, then the finishers - toe taps for balance and cardio and the final hill sprint for strength and endurance! We were even treated to a beautiful rainbow at the end of the run as our reward.

Incredible effort from everybody! There are a few things to shout about coming up and I'd love to see you there. This Saturday morning we have a nice little mission helping to tame a small community garden. We also have our regular session helping deliver food for vulnerable people on Sunday. Next weekend we will be doing Clapham parkrun together - running or volunteering - followed by a coffee and optional task at the GG garden. Whether its helping local organisations, running or socializing, there is something for everybody coming up!

A group of GoodGymers met at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham to check in on the garden we look after at this lovely community theatre. Lots of veg had sprouted, with the rhubarb and tomatoes (admittedly both fruit!) doing particularly well. We did a lot of weeding, gave everything a thorough water and planted some rubber beans and wildflowers. All in an evenings work!

Another beautiful early summer's evening, another Monday task in a special community space! Tonight 12 of us met up to run to Christchurch school where we had a big job to tackle the overgrown brambles that are threatening to take over the pupils' secret garden.

We enjoyed a downhill run to the school, where, after retrieving the keys, we let ourselves in to the space. It's a special area which is well hidden, and has been an amazing resource for the primary school children who have learned about the environment, how to grow and then cook and eat the fruit and veg they grow.

Unfortunately the plants have made a bid to take over, so we quickly donned gloves, selected our tools of choice, and waged war. The massive bramble was carefully clipped and bagged, the sticky weeds was shown no mercy, and the weeds around the site were plucked and composted.

After a good stint we headed over to the park nearby for some sprinting games. Despite some very sketchy descriptions of the drills from me, we tested our reactions and turn of speed with some impressive results! After a coin toss based chasing game, we moved on to chase the hare, where Sophie showed some brilliant form as the hare and Dylan and the rest of the group displayed steely determination to chase her down! All that was left was a brief core challenge and run back to base.

Great effort and results tonight, well done everybody. Next week Step will be leading a community mission instead of our usual group run. You can choose to meet her at the BAC as usual to run to our task at the GoodGym garden, or meet the group directly at the task. the choice is yours, but you can sign up and find all the details here] (https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/planting-and-weeding).

It takes a special sort of person to give up their bank holiday Monday to help out a local community association, but that's exactly what eight GoodGymers did yesterday! What a bunch of holiday heroes.

A few of us met at our regular spot at the BAC. It had been pretty drizzly but we were optimistic the rain was going to stop....any minute. We should have known better - it was an English bank holiday after all!

We ran down to the Doddington Estate where we were met by an enthusiastic bunch of local people who had already made a head start. It was a bit like beautiful chaos, with a huge store room of donations needing to be sorted and laid out for people in the community to help themselves.

It didn't take long for us to get stuck in. Outside the team was folding and categorising all the clothes and toys, whilst inside the store room there was a lot of shifting and carrying to be done.

Despite the increasingly heavy rain there were plenty of passers by who were delighted to find just the right things ready for them to take home. Before long the place looked a lot more organised, but there was just one last job to do - and it was a big one!

We were tasked with moving the huge cooking station complete with many panes of glass right across the estate to the community centre. Luckily it was on wheels - well, at least it was to begin with. There were lots of bumps and pavements to contend with, and a couple of the wheels fell victim to the terrain. Still, we managed to make it there in one piece and with all glass intact. Amazing job!

Next week we're back to normal timing and we're off to de-bramble a local school. See you there!

There was a bit of a party vibe in Wandsworth tonight. What with recent birthdays past and more upcoming, Jordan bringing along loads of plants to get into the ground at the GoodGym garden, Kevin joining us for his first group run and a discussion about our favourite crisp flavours, there was definitely a feeling of celebration in the air!

After a warm up we headed off on the run to the garden. We have been working here for the past few months, gradually turning it from an overgrown and unused plot into a space which will hopefully produce lots of nice things for us to donate to the kids' program at the theatre.

After a couple of wins at our local pub quiz we had some funds to plough back into the garden, and we made the decision to buy some plants. So into the garden tonight went potatoes, courgettes and more seeds to join the rhubarb, tomatoes and fruit trees already in.

Everybody mucked in with the trench digging, watering and sowing and before long the jobs were done. There was just time to pop over to the square to knock out a tabata workout which featured plyometric movements, jumps and power lunges. Great work everybody. We were blown back to base by the growing wind and finished off the night with stretches.

Next week we have a special birthday social after the run, so let us know if you can make it for for 2 for 1 burgers and more fun! We also have a whatsapp group where a lot of the planning happens so if you haven't joined already and would like to then drop me a message and I'll send you a link.

If you're planning on heading to the marathon on Sunday GoodGym has a cheer squad that could always do with some extra energy! Next week we'll be at Paradise cooperative garden followed by our social. Hope to see you there!