Stairwell to Heaven

A December chill was no deterrent

It may have been a chilly night but that didn't deter 24 runners from setting out for two tasks tonight.

Yep, we were only due on one big decorating task at Oxford House, but I got a call from Catherine at Parkview this afternoon cheerfully checking we were "all good for this evening". Cue wide-eyed, head-scratching, panicked trainer.

But as always, Task Force came to the rescue and Leo led a team down to Parkview to help Catherine plant crocuses and cut out cardboard trees for this weekend's Winter fair.

In the meantime, I led the remaining runners to Oxford House, the beautiful community arts centre off Bethnal Green Road, where task owners Deborah and Jessica had prepared brilliantly the stairways ready for a big paint job.

It was all hands to the pump, as the team shuttled rollers, brushes, masking tape & paint trays between all 18 of us, getting stuck in in record time. They worked tirelessly getting the emulsion on those walls as quickly as they could, trying their hardest not to spill too much...

A toasty theatre for a tough tum workout

And then at 8 we all met in the toasty theatre for tonight's Cardio & Core session, where the runners whizzed through speedy plank leg sweeps, jumping single leg squats and the Pilates roll up-on-steroids.

An unreal evening's work, guys.

The messages following the tasks from truly appreciative task owners make for beautiful reading, "...they have done absolutely fantastic work", messaged Catherine by 8.15!

Thanks tonight, to Leo, and Kat, who brilliantly led the team to Parkview and back to Oxford House; to our photographers Leo, Kat, Steve, and Izzie, and to Joel for his usual brilliant pun.

A big warm welcome to Jo, who joined us from Exeter GG - what a treat! Lovely to see you Jo: thanks for being such an asset tonight, and we hope to see you very soon.

And hello and welcome to our first time runners, Johanna: thank you too, for being so hardworking, and for all the smiles, and we hope to see you really soon.

Next week, we're off to the Royal London

Yes, next week our very own Chi leads the crew to the Royal London where task owner Nancy, and the other Barts Volunteers have all manner of Christmas-y WARM, INDOOR tasks for you! Check it out here!

Until next time, have a brilliant week everyone: stay warm, stay smiling, stay wonderful.