Laying wood chip? We needed no encourage-mint!

It was so great to see some old and new faces to Wandsworth as well as some from other areas too - everybody is welcome at our group runs and always will be - the more the merrier!

We started off the night in a very good mood as it was finally still light as we met. Roll on Spring! So with a little extra energy we did our warm up, and, in celebration of returning to Paradise Community Garden for our task, named our favourite green spaces in London. Pretty much all the main parks got an honourable mention, but there were a few new ones on me, including Cannizaro Park in Wimbledon. Must give it a visit!

Without too much delay we set off for Paradise, an amazing hidden away space near Wandsworth prison that has been transformed from derelict ground into a thriving garden for local people and those visiting the prison. It was so great to be back as this used to be a regular task for us, but one we haven't been to since before the pandemic.

We arrived to find Ciaran, Head of Community Development, waiting for us with jobs and tools, and we wasted no time getting stuck in. While one group started weeding a 'no dig bed' so as not to disturb the sleeping worms, the other group was tasked with spreading the wood chip in the children's learning area. This was no ordinary wood chip however, as it had been mixed with eucalyptus and smelled absolutely incredible!

Minty fresh and de-weeded, we headed over to Wandsworth Common to do our fitness session. The original idea was a squat challenge with 3 X 10 sets of squats, and working down the reps to 1 each round. After a bit of negotiating it was slightly downgraded, but we still ended up doing (thanks to Sophie's impressive mental arithmetic) 103 squats in total. Glutes of steel, here we come!

We now have a weekly Friday lunchtime mission at a local centre for the homeless helping serve hot food, check out the details here, and sessions throughout the week sorting donations for the Ukraine, sign up here.

Have a lovely week everybody, and, as always, run happy!