Last night’s GoodGym Wandsworth session kicked things off by welcoming Dominic to his very first session—great to have you with us, Dom! After a quick intro and a warm-up to get everything moving, we fired up our muscles and then our brains with a quiz question: which country drinks the most coffee per capita? A deceptively tricky one this week!

Then it was time to head out, jogging down to St Mary’s School where Isa was waiting to guide us to the nursery garden. School resources are tight, so the work we do here helps free up the caretaker to focus on other essential jobs around the school. And as we arrived, it was clear there was plenty to get stuck into.

The team didn’t hang about. Hannah, Sophie and Matthew took on the challenge of wrangling the old netting, carefully bringing it down ready for replacement. Dom did a fine job putting up the new netting like a pro. Nearby, Letizia and Felix turned their attention to the benches and raised beds, creating a work of art with a fresh coat of yellow and green paint.

Jo and Beth gave Mary a makeover, while Steph, Annabel, Ali and Caroline tackled a serious weeding task, which really made a difference. Everywhere you looked, people were grafting, chatting, and transforming the space bit by bit. By the end, the garden looked so much tidier and more welcoming. But the night wasn’t over just yet!

We made the most of the lovely outdoor space to squeeze in a fitness session—the “3-minute mountain leg challenge.” No hills? No problem. This session is designed to replicate the strength and endurance demands of hill running: three minutes per leg, split between one-legged step-ups and reverse lunges on the same leg. It’s tough, a little bit wobbly at times, but brilliant for building single-leg strength, stability and injury resilience—everything you need to power up real hills when they do appear.

After some determined efforts and some burning quads), we ran back to base for a well-earned stretch.

Next week’s task is still being confirmed, so keep an eye on [this space…] ( but we do know there will be a pizza social afterwards! Let us know if you’re coming so we can book enough space for some lovely carb loading!

Same time next week!

There was unmistakably feeling of spring in the air last night—lighter evenings, a hint of warmth and a lovely sense of collective optimism. It could only mean a Wednesday group run in Hounslow!

We headed to one of our regular spots, Strand-on-the-Green School, ready to get stuck into a two part task. Paintbrushes in hand, the first team took on the first section of wall. However, there was some consternation about the colour—was it definitely meant to be yellow… or was it supposed to be white? Coverage had to be committed, and before long the wall was getting a proper glow-up.

Team two tackled the other side—pulling, trimming, and liberating the wall from a determined tangle of greenery. There was impressive teamwork, serious progress, and… quite a lot of sneezing. Turns out ivy removal comes with a side of dust clouds, but that didn’t slow anyone down.

As the session progressed there was singing, there were tales of St Paddy's day escapades, there was the satisfying sight of filled bags being lined up, and there was definitely no incident whatsoever involving a paint tin of water. Absolutely none worth mentioning.

By the end, we had a semi transformed space and a skip full of ivy cuttings. Great work everybody. We'll be back on the 1st April to finish up the job.

There’s plenty more to look forward to:

🌱 A mission this weekend at the Eyot ⛪ Gardening at Hope Church—can you make it? 🌼 And next week we're planting cowslips on Turnham Green, plus some fun, longer fitness