Meeting by the FGS HQ entrance, we ran through a few stretches this morning, before heading out to today’s task.

Working with Lambeth-and-Southwark-based Get Rid of and Donate, today saw us sorting donated toys and books for local schools and families.

But first the run.

Matt was tasked with route navigation again, and he led a brilliant run (barely any traffic, and some picturesque streets and squares en route).

On arrival at our task location, we were welcomed into a warm hall…

Draper Hall, located in the heart of Elephant and Castle, was very kindly hosting this activity, with task owner Jayne setting up trestle tables with clear signage for ages vs donated items ahead of our arrival.

The task at first glance seemed enormous, but the team nonetheless wasted no time grabbing spreadsheets, bags, labels, and bundles of book-and-toy know-how, left by Andrea from Get Rid of and Donate.

Moving from bag to bag, table to table, working across six schools and multiple families, we assessed who would like what, from the colourful, fun and interesting range of items of available.

From Harry Potter to Pokemon rucksacks; WiiFits to My Little Pony, we aimed to combine lively reading material with fun and exciting toys.

The time sped by – a little bit too speedily. Two hours in, with 5 of the 6 schools completed, the team started to pack away remaining donated items, bin any rubbish, and stack everything neatly and carefully for Andrea to collect.

With the runners expertly led back to base by Matt, we concluded it had been a productive and interesting morning. Well done to the whole team (and a big thank you to Southwark Area Activator Sam for co-ordinating this task).

Until next time.

We gathered outside the FGS offices for today’s warm-up, ready for our task in Draper Hall.

What is Draper Hall?

Draper Hall is a charity in the heart of Elephant & Castle bringing arts, culture, fitness, warmth and hospitality to the Draper Estate and surrounding area. The charity’s aim is to, ‘join together through a collective effort, to provide what the community needs.’

The Centre runs after-school clubs, Stay Warm hubs, exercise classes and room-hire.

Run by Sandy and Chalice, this hive of activity is continually busy, so a few pairs of hands to help with a couple of big clearing tasks today proved very timely.

After a decent-length run, expertly navigated and paced by Matt, we arrived at the centre, glad to be given the opportunity to catch our breath as we waited for the walking group.

At shortly after 2, we were ready to be briefed by Sandy in the warm Draper office.

Four fantastic tasks...

We initially started with four tasks: one team on shed clearing, another on boiler room clearing; a team dispatched to nearby Sherston House for cupboard clearing, and Ashik on locker-code-unscrambling (as it sounds).

As always, the team’s pace was phenomenal. And this task didn’t just involve lots of physical activity: the team had to dedicate a lot of brain power figuring out best use of space; what should be kept, what needed to go, in order to make optimum use of these precious storage areas for the Hall and the community groups who use them.

And yes, the time flew!

At 3pm, teams still had to load items back in the shed and commence the big clean-up effort. But we got there, thanks to their speed and fantastic project management by Sandy.

At shortly before 3:30 we were posing for a final picture in the pretty garden, joined by Chalice who’d popped in to see how we were getting on (and who’d created game-changing task sheets in preparation for today).

We headed back to the office, in two teams once again, promising to return in the not-too-distant future.

A brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable effort.

...And not forgetting a huge cheer for Southwark Area Activator Sam, who arranged the task and put us in touch with Sandy and Chalice. (Keep an eye out for future tasks at Draper Hall…).

Until next time.

The rain was setting well and truly in on my arrival to FGS HQ this morning. But grey skies and downpours were no match for the team, who arrived promptly at 11:30, and gathered for a briefing on today's task.

We were headed to Borough Cooperative on nearby Borough High Street.

A volunteer-operated Food Hub that works to tackle food insecurity and food waste in South London, Borough Food Cooperative has been offering subsidized groceries to the local community since October 2020.

The support and commitment they receive from volunteers enables the Food Hub to offer multiple sessions to members over the course of the week.

The route to the task...

Today's run to the task was expertly led by Matt, who decided the 1km direct route to the task was probably insufficient for our fitness needs, and so we took a 'little' detour via Tabard Gardens where we 'enjoyed' some single-leg squats and other balance moves, along with a few sprints around the football pitch, before making our way to the task.

Types of lettuce

We were greeted by Brian, who took us into the adjoining hall to sort through crates of fresh vegetables. This involved stripping dead leaves, and removing any of the more tired-looking additions from the crates.

The variety of vegetables was vast, with every lettuce from romaine to red lettuce (we're not sure of its exact name), kale, sprouts, chard, fennel and a lot of carrots.

As usual, the team whizzed through the activity, and it wasn't long before we were sweeping up discarded leaves and awaiting our next task.

Brian divided us into two teams, effectively an indoor and outdoor crew.

Tom was tasked with project-managing the garden clean-up, which saw this dedicated group blitz the front garden of weeds and debris in the short space of time we had left. Filling three large rubbish bags, it was wet and muddy work, but nonetheless one that produced some decent before and after pics.

The indoor team, meanwhile, busied themselves sorting through the last few crates of veg, and sweeping the shop floor area.

The time flew by and it was hard to believe we'd been at the Coop an hour and a quarter as we proceeded to pose for our final picture.

A task to remember

It was a magnificent effort, with not only bundles achieved in terms of produce-sorting and gardening, but the interactions we enjoyed with Coop staff and members really made it a lunch hour to remember.

We strolled back through Borough's bustling streets, with the team heading off to enjoy a well-deserved bite to eat.

A big shout-out to everyone, especially to Matt for heading up a great run; to Craig and David, whose first GoodGym this was, and who did fantastically.

And lastly, a shout-out to GoodGym Southwark's Area Activator Sam, who introduced us to the Borough Cooperative, and organised today's task.

Great work.

Until next time.

We gathered outside FGS HQ at 10am for a pre-task briefing. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, spirits were high…

We set off through Bermondsey and Southwark’s sunny streets at a leisurely pace, which became more leisurely as the 2.4km walk went on (it was a bit hot to run) as I grappled with Google’s chosen route. Thankfully Matt stepped in and after negotiating the busy Bricklayers Arms, we found quieter, greener streets, closer to our location of Burgess Park.

What were we doing today?

We were off to meet to Frankie of Friends of Burgess Park for a litter-pick.

The Friends of Burgess Park are a group whose aim is to help protect, promote and enhance this gorgeous inner city park. As regular users of the park they observe park management and maintenance; support events, and encourage new visitors.

Why were we doing this?

The parks’ team do a fantastic job of tending to the gardens, and the whole of the park’s green space.

Despite the team undertaking daily litter-picks of high volumes of rubbish, there are nonetheless bits that get left behind, including small items of plastic, latex (party balloons), and beer bottle tops, particularly at this time of year. While these don’t pose such an issue as the larger items, they can nonetheless prove problematic if they’re sharp, as well as being less than ideal material for birds building nests.

The Friends of Burgess Park coordinate weekly litter-picks to help tackle hotspots and were incredibly welcoming and enthusiastic when it came to facilitating a litter-pick for the team today.

Fun in the sun

We met up with Frankie who wasted no time in handing us the best litter-picking hoops (complete with handles); tent pegs for prising bottle tops out of solid ground, and brand new gloves.

We set off in two teams: one to the lake and the woodland area, and another towards the library and the long grass.

Before long, bags were jingling with the sound of hundreds of bottle tops. We passed a leisurely hour filling bag after bag, clocking step after step, and even managing to get a few pics in.

Before we knew it, it was time to meet back at Chumleigh Gardens, empty all our bags into one (no waste for us) and say cheerio to Frankie.

After the briefest of refreshment stops at the lovely little café, we headed back to base, John on navigation, for a well-earned lunch.

Way to go, team.

Until next time.