After an afternoon of pretty consistent snow and temperatures dropping below zero, I wasn't necessarily expecting a massive group ready for an outside task in challenging conditions for our first run of the year. But as I turned the corner to our meeting point at the BAC, there they were - a group of happy faces, red tshirts and even some bare knees, like a beacon of positivity in the dark!

It was great to see everybody again after the break, and lovely to welcome some new faces, including Frances to her very first session.

After a warm up we went round the group talking about who had made New Year's resolutions, who hadn't, and who doesn't believe in them one bit! It was great to hear that some involved doing more volunteering or getting more active - you've certainly got off to the right start!

We took a nice steady run down to the Doddington community garden, just about avoiding the big rat that had met a bit of a sticky end on the way, and arrived as the snow started up again. Malissa was there with a list of jobs, and we quickly got moving shifting cardboard boxes, pulling up grass, clearing area, clipping up old shrubs and shifting compost.

Malissa was really pleased with everything we got done. There was just one big task left - moving a huge, incredibly heavy, marble-topped unit. We discussed at length and from every angle how it could happen, plotted potential routes and tried to come up with a hack. Eventually we had to admit defeat - for now. We won't be beaten! We're back on the first Monday of every month to contribute our time and energy to this much loved community space, so let's see what we can work out next time (when hopefully we won't have to contend with an impending blizzard!).

With temperatures dropping even further and with icy fingers and toes to contend with, we decided to forgo our usual fitness session in favour of a speedy run back to base. There is loads of good stuff coming up to look forward to, starting with a pub quiz and social next Monday immediately after the group run, when we will be delivering leaflets to encourage girls to join the local brownie and guide group.

On Saturday there is a mission to hep out at Wandsworth allotments that could do with a few more pairs of helping hands. Keep an eye out for all the future missions, such as this one to help cut and move willow branches by the river side.

Well done on kicking off 2024 in a positive, active way that supports the community- what could be better! Looking forward to seeing what the next month holds - and don't forget every good deed you do and every mile you run contributes to GG Wandsworth's progress with the January challenge!

Leaves, leaves, leaves. They're everywhere at the moment, great, wet, heavy piles of leaves over pavements and parks, gardens and greens. Difficult to walk and run on safely, they are slippery and stop the grass and other plants and flowers from growing underneath them. Something had to be done! This was especially true at Christchurch gardens, where the Friends group were finding it hard to keep on top of the issue in their community gardens.

So that's why 11 GoodGymers found themselves running down to Battersea on a chilly November evening with gloves and headtorches at the ready to lend a hand. This lovely garden had a bit of an issue with antisocial behaviour in the past, so a group of local people came together to help create a happy, harmonious, welcoming space for everybody to enjoy.

After taking a guess on how many bags of leaves we would collect through the night - answers ranged from early 20s right up to 50 - we arrived to find Nigel greeting us with black sacks and a (limited) number of tools. Not to be put off, we got to work straight away, with Jo remembering to point out that we should be watching out for hedgehogs and other little critters who might be hiding away. We soon realised that with 30 bags available between us we already had an answer to our earlier poll, and as Dylan said, anybody who guessed over 30 was a winner. However, Caroline was definitely closest with her estimate of 32 - so well done!

After half an hour of hard work the place was looking a lot clearer, so we admired the huge pile we had created (check out the pics!), resisted the urge to jump into it headfirst, and made our way over to the park to do our fitness session.

Last night we focussed on three main muscle groups - core, legs and glutes, and arms. There were four sets of reps for each group of 45 seconds each, giving those muscles some good conditioning. Well done everybody!

Some dates to remember: our end of year Christmas party promises to be a Christmas cracker so don't forget to sign up!

We have a Saturday mission to help create a garden at a school near Tooting which needs as much help as possible. There has been some talk about doing Tooting parkrun followed by coffee/breakfast together beforehand so it should be a fun one!

There will be a community mission on the evening of the 18th December to help pack Christmas boxes for vulnerable people. I'm just waiting on conformation of timings to list it, but it should be a festive but also beneficial task , so watch this space!

What an eeriesistable time we had in Wandsworth last night for our special Halloween run and our monthly pub quiz afterwards...

One by one we turned up at the BAC, a vampire in GoodGym red, several caped ghouls, an elegant bat and even the Grim Reaper made an appearance.

Our warm up was of course spooktacularly themed, with everybody doing different moves when I shouted pumpkin, witch, bat or Halloween. There were definitely a few double takes on our run down to Doddington Garden, with our capes blowing behind us and Dylan brandishing his scythe as we went.

We launched into our task with real spirit, pulling up grass at this amazing community garden and laying down cardboard boxes so that they can efficiently use the space to grow fruit and veg. Hopefully this time next year there will be a brand new pumpkin patch growing in the area! The garden is a much loved place for residents who don't have access to a garden themselves, and welcomes everybody in the area to grow their own plants there.

Job done, we had time to squeeze in a tricky and a bit treaty fitness session, where two team competed against each other to win as many bits of paper as they could by completing the exercise written on it. As always, competitive levels were high, but there was also some great form as everybody knocked out frogs, planks and press ups - just nobody mention the (shh) cheating! As a reward we handed round some chocolates - bone appetit, all...

Running straight from the task to the pub, we settled ourselves in for a fiendish pub quiz, with both teams coming in with some very respectable scores. Fangs for a fun evening everybody!

Next week we're off to lend a hand a residents' association, sign up here for more Monday doing good and getting fit.

Our job for our Monday group session last night was one that didn't come without its own challenges - a dearth of tools, drizzly conditions and more than a little bit of mud - but it was one that promises to bring great joy in a few short months!

First we had the pleasure of welcoming Christine and Hannah to their very first GoodGym session, and to give Andrew a big shout out as we didn't have a chance last week. Really great to have you all join us!

After a quick warm up where we discussed our favourite meal (brunch and breakfast were the clear winners), we headed down to the Falcon Estate in Battersea to meet Senia, who heads up a local community group. The organisation had several hundreds bulbs donated to them in a bid to make the space as welcoming to local people as possible, to curb antisocial behaviour and create more biodiversity. It was our job to get them in the ground - and deep enough that the little squirrel shaped thieves couldn't get their paws on them.

We were raring to go, but our first hurdle was that there weren't quite enough tools to go around. So while half the group got stuck into planting, the other half went off with Senia to find the elusive palm tree somewhere on the estate and give it a good prune.

The planting team soon got into a good rhythm and were joined not long after by the others. This batch of bulbs are sure to be a blooming success as we had the benefit of the expertise of a soil scientist uncovering several worms who were making a quick(ish) getaway from our trowels and forks.

Great job everybody - we'll take a run down there in Spring to admire the fruits of our labours! If that wasn't enough work, we took a short jog over to the local park to take on a Every Minute On the Minute fitness session. This involved trying to fit in a certain number of reps of different exercises every minute and finished with a brutal squat thrust or squat challenge. Brilliant effort from everyone.

Next week we have our monthly run to Doddington, this time with a spooky theme followed by our pub quiz social.

We also have a junior parkrun takeover coming up, plus a special women's safety night run https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/women-only-night-safety-run - I'd love to see loads of you there!

Last night set a new benchmark in the history of GG Wandsworth. Yes, for the very first time our Monday group run featured...no run! But if you weren't there and are reading this thinking something must have gone dramatically wrong, then fear not. It was the first opportunity we had to use our time and energy to volunteer at the place that has been our starting point for the past seven years - the beautiful BAC.

The community gardens outside the BAC right where we do our warm up every week are managed by Permablitz, an organisation which aims to develop community gardens which are sustainable, edible, and wildlife-friendly according to a permaculture design.

We were met by Susannah, who had ready a whole raft of tools and other resources for us to use, which felt like a real treat! The main objective was to create a usable walkway alongside the garden so it is safe and accessible for all users.

We immediately got started pulling out weeds, sweeping away debris and cutting back the hedges. We were joined by a regular volunteer, Lionel, who uses a mobility scooter. It just showed how important it was the area was cleared as the other side of the garden is used by large vehicles needing to load equipment into the BAC hall.

We admired the beautiful plants that had been grown there as we worked, and were delighted to hear Susannah say that when we we are there we are welcome to help ourselves - what a reward!

After a good stint the area was transformed Lionel did a lap to check it was all clear. Given the thumbs up, we downed tools. But there was no way we were going to get away with no workout all together! Accompanied by a pumping soundtrack, we took on two tough rounds of high intensity tabata.

Great work everybody. We're back to our normal running schedule next week as we take on the challenge of planting hundreds of bulbs ready for Spring.

We also have been asked to help with a junior parkrun takeover, please sign out here to help out with this great event!.