It was Monday night again and time for Goodgym Bexley. Tonight we were off the DYC for our 'Odds N Sods' Good deed and run. After a chat about everyones weekend at sign up it was time for business. After a great warm up (Introduced a couple of new dynamic stretches) we started of on our 5K ish (pretty close to) run round to our friends at the Danson Youth Centre. On arrival we were greeted by Ben and two tasks for the Bexley Goodgym Crew to smash!!!! One team headed out the back for a leaf clearing, and rose bush trimming workout. Team 2 stayed round the front to sort out the leaves and trim the rose bushes there which was also a hell of a workout. We shifted 10 black bin loads of leaves, branches and rubbish, leaving the areas looking pretty awesome if i say so myself. Well done team!!..............

We shifted 10 black bin loads of leaves, branches and rubbish, leaving the areas looking pretty awesome if i say so myself

With tools all packed and a bit of sweat on our brows it was time to make the short trip back to Crooklog. Before getting together for our cool down we had to say a sad good bye to Janine who is leaving us for 3 months on a volunteering trip to Sri Lanaka. I hope they appreciate what Goodgym Bexley are letting you guys have, so make sure you look after her. Janine you are gonna be awesome, have a fantastic time. One the other hand because Janine was heading on her adventures Sarah put together some very tasty vegan cakes for the occasion which dampened the blow considerably :-)......... Thanks Sarah. Another great achievement from the weekend has to go to Peter for entering and smashing the South Western 10 miler race in Portsmouth over the weekend. Massive high 5 Peter. Last but not least thanks Neil for this weeks 'Pun'...... Goodgymers, i really hoped you enjoyed this evening and thanks for your company as always. Hope to see you all next week as we head over to Welling for some more out door gardening tasks. We gotta get them in before it gets to cold. Have an awesome week everyone.

Wow, what a weird but beautiful sky we had yesterday evening. The winds were strong so we were all hoping that it would be behind us on our way back........ Last night we headed out to our friends at the Welling Community Hospice Shop. With a great reception on arrival as usual we were greeted with a welcome drink and smiling faces. Tonight they had a few tasks they were hoping we could help with, and help them with we did. We split up into 3 teams. Team 1 - Chalk Board painting. Team 2 - Toys off shelves, shelves and toys cleaned and them put back on display. Team 3 - deep cleaning and sorting out new kitchen area. It was then all hands on deck for a floor sweeping and moping. Boy that was our fitness session for the night :-) After getting so much done it was time to say our goodbyes, or should i say, see you soon's and we headed back along the High street for base camp Crooklog. Let me tell you that on our way back we passed the Welling Library and a task we done a couple of weeks ago and it still looked brilliant. It gives you a proud moment feeling knowing that all the work was done by our Bexley Goodgym team and that it has really made that location look so good. It was a pat on the back moment.

it gives you a proud moment feeling knowing that all the work was done by our Bexley Goodgym team and that it has really made that location look so good. It was a pat on the back moment.

This evening we were really please to have two new faces at Goodgym Bexley. Big welcome goes out to Matt and David for the great company and the hard work you guys put in. I know for a fact that Greenwich and Bexley Hospice really appreciated your help and we loved having you with us. Hope to see you both next week.

7 Goodgym runners met at our hub - The Queensbury pub - before we set off on a run that would test our lungs. But the group knew we could do it and oh howwww we did!

After a swift leg out the first 2.5 miles of the route, we arrived at the scene, by the Wembley waterways where there was a kind man named Jack, with all his equipment for us to clean and my gosh was he keen!. So we high vised our bods, wrapped up our hands and got ready for the start of our clearing the area of trash.

Whilst the gorgeous girls Eliza, Tabitha, Debs, Liz and Ellie worked hard on the grass and the paths gathering litter, the butch boys Uthman and er hemmm MEEEEE were busy picking prams and scooters out of the canal - Whilst of course wearing life-jackets as instructed by Jack.

After some time passed, we had almost cleared the entire place of litter! So we took off our gloves and handed over the masses of dustbin-bags we'd filled with all number of goodies, including a dubious pair of kegs that Debs had found in a bush!!!

After reviewing our spoils for the night, we said thanks to Jack for the opportunity to help, before setting off on our final push of the evening; The last long haul 2.5miles back making up our miles for the evening a whopping 5!! woo!! OH and a little bit of parquor on route when we got stuck on the canal bank too!

Fun times had by all, despite the dirty work, I think it's time these 'clean bandits' went home for a shower, don't you?

Tadaaaa - Hope you like it x

9 Islington GoodGymers dominated 60 minutes of epic Fitness 4 All action!

The first session in our October block of got off to a crisp and chilly start with Winter upon us. Wanting to get and keep warm we burst into life with a coordination testing dynamic warm up.

Raising our pulses, mobilising joints and activating muscles got us going before we set about a series of tough combinations of body weight exercises each with a number of variations to increase and decrease the intensity.

Super Setting the exercises and throwing in a recovery 300m jog before we changed it up we got through 6 combinations to work on our full body strength and well and are cardiovascular fitness.

Great effort put in by everyone to go that extra rep and keep on keeping on tonight!!

Hope to see you back again next week and the other Thursdays in October.

Have a great week

Smooth Running

Joel

Eight runners met up at the Queensbury for the short run down to Willesden Green's former police station-cum-community hub in the making to brush up on their painting skills.

We welcomed Lucas to his first GG run, and Simon who was out doing a bit of GG tourism for the evening - and seems to have bagged most of the boroughs already! They were joined by Simon H, Tabitha, Debbie, Coralie, Liz, and deputy run leader Claire, who all already had an idea of what was in store...

We were met by Colin with his usual bags of energy - despite claiming to be knackered, he still managed to get us all tooled up, find lights, find power sources for said lights, show us what to do, not trip on any cables, and all whilst regaling us with fantastic and incredible stories of parties to end all parties... and probably managed to apply more paint to walls than the eight of us put together!

We rolled up our sleeves and got out the rollers, brushes and trays and set to work to transform the indoor space into a symphony of white and orange - seriously, our painting and decorating talents are wasted in our day jobs!! We left, paint spattered but happy to see how the place is evolving, it is almost unrecognisable from our first visits here a few months back, especially the beautiful gardens. It gave us a warm glow inside to think that we had contributed a bit to this transformation. Inspirational!

A wee run back up the hill to the pub, with a few stretches, and off home to wash paint out of our hair, aaah....

Thanks everyone!!