Great to be back at Nightingale Estate for this special session for the launch of our Workout for the Future Campaign. We were joined by Deputy Mayor Mete Coban, who visited to see the impact of GoodGym's work in the local community. And welcome to new runners Gemma and Suzi

It started with Denzel , Dan, Louise, Katie, Robert and Ivo running 2k from Usual Objections, a running shop that provides top quality running clothes. Definitely check them out if you are in the area, you can even see the clothes being made in front of you.

After a catch up and a warm up we ran to Nightingale Estate. Cheered on by the local school kids and a nice sunny run through the Hackney streets and Hackney Downs Park.

We arrived to join our fellow GoodGymers and got introduced to the Nightingale Parklet which is an important green space for local residents on the estate. After a briefing by task owners Nicky and Alice we set off to clear weeds, tidy up the green space and some of us helped a resident clear their front garden of weeds and a metal wired fence which is a bit of an eye sore.

Deputy Mayor Mete Coban joined the team to help with trimming foliage and lifting garden waste. Good job everyone!

We ended the session hearing from residents about why these green spaces matter so much to the estate. It was a great way to kick off our new campaign.

Great job all, see you next time.

Spring was in full bloom on Monday evening, so we couldn't have asked for a better task than a visit to one of our favourite spots - Doddington Roof Garden! After a quick warm up and spring-inspired intro question (Bluebells won the prize of favourite spring flower) the group ran 1.5km to Doddington, where we were met by volunteer Melissa, who wasted no time in taking us through the evenings tasks. There was a lot to do, but with plenty of GoodGymmers on hand, including first-time GoodGymmer Joanna and a few tourists from other areas, no-one was phased by the long to do list. Beth, Jordan and Felix straight away volunteered themselves for the unenviable and rather smelly task of composting, transferring waste veg to the compost heap and turning the contents. While no-one likes to see food go to waste, it's good to know that those overly ripe vegetables have avoided the landfill and will instead help nurture future growth in the garden. Veronica and Nathan grabbed trowels and started pulling up grass to create a pathway across the lawn area, which will be filled with wildflower seeds to help the garden attract more bees and Dan, Dave and Hannah uncovered a resident toad in the veg patch! The rest of the team were busy digging up and relocating plants, weeding, pruning and sweeping; essential tasks that help the garden to thrive and keep it accessible for other volunteers and visitors.

After all that hard-work, some of the group went on to The Latchmere Pub for our monthly pub quiz social, and their heroic efforts won the team second prize - an amazing effort from everyone involved! Those who couldn't make it to the social this time ran back to the meeting point for some cool down stretches.

Last night's session saw 9 GoodGymers roll up at Elizabeth House Community Centre, helping to stack chairs, clean tables, and sweep the floor after their foodbank in record time. Although I'm not sure we managed to rid the floor of every sparkle of glitter!

As is often the case with this task - we were rewarded with surplus bread and veg to take home (has anyone tasted those mustard seeds?! They're fiery!!)

5 GoodGymers took a gentle 2.5 km run to get there too - although we all bailed out of the run back, opting instead to head directly home to cook up our leeks and munch on our bread, much to the disappointment of Luke who really wanted to witness me running laps of the stadium with 2 leeks and a baguette in tow... next time!