There was a bit of a party vibe in Wandsworth tonight. What with recent birthdays past and more upcoming, Jordan bringing along loads of plants to get into the ground at the GoodGym garden, Kevin joining us for his first group run and a discussion about our favourite crisp flavours, there was definitely a feeling of celebration in the air!

After a warm up we headed off on the run to the garden. We have been working here for the past few months, gradually turning it from an overgrown and unused plot into a space which will hopefully produce lots of nice things for us to donate to the kids' program at the theatre.

After a couple of wins at our local pub quiz we had some funds to plough back into the garden, and we made the decision to buy some plants. So into the garden tonight went potatoes, courgettes and more seeds to join the rhubarb, tomatoes and fruit trees already in.

Everybody mucked in with the trench digging, watering and sowing and before long the jobs were done. There was just time to pop over to the square to knock out a tabata workout which featured plyometric movements, jumps and power lunges. Great work everybody. We were blown back to base by the growing wind and finished off the night with stretches.

Next week we have a special birthday social after the run, so let us know if you can make it for for 2 for 1 burgers and more fun! We also have a whatsapp group where a lot of the planning happens so if you haven't joined already and would like to then drop me a message and I'll send you a link.

If you're planning on heading to the marathon on Sunday GoodGym has a cheer squad that could always do with some extra energy! Next week we'll be at Paradise cooperative garden followed by our social. Hope to see you there!

Eleven GoodGymers, two tasks, 52 playing cards and one great Monday evening - that was last night in numbers!

It was great to see some familiar faces back (even if it's only briefly - we'll miss you Eva!) and to welcome new ones. Great to have you join us James, especially as you bring with you gardening expertise!

After some warm ups we went round the group revealing what star sign we were, and if we believed in what that was meant to say about us. There were some definite skeptics, a couple of believers, and the majority were unsure either way. With stars in our eyes we set off for our tasks for the evening.

The Omnibus theatre is a charitable organsation that aims to the arts to everybody. They receive no central government funding, so we're happy to come along and support them where we can. Last night we had the choice of washing down the many (many) windows, or working in the garden, a space we have custodianship of with the plan of growing crops to donate.

While most of the group opted for the garden and got cracking digging over the soil ahead of the mulch delivery we are getting from the council this week, Jordan, Eva, Beth and Sophie began preparing to clean the windows. Unfortunately a few issues beyond our control, including a sick DM, meant that we weren't overburdened with equipment. However, there was plenty of GG spirit to go around and some makeshift cleaning stuff meant that the windows were given a bit of love. Just don't mention what had made a home under one of the buckets in the courtyard!

Before too long the garden had been thoroughly dug over, the weeds removed, the fig tree admired, the future of the peas debated, and everything was looking much better. Great job everybody.

All that was left was our fitness session, which this week involved two teams competing for who could win the most cards. After several minutes of hard fought competition, the result couldn't have been tighter, in a nail-biting 17 v 18 finish! What an effort from everybody.

Next week I'll be away, so we'll be replacing the group run with a community mission at an Age UK centre, which will be lead by the brilliant Catherine. Feel free to run together as a group from the BAC as normal, or meet at the task directly. You can find all the details right here. Have a great week everybody!

I think there may have been some gremlins at play yesterday, as the session didn't go quite as expected right from the get go. However, we still managed to achieve what looked at first like an impossible challenge during the course of the night!

It all started off with a badly behaving website which didn't want us to be able to sign up for the task ahead, which was (meant) to be transporting bags and bags of compost up to Doddington roof garden. Nevertheless we persevered, and a group of 12 of us met ready to face a big upper body workout. As we did our evening's warm up we took turns in naming capital cities that ended in vowels. Oslo, Rome, Nairobi, Bogota and Quito all got a mention, but it became harder and harder to list them as we went round the group!

We took a speedy run down to the garden, arm muscles flexed, only to find....no compost. Despite the council having told Malissa it had been delivered, there was nothing to be found. It looked like our task and upper body workout was fading into the distance, but Malissa had another plan. This one involved much less soil, but a much (much) heavier weight.

The challenge was to shift an enormous workbench cupboard with the weightiest marble top from one side of the garden to the other so it could be used by the communal table and the prime sunny area it occupied currently could be used for growing plants.

And so it began. We overcame obstacles in the way, no lip to grip the top, two small pallets on wheels, not to mention the sheer weight of the thing. The first step was to transport the marble, so being super careful of fingers and toes, we perfected a tipping and edging technique that finally did the trick. All that was left was to move the cupboard itself, manouevre that into place, then pick up the marble before placing it back into position. It took the whole session to achieve this but achieve it we did, proving that impossible is nothing when it comes to GoodGym! Check out the video on X to watch the moment it all fell into place. We even managed to fit in a core blast in the nice warm meeting room below.

Next week we're back to Omnibus to spread mulch at or GG garden and wash the windows for this arts charity. There will be a lot less lifting involved, promise!

On Pancake Day eve, we totally flipped out to find we had some lovely new faces to welcome to GoodGym - you batter give a cheer to Areti, Niklas, Jason and Leo who all came along for their first session. Great to meet you all!

After a warm up, our question for the night was, of course, pancake related. What is the best topping? The classics including lemon and sugar and maple syrup made an appearance, and there were some more renegade suggestions such as peanut butter, but ultimately it was nutella that came out on top.

Fueled by the prospect of imminent pancakes, we set off for Paradise Cooperative garden, which was founded in 2014 with the aim of utilising underdeveloped land for urban growing and community gardening. After many years of hard work, volunteers have transformed the abandoned and overgrown site into a beautiful smallholding for local people.

We go regularly to help out, although usually it is with the benefit of a bit more light. Unfortunately a charging error on my part (sorry!) meant that we didn't have our floodlight, which did add an extra challenge to the proceedings. However, we quickly split up into to groups, and undeterred, began to tackle the two jobs for the evening.

The soil shovelers had two enormous raised beds to fill, while the concrete block transporters had the upper body workout to end all workouts, carrying the heavy weights across the garden so that an outside classroom could be built this weekend. What a way to get stacked (I know I'm laying on the pancake puns pretty thick...)

If you'd like to help with the creation of this learning space on Saturday, they'd love the support. You can sign up here to lend a hand and you'll even be rewarded with a free lunch!

Despite the dark we powered through, making great progress. Well done team! We decided that was our task and fitness session in one, so all that was left was to roll back to base for stretches and for the pancake crew to head off for some well deserved sweet treats.

Next week we have an inside (and much better lit!) task helping to paint a community kitchen. Sign up here for some Monday fun spent getting active and doing good. Hope to see you there!