With the supermarket delivery already offloaded and Ed and Linda coming in early to set up the cages we were ahead of the game at Frenford Food Bank this week. Sadly the printer was not so on the ball and we had a little wait for the orders to be produced.

Time to do a little extra shelf filling and for Linda to try on a jacket which AJ was passing on from one of her stewarding volunteer sessions. It fit perfectly which is not surprising as you can see from the photo we are practically twins. 😂 While taking that photo Liz accidentally took a photo of her foot which came in handy as a 'before' photo...see below for explanation.

Pretty soon we were picking and packing at a rate of knots. It was really hot despite having all the doors open and there were some pretty pink faces around. We were about to stop for a tea break when Liz dropped a pack of tuna tins on her foot which Linda found hilarious ...until she saw the blood 😳(sorry Liz) like the trooper she is Liz was back up and packing again as soon as she was cleaned up and plastered. Things were going so well and we thought we were finished early but were asked to hang on as more orders had come in so we had a little pause for flapjacks and other treats then finished off the last few while Ed started restocking the shelves and it wasn't too long before we were done.

Our Marie and Helena told us that they wont be coming to sessions for a while due to other commitments, they have both been such valuable members of the team we will miss them but wish them well on their separate ventures.

All in all another successful mission under our belts.

Goodgym Haringey got together last night with a very special purpose in mind - to celebrate a departed friend, whose love for life, disposition for a good laugh, and thirst for just a few more Ks was intoxicating and contagious. The thing about death is that it doesn't care about fairness and sometimes it takes from us people who just had too much damn living ahead of them, leaving those of us still around with such a deep sense of loss. Nurj knew this and last time I saw her at the hospital, she made me promise her in that matter-of-factly kind of way of hers that I needed to make sure her Goodgym lot as she called us would be ok afterwards because after all she wouldn't be around to do so. Bloody strong to the end, our Nurj.

So, as a way of keeping a promise, the Goodgym Haringey family decided to bring some new life into this wonderful London borough that she so loved. We planted a baby tree, which will be around for many years to come, and where us Goodgymmers can go and share a quick laugh or the latest juicy goss with Nurj. A Royal Beauty by name, this tree will be all colours and fancy things as seasons change so we know Nurjehan would have approved. And also, as her Goodgym lot got together last night for the customary rummage through a community garden on a lovely warm Wednesday evening at the end of another Summer season, sharing a laugh, some memories, and some tears, I know she would have smiled at her favourite Goodgym in the country and felt proud. We'll never stop missing you on Wednesday evenings, good friend.

Twenty Goodgymmers congregated in the grounds of the wonderful Meadow Orchard in Crouch End for an emotional evening of doing good and getting fit.

Nurj O'Clock

This report is a bit late because frankly I found it a bit hard to write. Or more concretely, I tried a couple of times but failed miserably each time. You see, even in her absence, Nurj had managed to grab centre stage on Wednesday's task like she had done some many times over the last six years and I knew I would have to write a report with her as the protagonist for one last time. The words just didn't come, to be honest.

So, instead, I have decided to share with you the big Nurjehan-shaped hole she leaves on a normal Goodgym evening. She played many roles within our motley crew: self-appointed timekeeper, naughty gossipy aunt, strict school teacher when we needed a telling off, whingepot whenever we attended her least favourite task that shall now forever remain unnamed, indefatigable do gooder, tireless 5k/10k runner, unconditional friend, and perhaps, the one thing we'll miss the most, her enthusiastic cheerleading of everything Goodgym Haringey. She loved Goodgym. And she preached its praises at any given opportunity.

If I'm allowed a personal note, I'll personally miss a role she played too well without any fanfare or noise but that she relished and excelled at. Whenever we had a new runner in our group, it would always be either Nurj or myself reaching out to say hello to them. She would then proceed to tell the newbie all sort of crazy stories about how I am a mad area activator, I would then reply by telling the newbie to watch out for her because 'this one bites' and thus, within the space of thirty seconds, a newbie was eased into the dynamics of our group and was then shadowed by Nurjehan for the next 45 minutes, regaling them with whatever particular drama was happening at her school that week and making sure their evening was as fun as possible. I'll miss my newbie whisperer.

Our dearest Nurjehan Khan passed away on Thursday 18th July 2024, having completed 273 Goodgym tasks and along the way having become the unofficial face of Goodgym (her face is the landing page of the website). Goodgym Haringey will never be the same without her and we'll miss her.

I'll finish this here before she tells me off for going on too much.

<3

It's Our Birthday And We'll Cry If We Want To

In a moment of incredible timing, this evening also happened to be Goodgym Haringey's 9th Birthday. There will be other nights to celebrate and we will have a social to end all socials in due course, but we did mark the occasion with cakes, chocolate, and hell of a lot of tears.

We're very grateful to the folk at the Meadow Orchard for accommodating us at short notice (this was Nurjehan's favourite Haringey task) and they had loads of fun jobs for us. They even let us use axes on the night. Talk about cathartic.

Normal service will resume next week.

For now, just look after each other and I'm here if anyone needs a hug, a natter, or a cry.

Love to my wonderful Goodgym Haringey Fam

Huge appreciations to the amazing Goodgym crew who come down to help at the Saucony London 10km, one of the premier closed road inner city running events in the athletics calender. Goodgym assisted the team from Motiv Sports with coordinating this incredible event, helping with course marshalling, road crossings and sweep cycling on the day. Congratulations, and Thank You for your help!

Our wonderful, friendly, and green-fingered group of Liz, Sarah, and Steve chose GoodGym over semi-finals on Wednesday, as we made our way over to Kentish Town and a very special garden.

The Caversham Group Practice was our home for the evening, and we were welcomed by the lovely Jo and Sarah, who took us into their lush and peaceful Listening Space Garden.

Set within the Pratice's grounds, it's a gem of quiet and green, and we felt lucky to offer our Wednesday evening energies!!

Over 45 minutes we worked along the garden's pathways, stripping them of summer weeds and overgrowth, and we shared stories and caught up as we did.

It was a joy to meet Jo and Sarah, and we look forward to coming back soon!!