Tuesday’s group run took us to Hestia’s Good Energy Club, a fantastic community space supporting people experiencing mental health challenges. Their mission is to improve physical wellbeing, support mental health and reduce social isolation - values very much aligned with GoodGym’s own.

We arrived in force and were welcomed by John, who gave us a tour before offering the ultimate volunteer incentive: snacks in exchange for our cleaning efforts. Armed with hoovers, cloths, spray bottles and plastic gloves, we got straight to work.

We were also joined by special guests Ivo and Hannah. Rather than rolling out the red carpet, we rolled out the hoovers and put them straight to work alongside the rest of the team. After deciding who was tackling which room, John put on a soundtrack of 90s classics that kept spirits high and energy levels up throughout the evening.

The hour flew by, and before long it was time for a final snack break and the journey home. John was hugely appreciative of the help, explaining that the club doesn’t have a dedicated cleaning budget and that maintaining such a large space can be a real challenge.

It was lovely to meet Hannah on her first task, and congratulations again on your new role as CEO of GoodGym.

Six GGers turned out for our quarterly Richmond Furniture Scheme visit.

This included Jenna , attending Richmond Furniture Scheme for the first time, three keen cyclists, one walker and a runner.

Once we recovered from our various exertions the challenge set by Volunteer Co-Coordinator Lucy to clear the assembly point of furniture including a puzzling draws set and shelving.

The fan was started and we edged closer by moving the shelving piece by piece and by the end of the challenge, the assembly point was all clear.

We made it!