The new year often means new faces at GoodGym group sessions - it was no different at the first group run of 2026, as we welcomed Conor. He found out about our community from a friend who was once a regular GoodGymer and is now warmly remembered. What a fantastic thing to recommend to someone new to a city, or even a country!

Conor was enthusiastic about the running part, yet our group, after a warm-up, squeezed in only a very short and a bit fragmented jog. Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash were extra careful as the temperatures dropped to around zero, and the pavements became icy and slippery. The quartet spent some time running between the Walpole Park gates, each of which was already closed. Oh no! Eventually, the running team, having met cyclist Andy and walker James along the way, headed to the emergency exit (or, shall I say, the emergency entrance?). It pays off to know your parks after all!

Despite the slipperiness and slippage, we collected a strong team - everyone who signed up for tonight showed up and was ready for some woodchip action! And we needed all hands on deck as we were going to tackle the path between Rickyard and the frog statue, which became totally bare since our woodchipping effort two years ago.

With wheelbarrows, shovels, forks, a rake and soundtrack (early 2000s hits played by a group of girls hanging out behind Rickyard), we accepted the challenge to refresh the path and make it enjoyable to walk on. Unlike our previous session to improve that path, we had to travel quite far to the woodchip source this time - and we were after the freshest of woodchips!

It was probably the first time this season we've had a noticeable snowfall in Ealing - but not enough to make snow angels. We've been considering indulging in the woodchip angels instead - especially as rolling in freshly dug woodchips could actually warm us up. Despite dropping temperatures, the air felt fairly mild, though.

Thanks to the whole team's determination, we've completed the path in just over an hour - and it was a quality one, with a thick layer of woodchip. Great work, everyone!

If you've missed the Walpole Park session, worry not! Next week we're back with more woodchip, more running and more park variety. We will be visiting Blondin Park for a practical workout for the local green space and a dose of hot chocolate at the end. Sign up now!

After experiencing a no-show beneficiary at their earliest morning mission, Sevan’s and Kash's day became a bit fluid. They have rescheduled and completed a task in Blackheath and found themselves in a café in Lewisham, discussing when to take a train to Victoria to get to their last mission, which they also wanted to start earlier than planned. The answer: all trains were equally boring - how about a 9.5 km run? That's what they decided to do, exploring areas of South London along the way.

Miss M didn't mind having the GoodGymers show up earlier and had her donations for the charity shop ready in the landing when Sevan and Kash arrived. This time, there was only one donation drop run for two pairs of GoodGym hands, as the lady hadn't gotten enough boxes to pack up her unwanted books yet.

Sevan and Kash carried four bags with clothes, a hot water bottle, a pair of slippers, and a couple of teddy bears through a familiar route to the FARA charity shop in Pimlico. Once donations were received, the last thing to do was to bring the large bag back to Miss M, enabling more charity shop runs in the future. The GoodGymers set off for a very short jog, scaring a group of street pigeons on their way, which triggered a memory of Sir David Attenborough's film about wildlife in London they had recently watched.

I feel like a peregrine falcon! - Kash.
Not like a five-year-old? - Sevan.

With the last task of the day complete, the two decided to keep an eye out for future tasks for Miss M, as decluttering space and donating no longer needed items feels particularly rewarding, even when done for someone else.

Today's mission for Mrs P had Kash & Sevan entering something resembling an art gallery or museum. There were historic or unusual artefacts everywhere related to her family's interesting past and their move to the UK many years ago.

"Every space in my flat is used" - Mrs P

The original task for the mission sounded more mundane than the once elegant surroundings where it took place. Mrs P's roller blind kept falling down and with a streetlight right outside her window, it made it difficult for Mrs P to get to sleep at night.

After moving pictures and relics to make way for a step ladder, Kash climbed up to investigate what was going wrong. Sevan joined her, standing on the window sill and there didn't seem to be any obvious problem with the blind or the brackets if used gently. The blind was tested over and over and it worked perfectly, leaving everyone confused but hopeful that the problem had resolved itself.

With a lot of time left until their next mission, the GoodGymers asked if there was anything else that they could help with. One of the lights in the stairwell wasn't working, so they changed the bulb and solved the mystery of the light switches on each floor. Then Mrs P pointed at the wooden flooring in her kitchen and said that, as much as she liked and trusted her handyman of many years, he'd messed up with the floor and she wanted to remove the boards.

Ripping up a kitchen floor was a first for Kash & Sevan during a GoodGym task. The floor didn't look great though, so they agreed to pull it up to leave the original flooring underneath. Sevan took off the kick plates from the kitchen cabinets then prised up the first few boards. Kash took over, picking up planks and hoovering dust while Sevan taped the boards up into manageable bundles.

Mrs P's earlier statement about the space in her flat was pretty accurate. There was no hoarding or clutter, but everything had it's place and every centimetre of space had its purpose. Where would the taped up boards go then? Sevan found space for the smaller ones behind the sofa and a corner space was allocated in the hallway for the longer boards to stand up temporarily until they could be collected and disposed of.

Mrs P was very impressed with GoodGym and how the team had solved so many issues for her. As a former runner, she once could have been a GoodGymer too. For the moment, her priority was to recover from a recent bout of pneumonia and will need support to help her achieve that.