Ten Years of GoodGym Barnet – Back Where It All Began

Ten years ago GoodGym Barnet held its first group run to Long Lane Pasture. Yesterday we went back to where it all began with old friends, new faces and over 30 people joining us to celebrate a decade of doing good in our community.

A big group set off from the Phoenix Cinema after our traditional warm-up but this time we also went around the group remembering some of our favourite GoodGym moments from the last ten years. Gardening, clearing graffiti from the Phoenix, Halloween runs in fancy dress, Tiny Forests, litter picks and countless community missions. It was a lovely reminder of just how varied GoodGym has been.

We ran through the back streets of East Finchley, keeping everyone together with the occasional stop for squats, exercises and a few questionable drop kicks!

At Long Lane Pasture we met Donald, other volunteers, councillors and GoodGymers who had made their own way there. Donald told us a little about this wonderful nature reserve, saved from development and now looked after by volunteers.

After gathering around the Green Flag for a photo, we squeezed in some gentle yoga breathing and mobility before getting down to business , clearing litter from the footpath alongside the reserve.

Then came the important birthday business: cake and beer!

Huge thanks to Donald and everyone at Long Lane Pasture for hosting us and providing plenty of cake, Richard for the vegan cake, Athletic Brewing for the beers and Theo for some additional refreshments with a little more kick!

There was another milestone worth celebrating too: congratulations to Subham on reaching over a 100 good deeds. What better evening to do it.

Most importantly, it was wonderful seeing people who have been part of GoodGym Barnet at different times over the last decade. Some we see every week, others we haven’t seen for years. You’re always welcome back even if it’s only once a year!

One message we received afterwards perhaps summed the evening up best:

“The energy is infectious. You have created a wonderful community, and Barnet is richer for having you in it.”

But GoodGym isn’t really about what we have created. It’s about supporting people like Donald and the volunteers at Long Lane Pasture, and all those people across Barnet who quietly take responsibility for our green spaces, charities and community organisations.

Sometimes a couple of hours of our time gets a job done. Just as importantly, hopefully it reminds those people that they aren’t doing it alone and that what they do is noticed and valued.

And it does something for us too. Getting outside, being active and doing something useful alongside other people is pretty good medicine for life.

We might only make a small difference each time but a small difference is considerably better than no difference at all.

After ten years, we’re still running, walking and cycling into our community, getting our hands dirty and seeing where we can help.

Here’s to the next few years and hopefully plenty more familiar and new faces joining us along the way. ❤️

Happy 10th birthday GoodGym Barnet!

Another scorcher, another squad of good eggs trading the sofa for a sweat sesh with a purpose! This week the Lambeth crew rolled back into Wyck Forest Gardens to reunite with the legend that is Heather, on a mission critical, code-red, hosepipe-adjacent task: watering 🥵💦

Turns out the recent heat has had the garden gasping worse than us after the run over — and the young whips (the apple, pear and friends contingent 🍏🍐) were in serious need of some TLC before they wilted into fruit salad prematurely.

On the team sheet today: Adam West, Ark , Ben , Katie , Michael , Rich and Yianny — seven brilliant humans who showed up to sweat first, hydrate plants second 💪🏼

The mission, soggily accomplished:

• 🛒 Two full trolley runs — basically a shopping spree, except instead of snacks we were hauling watering cans
• 🐘 One epic showdown with the 120kg water beast — if you know, you know. Respect to Rich who wheeled that unit without needing their own rehydration break afterwards
• 🧰 A generous helping of compost TLC, because even dirt deserves a little love ❤️

Whips watered, trolleys wrangled, water beast tamed — Wyck Forest Gardens is looking noticeably less crispy thanks to this lot. Heather, we’ll see you again soon (bring backup water beasts) 🥵🌱

Huge thanks to everyone who turned out — you ran so the young whips didn’t have to wilt. Same time next week? 😊🍾

What a session, Lambeth! 💪🏼

We linked back up with Tom from Lambeth Council to give Windrush Square and the area around Brixton Library some serious TLC — sweeping, weeding, and tidying our way to a cleaner, greener corner of Brixton. Turns out you can build glutes and community spirit at the same time. Who knew?

On the tools tonight:

Ben Michael Katie Tilly
Jo Dan

Big love to this crew for trading their evening jog for a broom and a bin bag — proof that GoodGym really is where "leg day" meets "litter day" 🍾🥰

Windrush Square is looking sharper than our running form, and Brixton Library's front bed is finally weed-free (unlike our group chat, which remains a mess (jokes!)). 😱🤩

Same time next week, legends? See you on the streets — bring trainers, bring gloves, leave your excuses at home. 🏃♀️🧡

Tuesday night saw a cracking turnout as the GoodGym Lambeth crew rolled up (quite literally, in the case of several carpets) at Annick’s beloved waterworks allotments for an evening of heavy lifting, heavier furniture-breaking, and general green-fingered good deeds 🌱💪🏼

The task at hand: rug rolling, shelf smashing, and some good old-fashioned digging about — basically an extreme home makeover, allotment edition. Annick’s plot has never looked (or felt) so un-furnished 🛋️➡️🗑️

On the team sheet tonight:

• Ben Margerison — hauling carpets like they owed him money
• Michael Welsh — bringing the muscle and the smiles
• Katie Allan — no stranger to a task, this Lambeth legend just keeps racking them up 🏅
• Tilly Baker Hine — gardening gloves on, ready for anything
• Jo Bowen — allotment royalty for the evening
• Dan — 50 tasks deep and still showing up to demolish some furniture 🔨
• Fi — sleeves rolled up, spirits high
• Rich — new face, instant legend
• Libby Cannon — welcome to the chaos, Libby! 🎉

Between us we shifted more old stuff than a Sunday car boot sale, and left Annick’s allotment looking positively spring-cleaned 🧹✨

And because it was the last Tuesday of the month, work quickly turned to well-earned play — the gang swapped trowels for pints and toasted a job well done at the social afterwards 🍾😊 Nothing quite like bonding over a shared dislike of a particularly stubborn Billy bookcase.

Great work all round, Lambeth — you moved mountains (of carpet) tonight! 🥰

What an absolute cracker of an evening, Lambeth! 💪🏼

Tonight’s task force assembled in style: Katie, Ben, Jo, Fi, Nicole and yours truly, AA Yianny, hit the streets — and because it was our monthly social, we got extra reinforcements in Adam, Michael and Tilly. Bigger squad, bigger impact! 🍾

We went full GG classic tonight with a Litter Pick Bingo — and Lambeth did NOT disappoint. We picked, we sorted, we scratched our heads at some genuinely bizarre finds (we won’t ask, we don’t want to know 😱), and left the streets looking significantly more sparkly than we found them. Full house on the bingo card, several question marks on the mystery items. A+ prep for game night, if we do say so ourselves. ❤️

But the real headline tonight: Katie hit 200 tasks for GoodGym. 200! 🥰 Task Force superhero, social media guru, and general ray of sunshine — Katie, we are so unbelievably proud of you. That’s not a milestone, that’s a monument. Take a bow. 👏

Then it was straight into the social — baked goods, pizza, laughs, the occasional happy tear, and a room full of the loveliest weirdos Lambeth has to offer (said with maximum affection). 🤩

Great pick, great people, great cake. See you next week, legends! 🏃💚