After the success of our mission on Sunday with WEAct, Julie organised another GoodGym task along the Hoe Valley. Alys (and her little dog Quinn), Julie, Kirsty, Anne and Wayne, sorry, Adam ran to meet Richard in Mayford.

Richard is well known to GoodGym Woking as we often go and help him set up the railway tracks for the monthly “All Aboard Club” sessions which he runs for SEN children. This time it was Richard’s first GG mission without his “All Aboard” cap. We were all delighted when he let us use all the gardening tools he had brought with him!

Julie and Anne realised that the WEAct team had cleared all the Himalayan balsam in the areas we had planned to work on. But after a few metres of running, we found more to deal with.

Firstly, Julie asked for volunteers to cut back one of the bushes which encroached the path, allowing better access for walkers and runners. Richard and Wayne, oops, Adam did so diligently.

Armed with a long handle tool, Kirsty opened the path. Kirsty had warned everyone to cover their arms and legs to avoid being stung by nettles. Guess who forgot that covering your ankles was just as important? (no other comments). Poor Wayne, sorry again, Adam might not have read Kirsty’s messages. But this did not stop him tackling the nettles with enthusiasm. I wonder how his limbs are feeling this morning.

We pulled out a large patch of the invasive Himalayan balsam while discovering more as we worked up the path. We will return before the plants produce their seeds to try and limit their invasion. Julie will keep the WEAct team of our task.

The group ran back to our meeting point, fighting mosquitoes and calling Alys’s dog “This way”, which he is responding well to, every time he was taking another route.

Adam, we know your name really and apologise for calling you Wayne all evening!

Will you be joining us this coming Sunday to help Woking junior parkrun?

Happy running to you all.

Woking Wonders: Junior Parkrunners Dash into Sunday with Smiles and Speed!

This morning, Woking’s junior parkrun course was buzzing with energy as 175 enthusiastic young runners tackled the two-lap, 2km route with great spirit and determination. The first finisher zipped across the line with an impressive time of 7 minutes and 38 seconds, setting the pace for a brilliant event full of effort, fun, and community cheer.

Helping make the event a smooth success were four fantastic volunteers from Woking GoodGym: Karen, Kirsty, James, and Wayne, who took on the role of marshals with gusto, guiding runners around the course and cheering them on with trademark enthusiasm.

A big thank you to all the runners, families, and volunteers who made this morning’s run such a happy event. Whether it was their first time or their fiftieth, every step counted and every smile mattered.

Congratulations to Wayne for achieving his 250th good deed with Woking Goodgym!

See you next week for more junior parkrun magic!

Having been nominated as leader yesterday, Julie rushed to the task to ensure she was at the foodbank on time.

If only she'd checked the email she would have realised that it was actually a group run so while she waited for the customers to leave and started hoovering, the rest of the gang were waiting for her at the Leisure Centre. Despite the delay, Nadia, Anne, Andy and Kirsty had a good run and arrived in perfect time to get cracking with the mops.

The floors were soon a lot cleaner thanks to more hoovering by Andy and eagle-eyed Kirsty spotted some pot plants in need of some tlc.

This task always flies by and after the obligatory photo half-way up the stairs, we ran back towards the Leisure Centre.

Thanks to all the Goodgymers for their hard work, and looking forward to our next tasks on Sunday 27th.

Following the completion of a task for lovely Dramatize at their Knaphill centre, the Woking Goodgym team were asked to help create a useful garden space at their Brookwood site. Anne, Alys, Katie and Kirsty ran to the task to find that Wayne had made a great start on removing the debris from the space. Everyone got stuck in and cleared away the remaining branches and ivy while our former forest school leader, Anne led the creation of a dead hedge to create a wildlife habitat and secluded space for Dramatize students to relax in. Great job everyone!