A not-so secret seven checked, packed and stacked donations at Living Well food bank.

Congratulations to our super-speedy Bradley who finished second in the Chiswick half marathon on Sunday, yet another podium finish.

After a short run through the streets of Penge, we arrived at the food bank where we were welcomed by Mary. She apologetically asked if we could date check the tinned goods, and tidy the crates in the cupboard, a job we are always happy to do. Stuart headed to the container where he set to work sorting and tidying the many donations, a result of the recent harvest festival.

The task was a real test of our eye-sight, as we squinted at tiny dates on cans and jars, putting anything with a short date to one side for the give-away box. Sam demonstrated super-human vision to spot an long expired date on a jar of sauce, it is amazing what some people will donate. Jane and David came across an interesting looking can with a picture of a rocking horse and 'Good Boy' written underneath it, what was it?! A peer at the label identified it as horse mackerel, a Portuguese delicacy that we had certainly not heard of before.

Bradley set to work packing the cans with military precision, so much so that we needed to re-stock from the container. We had soon finished checking the stock and re-packed the cupboard, ready for a busy collection day on Friday. We headed off into the cool autumn evening, winter is definitely coming.

It was only a short run back towards our start point, so we nipped into a local park to do some tricep dips and press ups, much to the surprise of a dog walker. After some great work on the arms, it was time to work our legs to everyones favourite Moby song. After a false start when my clumsy thumbs managed to turn the song off, the phone and speaker were put on the ground to avoid a repeat. All was going well until a couple appeared with a tiny, exciteable puppy who managed to stand on the phone.. Our thighs were quivering by the time we finished our third attempt.

Next week we are spreading the word about Food2You, an amazing new service launched by Age UK to deliver fresh food to older people. Sign up here

The dark didn't stop this hardy bunch making amazing progress in clearing brambles, branches and collapsed fencing from this hidden gem of a space.

For the second successive week, Ian had a new top and medal to show off, having completed the Oxford half marathon at the weekend in pretty soggy conditions, well done Ian!

We headed to the park to warm up our legs for the hill ahead of us. The stress pig adopted at last weeks task made an appearance, being thrown between members of the group who picked a warm-up exercise for us all to do. A round of star jumps, jumping lunges, high knees and mountain climbers later, we set off through the dark park, dodging the puddles as we went. Thank heavens for head torches. Once we had climbed the heights of Anerley Hill, backmarked by Ian, we descended into the dark depths of the Upper Norwood Methodist Church garden space to find our host, Pam.

The tangle of brambles, stray branches and collapsed fencing didn't phase our enthusiastic group who attacked the overgrown space with gusto. Sam did his best Statue of Liberty impression, working his arms hard by holding a light high so everyone could see what they were doing. It is amazing how much 8 people can clear in just over half an hour, with real progress made. The group stacked fallen branches and logs high, and filled 2 huge bags with brambles and other garden detritus. Fiona channeled her inner grape stomper and climbed into one of the bags to squash the weeds down to make more space.

Pam was delighted with the progress made and we could all see the potential in the space, with suggestions flying around for its future use. I'm sure we will make many more visits to help Pam transform the unloved space into a valuable community space.

Our legs were thankful for the downhill run back, past the Crystal Palace sports stadium which was busy with athletes, as was the football pitch behind the sports centre. Our timing was perfect, with a shout of 'excuse me, could you thrown the ball back' as we ran past, reminiscent of childhood days. The lights of the pitch illuminated the hill identified for everyone's 'favourite' hill runs. We practiced driving our arms first before everyone demonstrated great form whilst tackling the hill. It was soon time to head back through the VERY dark park, before a welcome stretch after all those hills and bramble bashing.

Next week we are heading back to Living Well food bank to help sort donations and organise the space, always a feel-good task. Fiona has very kindly agreed to give us a yoga workout afterwards for the fitness session, definitely something to look forward to. Sign up here.

This Sunday there is a community mission at Baxter's Field, helping them plant their spring bulbs. Sign up here if you can help at this wonderful community space.