The Run Director was so happy to see the four GoodGym volunteers who sprinted to the rescue at Peckham Rye junior parkrun on 2 August 2026, keeping the event running smoothly through the summer slump and proving that even when the season gets hot, the volunteering spirit never breaks a sweat, a reminder that showing up early is the best way to start the day on the right foot and outrun the duvet

7 GGers ran to Cossall community centre on wednesday. Helping Jaki by giving some flood damaged chairs a bubble bath.

Followed by some essential post run hydration at Copeland Park

It was the GoodGym Central team's away day on Wednesday, and while high-minded philosophising and strategising has its place (lord don't I love the sound of my own voice at times), GoodGym is at its best when it is all about getting things done.

So after a pit-stop for lunch we (that is most of us who hadn't also ordered dessert and stayed at the restaurant) hot-tailed it across to St George the Martyr Church to help the Borough Food Cooperative team with a range of tasks.

Some of the team hit the kitchen, sorting, packing and putting away a range of foodstuffs, including a mountain of potatoes and possibly the largest collection of Lurpak containers I have ever seen. Given their cost these days, it genuinely looked like a Fort Knox's worth of buttery bullion.

Another group was tasked with giving the outside and entrance to the church a bit of spruce up, clearing up weeds, tidying flower pots and beds, sweeping up dust and cobwebs and generally giving the place a fresher feel. It must have worked as two passers-by asked if they could come and sit in the adjacent garden, and enjoy the sun trap. Their leisurely catch up clearly had an effect as we ended up covering a range of topics ourselves as we worked, including:

• AI... far too much AI chat
• Future evolution of humanity
• Writing books and gender representation in thriller writing
• Marketing budgets
• GoodGym partnerships to maintain walk and cycle ways across the UK

So there were some work conversations at least.

Jack, Jacob and Chalomi were also given the oddly Victorian sound task of shuttling bags of coal down to the nearby rectory house. Reports from their adventures indicate this was a far more sweaty and awkward job than expected due to an antagonistic trolley, but anyone who knows these wannabe Dickensian street urchins will also know that it'll take more than incompliant wheels to spoil their GoodGym-ing fun.

As we gathered for a final photo, we were met with the loveliest of feedback from the people running the project and the impact we made, putting us in the perfect headspace to go get an ice-cream (and do some more planning work obviously).

Awaydays should be about bringing people together around common values and goals - that also happens to be something GoodGym is perfect at and indeed it was the perfect way to share time, ideas and experiences with each other.

Southwark Goodgymer Sam and myself made the trip to Camberwell Green on a sunny Saturday morning to help the team set up their stall.

We set up the stall up in no time, enabling the wonderful team to help spread the message about the work of the forum

Yesterday, 10 Goodgymmers went to Nunhead Cemetery to help Andreas from Friends of Nunhead Cemetey move some bricks and repair a path.

We split into two groups: one for wheeling bricks and another group for repairing a path. It was a fun evening, and we enjoyed helping the volunteers at FONC.

With England’s battle against France still sparking excitement, the young runners at Peckham Junior parkrun were raring to go on a sun-soaked morning. Three GoodGymers joined the core team to help the event score another cracking success, bringing plenty of energy, encouragement and community spirit. The juniors flew around the course with football-inspired flair, proving that when pace meets play, everyone’s a winner. There were no offsides, plenty of fast breaks, and one clear goal throughout the morning, cross the finish line smiling!