A welcome return out west to visit Mr R, who unfortunately managed to pick up the lurgy (technical term) over the festive period, so we had a suitably socially distanced chat, before I took his list, money, reusable bag, and photos of the specific coffee and bread that he wanted, and set off out towards chilly Maida Vale.

I was delighted (as much for the run report title) that a bag of lemons was high on his list, although Little Gem lettuces proved scarce, as did Tesco's own brand of butter, for which I had to make a substitute of a single block of unsalted Lurpak (at twice the price!). Mr R, as always, was extremely grateful for the assistance, and I wished him well in his ongoing recovery.

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.

Clean went very well with the extra member

Good event

It was great to catch up with Ms D after being away (me, not her) for most of December - we had much to discuss and exchange notes on, and she seemed in good spirits in spite of her various ongoing aches. A one-off request to divert to Rymans to pick up a new 2026 calendar with text big enough that she could actually read(!), and then back to the familiar aisles for her weekly shop (and lottery ticket) and I was soon back at her front door with treasure in hand.

Milk delivered on a sunny frosty day.