A few GoodGym members came together to help Martin Primary School in Finchley with its Forest School paths. It’s a short run from the Phoenix Cinema to the school where we met up with John who told us what to do. (And also, that England were losing two nil to Wales…! His Irish sense of humour!) We set about our work in the dark, and our torches lit up the steaming wood chips that we spread throughout the woodland with shovels and wheelbarrows. (It was rather eerie!). we headed back for some well earned refreshments back at Phoenix Cinema café. Bizarrely in conversation we realise that we had an inordinate number of Portuguese speakers in the group.

bom trabalho feito!

A few Goodgym members came together to help Hope North London deliver a letter inviting those in need to apply to receive a Christmas Dinner Box and to join community Christmas events at the Green Man Community Centre. We ran from the Phoenix to the Grange estate in East Finchley to meet Emma and start the delivery. There are approximately 18 blocks and nearly 300 properties on the Grange estate. Each block has two or three storeys and multiple staircases with 6 or 8 flats off each staircase. So it was a great work out! We managed to deliver every leaflet! Well done guys! On the run back we also stopped to do one leg squads and paired arm pushes. Thanks for coming running and doing some good.

A few Good Gym members came together (and four dogs! ) to help Stephens house and gardens in Finchley. The clear night and the full moon seemed to cause an unplanned pack of dogs to join Goodgym Barnet... courtesy of three members. Most of us met at the Phoenix Cinema numbered up and discussed our favourite recent films or TV shows. We then set off through the dampened streets of East Finchley stopping every so often to recover from the heavy pace set by the leading pack! ( and also dealing with the odd mishap) We were all dog tired by the end of the run. We met Alison and Warwick who split us into groups to gather leaves for composting. We put them into big rubble bags and dragged or wheeled them to the compost area in the depot. - it was a good workout! We then finished the session with a breathing exercise! Almost everyone then came back for some food and drink at a nearby house.

thanks for coming running and doing some good!

paws for thought .. even dogs can do good our new doggy members are Gus, Murphy Leona and Sunny.

GoodGym runners gathered at the Phoenix Cinema as usual on clear cool night in East Finchley . We number up and chatted about our favourite national food. ( Thai Italian and Malaysian food topped the list) We then set off at a gentle jog through East Finchley station and into the back streets of Finchley and Hampstead Garden suburb. This is one of my favourite runs along Mutton Brook and then through Big Wood and Littlewood eventually reaching Barnets only Tiny Forest planted in February 2022. we enjoyed a special moment in the middle of Big Wood when we switched off all lights and enjoyed the dark stillness. On reaching Tiny Forest we set about clearing weeds to give the young saplings the best chance of thriving into next year. After about 20 minutes headed back to the Phoenix stopping off to do some additional running and torso exercises.

thanks for coming running and doing so good.

give a shout out to Louise on her first group run with Barnet.

A few GoodGym members came together to do citizen science at Tiny Forest Barnet. Nestled just south of the North circular near Mutton Brook we ran the 3 km from the Phoenix Cinema. It’s great running at night through green spaces with the waning moon lighting our way. once we arrived at the site we used our phones to import data to a central website. All we had to do was measure the girth of the tree and its height. We worked in two teams of three while the others did some weeding. after measuring the carbon captured by the young trees we headed back. These measurements are being carried out all over Britain To gauge the performance of the Tiny Forest in capturing carbon. . after running back we did a few stretches to warm down. thanks for coming running and doing some good!