The temperature was dropping quickly last night but the energy levels were high for our first group run of 2026.

Maybe that was because we had a lovely warm inside task waiting for us at St Saviour's in Battersea? This church and community hub had asked us for a hand coming to take down the decorations we put up the year before, which nicely coincided with the freezing weather.

Or perhaps it was because we got to welcome Katharine and Rohan to their first session - great to meeting you, both!

It could have been the prospect of a great community mission helping a south London nursery create a space for under fives in the garden this Saturday. Jobs will include removing all old sand from the sandpit, putting in plants, sorting and cleaning the greenhouse and creating a seating area round the fire pit. This will be a fun task that will really make a difference!

I think it probably had a lot to do with the fact that we were coming together for another great year of GoodGyming, running and fun in Wandsworth. We started off with a warm up and pledged how many GoodGym good deeds we wanted to complete in January. Answers ranged from 3 to 125 - which I'm excited about seeing happen!

We enjoyed a nice downhill run to the task where we were met by Layton and Catherine who manage the space. After a few instructions we got started removing baubles from trees, shifting chairs, hoovering up pine needles and the mammoth job of unstringing all the lights around the vast space. Knowing what a tricky job it was unwinding the many metres of string lights when they had not been put away so carefully, Felix and Jordan (having put them up) were extra diligent in packing them away neatly. At the end of the year we'll thank our past selves for doing such a good job.

We got the task done quickly, with Catherine and Layton both commenting that it would have taken them hours. Great work everybody. There was time for a lovely toasty strength and conditioning session on the floor of the centre, and it was good to see that the spirit of insurrection against the weekly fitness session was still alive and kicking this year!

After a run back to the start, we did some stretches and even started making plans for GoodGym Wandsworth's 10th anniversary this year - summer '26 in Paris, anybody? Looking to the more immediate future, we have next week's session to get excited about. We'll be heading to Doddington community garden for our regular task followed by a pub quiz social.

🎊 Our evening started with a cheerful meet-up before we set off together — some of us running, others walking — to reach the shop, getting those steps (and smiles) in along the way 🏃‍♀️🚶‍♂️. It was the perfect way to warm up before an evening of treasure hunting and teamwork!

When we arrived, we were greeted by the lovely Dr. Christina, who gave us a VIP behind-the-scenes tour of the shop and its hidden basement full of wonders. Bag after bag, shoe after shoe, and shelf after shelf of books 🤯 — it felt like discovering a secret world beneath the high street! Dr. Christina’s passion for the project was contagious, and we were all excited to dive straight in.

Chau took charge of the shoe department 👠, turning chaos into order with some creative flair, while Caroline and I rolled up our sleeves to sort and hang clothing ready for the shop floor 👗. Caroline even discovered a glamorous toy chimpanzee friend sporting bright lipstick 💄🐵 — definitely the style icon of the night! Dr. Christina showed us how to assess donations and prepare items for recycling, giving us a peek into the sustainability side of charity retail ♻️.

After our hard work, we ran and walked back together under the evening sky — a lovely way to round off a feel-good session full of laughter, teamwork, and a sense of purpose 💖. The Bassuah Legacy shop truly is a labour of love, and we’re proud to have played a small part in keeping its legacy shining bright. There’s still plenty more to do, and we can’t wait to return! 💪✨

Last night at GoodGym Wandsworth we had a very special double celebration - we had not one but two huge milestones to celebrate! Ladies and gentlemen of GoodGym, please put your (gloved) hands together for the wonderful Joanna and for Annabel who both did their 100th good deed last night - absolutely amazing doing good and getting active. From shifting compost, to sorting food donations, creating a GG garden, to painting community centres, they've contributed so much to their community. Great work Annabel and Jo!

We met as usual at the BAC to do our warm up and to discuss what we'd like to do, in honour of the milestones, before we're 100. The group is obviously very intrepid, as people opted for visiting all seven continents, skydiving and bungee jumping!

Our job for the evening involved less travel (although it was still a good 5km run up a long hill!) but significantly more mess. We had been asked by Balham Nursery to come and create a 'mud club' for the under fives. This was definitely our sort of task, as it involved annihilating anything in our way, and exposing as much mud as we possibly could!

Meanwhile there were some slightly cleaner tasks that did involve some heavy lifting, which Jason, Ali and Felix took care of - getting a good work out up several flights of stairs in the process!

Before long the job was done, and the headteacher was really pleased with what we had got done. here's what she had to say this morning after the kids had arrived:

A huge thank you to you and your team for all your help and hard work yesterday. The mud club is a hit and it was all made possible by you. Please extend my thanks to everyone

I think there are going to be quite a few muddy knees among the under fives of Wandsworth today!

Great work everybody. Next week we're back doing more good in the neighbourhood - hope to see you there!

We also have a mission on Saturday to help out at Doddington garden if you're free and want to kick of the weekend with a lovely outdoor session