Last night we #Lifted the Curfew with a special Halloween themed session that got us all out on the dark streets of Wandsworth to do good and get fit.

Our collab with This Girl Can is all about getting active outdoors in the darker months - something very close to our hearts here at GoodGym! Too often women don't feel safe running after dark. We believe there should be no barriers to anybody who wants to get out at night in the place they live, especially to spread some community love. We want to help highlight the message that there should be no curfew for anybody - our city belongs to us all.

So after a warm up, and a quick discussion about our favourite scary movies (this was our spooky Halloween special after all), we headed out towards Lark Hall park for our task.

We talked about what lifting the curfew meant to us.

Some of us noted that we remove headphones when we run at night so we can be hyper aware of what is happening around us. Some said that they take the long way round parks and public spaces to avoid being too isolated. One person had done a self defense workshop put on by This Girl Can just the week before, and many agreed that they would completely avoid poorly lit spaces after dark.

We also had the idea of creating a resource where it could show us the busiest routes are currently happening, and we would welcome a Strava tool which highlighted the safest place for women to run.

As a group we arrived at the park to find the Friends of Lark Hall park waiting for us with tools and instructions. Our job was to tidy up the beds around the trees, remove dead branches, sweep up the leaves, weed and litter pick. There was plenty to keep us going!

It was great to see what could be done with so many pairs of hands working together, and after 40 minutes the place was looking much tidier. We helped put away the tools, and it was lovely to get some appreciation from other park users as we passed!

Job done, we hit up the kids playground for our fitness session. Steph demonstrated how to zipwire in a most elegant fashion, before we divided up into pairs for some frightful fitness featuring zombie fast feet, jumping spiders, vampire squats and a few tricks thrown in for good measure!

There was just time for the skele-run back to base, before enjoying some incredible Halloween treats and a competitive (if small scale) game of pumpkin rolling. A (belated) big shout out to lovely Beth for reaching that magic 50 milestone - give her a massive cheer for doing so much good!

Nice work everybody. Don't forget about our weekend mission at Paradise cooperative garden on Sunday. Next week we're back at Doddington for our monthly session folowed by pub quiz - join us!

Last night we proved that it's twice as nice in Wandsworth as we divided up the team to tackle not one but two tasks!

We had been schedule to head to the Scout hall in Battersea to help tidy up the outside area, but we were also asked last minute to come and help sort out donations at a local community hub. What to do - say, yes, of course!

So while Steph and Jordan stepped in to lead the scouting expedition, a second group made our way down to Doddington hub. We arrived to find a room stacked with donations. These had been given to the organisation following a major fire in Battersea, but because many of the residents affected have been moved to hotels, not all the donations were able to be used.

The plan is that the hub will be opened today so that people in the community that need a little extra help can find what they need. But before that can happen, there was a lot of sorting to do! While Annabel and Ali got stuck into the enormous pile of games, deciding what was educational (quiz games), what was fun (Jenga) and what was destined for the bin (the creepy dolls head..see photo). Johnny and Felix tested their sartorial skills by going through a mountain of clothes, and even played a game of 'name the object' (we still haven't figured out what it was that Felix found!) By the end of the session the room was looking much more organised and ready for visitors today. Elizabeth, who runs the hub, called GoodGym 'a miracle team'!

While we had the benefit of an indoor task on a rainy day, the intrepid Scout group were with Peter at the hall, and had a big weeding and clearing job to take on. The drizzle didn't hold them back, and captured by photographer Jordan, the overgrown space was dealt with beautifully. Peter had this to say this morning -

'Thanks again for Goodgym's support. We managed to clear the garage area , and round by back door. Steph did a grand job of sweeping the car park. We also discovered a hole in the ground!'

Great job everybody - and you even managed to divert a potential sinkhole disaster!

A few dates for your diary - next Monday we will be off to Larkhall Park to help out there followed by a Halloween themed social -either drop me an email or join the whatsapp group to find out the finer details of the post-run social but the idea is that we were will be going to a local pub with some Halloweed themed fun. All welcome!

We also have a mission coming up that needs plenty of help - we're back at Paradise for a Sunday morning session shoveling manure. It promises to be a great work out in the fresh air at a beautiful community space!

Last night we visited a very special place in the middle of Battersea Park to help support a local legend!

Battersea Park's peace pagoda is an iconic part of London's riverside, and was constructed in 1984 by a group of volunteers, including The Reverend Gyoro Nagase. It is a symbol of peace and unity and a spiritual place for many. Today the Reverend is the sole caretaker of the pagoda, and lives in a small building nearby.

It is a lot of work for one person, so we were asked to come and lend a hand. It's a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the small temple and to be part of this amazing part of Battersea history!

So after meeting for a warm up and to take a guess at which were the least known European capitals (according to Pointless it is Podgorica, Ljubljana and Bratislava!) we ran down to Battersea Park. Our first stop was the Thrive herb garden where we grabbed tools then split up into two groups.

The first party stayed at the garden to free some tiles from the brambles that had grown over them. These weren't just any tiles though - they were tiles that had been blessed by the Reverend Buddhist monk so they can be used to fix the Pagoda. This definitely means that Chris, Becca, Felix and Pritesh are forever more a part of Battersea history!

Meanwhile the rest of the group headed off to the small house and temple a short walk away to help clear the garden there. We were greeted by The Reverend Gyoro Nagase himself, and got straight on with the main jobs. Tasks included cutting a walkway in the hedge for the Reverend to get access to the back of the garden, and collecting up the masses of leaves that had collected and were making getting around the space tricky.

It was an amazing spot to work in, right by the famous fountains, and in the middle of a very quiet, very dark Battersea Park. It almost felt like we had the place to ourselves until we emerged from the area and back into the main carriageway which was buzzing with other running groups and cyclists.

We reunited to find that the tile group had done a very efficient job, and packed everything away. Join us next week as we head over to the scout hall for a tidy up! Dib, dib, do good and get fit!

Last night our trip to Doddington community garden happened by the bright light of a full supermoon, an event which is said to have some peculiar effects on our behaviour...

With the moon at its closest point to us earthlings in its orbit, it is much bigger and brighter than normal - very handy for tasks happening as the nights draw in. It meant that we could strip away the bindweed, cut back the willow tree, prune the roses, sweep the maze of leaves and dig in several plants much more easily as the light faded.

Apparently the proximity of the moon and its increased lunar energy also means that we are more active. That explains the high levels of power and strength on display during our glute based fitness session. With record speed we knocked out split squat pulses, high knees, fast feet and plie squats.

The energy levels did not stop there as we channeled this heightened alertness into our monthly post task pub quiz, where Team GGW ran home with the silver. A tre-moon-dous session all round!

This weekend we have several community missions to choose from, including two session to help set up and close down a celebration of Africa market in Battersea.

If you're available tonight, we are still looking for some help at the oldest youth club in the world, be great if you could help make it happen!

Next week we have a very special new task - find out more right here.