Rushing from Heathrow airport, Sam and Maria just made it in time to Old Spike for the group run. Just having enough time to get change before welcoming in John and newbie, Alex!

It was also a first for our contact tonight as this request came through a few weeks back and we managed to convert it into a group run for tonight. The location was just above Burgess Park, so it would take over 20 minutes to run just over 3.5k to get to Southwark Charities, so Sam opted to skip the warm-up and get there on time as runners were coming into Old Spike for 18:45 on the dot. Yet, since Alex was the newbie, we had to do the GG intros and the all-important ice-breaker question.

Since it was National Teddy Bear Day in the US, Sam's ice-breaker question for tonight was about teddy bears and plush toys: Tell me the name of your first teddy bear/plush toy and do you still have it?

We had popular names like bunny (rabbit with floppy ears...) and classic ones like Teddy and Ted, but Lindy had photos of her "pass me down" teddy bear, who is 36 years old...before and after in the photos...

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Brushing off our mid-week issues

Despite the lack of a headtorch, Sam lead the way whilst Mikhail backmarked as we ran through the busy Rye Lane before going into the quiet Surrey Canal path and unlike last week, we turned left to go towards Burgess Park. Through the north side of park we went (over the lake bridge), arriving close to Surrey Square to meet Lottie at St. Mary Newington Close. We did meet Lindy just outside too as she ran from home. Inside already getting on with the task, we had Andrada, Elena and Folarin who were painting away as they all came by foot (either running or walking).

The task tonight was a two-fold. We had to split the group according to the amount of paint brushes as the other task was to sand down and prepare three more benches and two more chairs for painting next time. Newbie Alex, Clare, Gemma and John all opted to sand the benches and chairs. Whilst Emma, Emma, Maria and Steve ganged up to paint the bench blue, we had individual and duo efforts from Andrada, Elena, Folarin, Lindy and Paulin to paint the chairs a multitude of colours including green, pink and yellow! Mikhail, as he has been for the past few GoodGym group runs, was our resident photographer as Sam went around talking to people and coordinated two more group run sessions with Lottie in 2024!

During the 40 minute session, we managed to put a coat of paint on four chairs and a bench whilst sanding down three benches and two chairs ready for next time. We will be back in the new year for another coat (possibly two) and there's even talks about painting the community space.

After our customary group photo and a quick DBS check, we said our goodbyes parted ways. Most ran back to Old Spike with a few dropping off at certain points as Maria backmarked to ensure no one got left behind! Another successful group run and can't believe we only have four more until the end of the year!

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Firstly, we welcomed Alex for his first GoodGym session. It was also another first for everyone as we arrived at a new contact, Southwark Charities. Who doesn't like a painting task and we have to be grateful that the weather stayed dry. Thanks again to my backmarkers for running the 3.5k run each way. We will be back to St. Mary Newington Close for more!

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Thank You to Lottie

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lottie for preparing all the tools for us in advance and giving us an achievable task! We will be back in February and Spring for more painting!

It rained all day and then stopped a couple of hours before our group run, so our numbers stayed at around 15 sign ups. As Sam arrived at Old Spike, he prepared a small cake and candles as tonight they were celebrating Nathan's 200th good deeds with GoodGym! Congrats! 🎉

Our run tonight would take us over 20 minutes as we would have to run just under 4k to get to Galleywall Nature Reserve, so Sam opted to skip the warm-up and take it slow to run there. Yet, first the intros and ice-breaker question.

Since it was STEM Day, Sam's ice-breaker question for tonight was about this day celebrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths: Tell me any fun or interesting facts about STEM Day?

Everyone had weird and wonderful facts, but I can remember Mikhail's clearing as he said if you ever find yourself in a car that is sinking in water and you are trapped...take the headrest out of the driver or passenger seat and head to the back of the car. You need to smash the rear window with the two pointy metal things to get out. The pressure from the two points will break the glass.

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Shift work with 3.5 wheelbarrows

Straight out of the blocks as Sam lead the way whilst Mikhail backmarked as we ran through the busy Rye Lane before going into the quiet and dodgy (at night) Surrey Canal path, over Old Kent Road and onto the cycle path that would take us to Galleywall Nature Reserve. On the way over, we met Tim on his bike, so he followed us before seeing Benjamin and Folarin at the task. We made our way into the dark Galleywall Nature Reserve to find Alan and Eddie.

The task tonight was a two-fold. Five GoodGymers were needed with Alan to move sand from a tonne bag to the polytunnel so he could start laying tiles on the floor. Daryl, Katy and Tim were up for moving sand in wheelbarrows whilst Clare and Gemma helped Alan lay the brick tiles down. Putting it in place and ensuring it's level. The other task required all hands, but having only one wheelbarrow and a half, we started off slow.

Firstly, Benjamin and Emma had to finish off burying a wooden plank to mark the edge of the path whilst Lindy, Isaac, Nathan and Sam all took it in turns to shovel wet and heavy gravel from tonne bags onto a wheelbarrow to transport it and dump it onto the path. Here Folarin and Maria proceeded to rake the gravel so that it was even.

Noticing that the time was edging closer to 20:00, we opted to retire one wheelbarrow for the sand moving to help with the gravel moving before all three wheelbarrows were on gravel. There was a fourth wheelbarrow, but it put in a shift before retiring altogether.

Mikhail was our residence photographer for the night and ensuring he captured all activities. Whilst we had the "All Out 00s" playing in the background.

40 minutes after we had arrived, we had to call it. Half of the polytunnel was done and a first layer of gravel was put down. It was tough work tonight and with a 4k run each way, everyone felt it by the time to arrived back at Old Spike. Some of us just had to get in a Guinness or two at the Gowlett's Arms...

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! It's our longest run in GG Southwark, so thank you for keeping up with the pace to get to and from the task. It was also a harder task as shovelling and transporting wet gravel and sand is heavy, so extra kudos to those who did this. It was all worth it in the end as we got Alan and Eddie prepped to finish off the task this weekend!

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Thank You to Alan and Eddie

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Alan and Eddie for preparing all the tools for us in advance and giving us a hard, but rewarding task! We will be back in January for more!

Halloween might be just around the corner, but our group runs land on wicked Wednesdays, but especially this Wednesday Sam was preparing to howl his GG speech to those who would listen...

As the clocks stuck 18:45, there was an eerie silence from those who came to Old Spike for the group run as Sam updated everyone with what's going on in GG Southwark.

Sam's ice-breaker question for tonight was Halloween themed: What is your scariest nightmare / character?

Many of us instantly thought of Freddy Krueger, but we had Annabelle/Chucky (creepy dolls), the girl / victims in The Ring, the creepy person in Luther, dogs, snakes and even Richard pitched in with his son getting hurt.

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Fang-tastic time

After our quick warm-up in the alleyway, Sam lead the way whilst Maria backmarked as we ran through the backstreets of Peckham, up Grove Hill and down it on the other side to arrive in Camberwell. A last 500 meter sprint to get to the Salvation Army Camberwell Corps.

We met Richard and those GoodGymers that said they would meet us at the task: Folarin, Isaac, Mikhail and Vic.

We were here to clean and disinfect children toys for their nursery. These toys get used four times a day, so a clean from time to time is very much needed. Yet, Richard also needed 1-2 people to sweep the leaves outside, so with a headtorch, Folarin did this quickly.

The rest of the team grabbed the toys from the cupboard and put them on the prepared foldable tables. With warm water and a sponge, everyone proceeded to disinfect and clean toys whilst listening to Sam's Halloween playlist. Mikhail was our photographer for the night and ensure he got a photo of everyone getting involved with the task.

Those who had been here several times knew the setup and so an orderly system was in place with Isaac and Lindy putting on a spook-ta-cular performance in putting back the toys in the cupboard...as there is an art to it.

As 20:00 hit and with everything done, Sam called it a night as we had to dash off back to Old Spike before the vampires come out. Going via the slightly longer, but more direct route with Maria backmarking, we made it back in time for a stretch and a cool down.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! That hill is always tough to run up, but I felt like we didn't struggle as much this time. Thanks for working as a team to complete the task in less than 45 minutes. Many hands do make light work and hopefully, it was enjoyable too!

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Thank You to Richard

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard for staying later to open up the centre and prepare the tables, sponges and warm water for us to clean and disinfect the toys. We will be back on the 29th of November for more plus any extra bits and bobs that need doing.

As we waited outside Old Spike for Marcus to finish up cleaning, we enjoyed the warmer weather than the inferno that was presented to us inside. We met newbie, Michelle, who came over from work in Mayfair, but lives in Acton! Wow, we appreciate her attending our GoodGym session, which is so far away from her work and home. Thank you, Michelle and I hope you'd enjoyed your first GoodGym experience!

On a warm and muggy day, waiting inside Old Spike wasn't ideally as we welcomed Alastair, Alex, Becky, Daryl, Emily, Emma, Gemma, Paulin, Mikhail Nathan and Tim as Sam quickly went through the GG intro speech before heading outside to get warm on the Green!

After our warm-up, Sam's ice-breaker for tonight was a question on yesterday, which was: Yesterday, was International Day of Charity, what is your favourite charity or the one you donate/fundraise to the most?

We had the obvious ones like GoodGym, Cancer Research UK, NSPCC, RSPCA and MacMillan, but Clare gave us a heart-warming answer as she had fundraised for a friend who was in a coma. Charities are not just organisations, but are acts of kindness.

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Arigato, Kanpai

With Sam leading from the front and Lindy backmarking, we made it to Salvation Army Camberwell Corps within 20 minutes to find Folarin, Mikhail and Paulin already there. Paulin was helping Valentina setup the cleaning stations by filling buckets with warm water.

As we piled in, Olive, Magda, Vic and Abigail met us at the task as we had to split the group into three:

• Team Gardening, who weed the outside garden and a partial part of the parking lot consisted of: Daryl, Mikhail, Olive and Vic.
• Team Window Cleaning, cleaned all the windows inside and out consisted of: Clare, Elena and Gemma.
• Team Disinfecting and Cleaning Toys, the rest of us assisted with the main job of the evening, which was to disinfect and clean the toys in the cupboard and all around the main hall as the Salvation Army Camberwell Corps prepare for the toddlers to come back and use this space next week.

Within 45 minutes, we managed to complete our main task and even put all the toys away back into the cupboard, which in itself is a task of minds (how do I find all these toys in?!). After a quick group photo and small speech to Daryl for his selfless act on Sunday to help another GoodGymer cross over the finish line at the Big Half, we ran back to Old Spike.

Since it was the first Wednesday of the month, a few of us walked over to Kanpai for a couple of rice beers, sake, corn fritters and skewers to say our goodbyes to this establishment before they move "homes" from Peckham to Bermondsey.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Firstly, a massive thank you to my taskforce team, Daryl and Lindy for backmarking the run there and back. Thank you to the rest of you for coming along as you saw that power in numbers means we can get not one, but three tasks done within 45 minutes! Thank you to those who stayed on afterwards for a final farewell drink to Kanpai before they move to Bermondsey!

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Thank You to Valentina

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Valentina who recently moved over here from the US and was covering Catherine! Thank you for having all the items and tools ready for us to tackle the tasks and we hope you saw a massive difference within the 45 minutes that we were there. We will be back in November and we'll arrange that shortly.