For our first indoor session of winter (I know right?!), Barnet Goodgym brought their energy and gusto to St Mary's Church in Finchley Central. Following a bit of a storm, a ceiling cave in and half a year of rain management, the church finally had the gutters fixed and roof patched. All that remains to mend are the pews.

Goodgym to rescue - nine of us in all! Five of us braved the bleak rain, gathering at the Phoenix - Beattie arriving first, as usual - for a run up the East End Road, including Amir who popped over from Brent. Lucinda and Subham took up back marking, though Subham kindly took the lead as we neared our destination, steering us to a lovely car-free route around the back of Stephens House - a run leader in the making!

Arriving at St Mary's Church in good time, we were met by our host, Helen, and Paul, Kirsten and our honorary mascot, Gus. Soon after Amanda and Theodore rocked up and we got to work.

The task involved waxing down damaged pews with steel wool padding, leaving them for a few minutes, then polishing them hard with tea towels. A fairly simple task, but one that turned into a good work out. The polishing was the real energetic work, requiring a lot of pressure to smooth out the hardening wax. But with so many of us we made light work of roughly 8 pews in the morning prayer section. The pews are used on a daily basis, so they were really glad for the work.

After, Helen gave us a quick tour of the church and a brief history of some of the older parts and decorations. Maybe we'll be back to do a bit more work, as the other pews might be in need of a bit of TLC anyway.

Then, with that lovely, satisfying feeling in our chests, we headed to the nearby pub to round the evening off by slaking our thirst and sating our bellies.

Braving 3 degrees of winter and one of the wettest Tuesdays this year, four unstoppable Goodgymmers gathered, soggily in the Phoenix Cinema's foyer. Tonight's mission was a simple litter picking, coupled with the desire to simply get moving and shake off the long day's cabin fever.

Paul brought the gear and George set the goal: up one side of the high street to the library, then over the road to that weird dodgy bit of wire fenced land with bottles and other rubbish tucked down the sides, then back down the other side of the high street. We paired up, George with Subham and Paul with Rachel, plogging and jogging. The relatively short 2km route turned into an endurance test against the grim weather, but we prevailed, spurred on by the promise of a drink in the warmth of the Old White Lion.

Next week we may have a special indoor session for St Mary's Church, so we'll be indoors at least!

A few people came online to do yoga!

yoga talk There are many different types of meditation yet the goal of all of them is to calm and focus the mind to the point where the meditator experiences themselves in nothing but the present moment, the Now, with nothing but one single thought in mind.

The start of February is a significant time of the year in two calendars. Jewish tradition celebrates Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for Trees, from sundown. And in Celtic traditions, Imbolc takes place at the same time, celebrating the first signs of spring.

So what better time to gather for another fantastic planting session with The Orchard Project and Earthwatch Europe? This time we met in Stoneyfields Park, a lovely green space in Edgware, with a beautiful waterfall and lots of mature trees along the banks of the Deans Brook.

In a muddy corner of the park, our hosts had set up a marquee and brought the usual wintry fare: mulled apple juice and cider, shovels, fruit trees and bushes, mulch... As with our earlier orchard planting session with them at Hollickwood Park, we were there to provide an extra bit of physical oomph for the other volunteers - of which there were over 20!

Many hands made light work of the ten trees going in the ground: 4 apples, 2 pears, a plum, a mulberry, a sweet chestnut and a crab apple. There were around half a dozen berry bushes too. After an informative explanation of the process by orchard expert Daniella, we set to the task.

A great tip: if you plant your trees in a circular hole, then the roots will curve around in a spiral and not spread out properly. But if you plant in a square hole, they spread out faster and the tree will root stronger!

Despite rain, mud, and only one boshing device (a 'rammer') for getting the stakes in, everyone worked together brilliantly and we were done in a couple of hours. Then, after a bit of a snack and some apple-based beverages, we cleared down, admire our work and celebrated the start of spring.