Our burgeoning new Goodgym Barnet run leader Antonio led the session for new starters. We gathered at Stephens House Gardens which is the jewel in the crown of Finchley. It is a charitable trust that relies on volunteers, including GoodGym. Beautiful gardens and café.

It was a chilly morning, so we started off with a gentle jog to warm up then Antonio took over the session in a sheltered pathway.

Antonio beautifully demonstrated some warmup exercises and then initiated a running session with sprints.

We then ran on to deliver leaflets from the Phoenix Cinema to local houses in the area. Another charitable trust that we like to try and help and hosts our Tuesday sessions. We did a warm down in the café with some refreshments to aid our weary limbs. look forward to all the carrot cake, Antonio!

Thanks for coming running and doing some good - I hope we ticked all the boxes.

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 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.

On a super spooky Monday evening, 7 Goodgymmers dodged the ghouls and goblins around the streets of Islington and ran together to Thornhill Square Gardens (while avoiding the rainfall too!). Area Activator Simon (in a frog onesie 🐸) set off from the Emirates Stadium with Claire, Jacqui (a brightly lit witch) and Kim (dressed up as Louise from Bob's Burgers), running up Mackenzie Road (past Holloway Road) and down past Caledonian Park.

Upon our arrival, we caught up with Anna Mckane (the local resident gardener at Thornhill Square, who was celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary that evening!), along with the rest of our crew (including Emily as a spooky pumpkin and Caitlin with her own carved pumpkin and candle!)

Together, we did a smashing job of digging and shifting some stubborn roots from within the flowerbeds, while also clearing many wheel barrows full of weeds and overgrown plants. Louise and Emily did many trips over to the Thornhill Square compost bins on the upper side of the park during our 50 minute trip. As we drew in for the end of the night, many of us made our way to The Horatia on Holloway Road to celebrate Halloween with aome refreshments and some delicious bao snacks. Well done everyone!

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NEWS

Group Run- Highbury Quadrant Helpers

Area Activator Simon will be visiting New York next week (running with Achilles International), so Alison will be leading our group run next week!

Classic shoveling and shifting task, involving filling up new planters of soil, ready for a new community garden.

https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/group-run-market-road-gardens-greening