What a session! A big warm welcome to Hollie , who bravely joined us for her first ever GoodGym session and we also had the pleasure of welcoming Michael from Tower Hamlets, who joined us for his first group run in Wandsworth. Lovely to have you both with us.

We had a new task for the evening, one that was short in distance but big on impact. Wandsworth Bereavement Services provide invaluable support to people coping with grief, offering a compassionate space for those navigating difficult times through free counselling. With a paint job last done over 30 years ago, they asked for with some much-needed painting and decorating.

We jumped straight into the task with typical GG energy – tackling the rooms named August, Summer, and Winter. Armed with tape and rollers, we delved into the technical jargon of the painting world. Words like "cutting in" were casually thrown around as if we were all seasoned pros even if the techniques were slightly more mixed.

There was some debate over whether we were getting more paint on ourselves or the walls, but I think we all know the answer – it was a bit of both. By the end of the session, however, we could all agree that the rooms were looking much fresher, and progress had definitely been made.

Next week, we’ll be back to finish what we started and finish giving the place a great facelift for the service users. If you're in the mood for some more fun this Saturday, join Jason at Age UK Wandsworth where we'll be washing buses and tackling a few other bits and bobs. It’s a task that's definitely cleaner than painting. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again to everyone for your hard work and enthusiasm for a massive task, hope to see you all for the big finish next week!

It was fantastic to celebrate International Women's Day with fellow GoodGymers by getting active, spreading the joy and doing a task that had a positive impact in our local area.

We met in a very busy Battersea Park. It was brimming with runners, as though parkrun had finished, there was another massive race taking place. We found a spot to do our warm ups, and each chose an inspirational female athlete who inspire us - they ranged all the way from marathon runners to speed climbers!

The next challenge was crossing the carriageway without getting in the way of the racers. Luckily we timed it to perfection and headed out of the park on the way to the Falcon estate in Battersea.

The sun was shining and everybody had a smile on their face as we arrived to find Senia from the Women of Wandsworth charity with all the tools we needed and instructions on where to plant our bulbs. Unfortunately I had forgotten about the invitation to wear a splash of purple and green as the official colours of IWD, but luckily Catherine had followed the brief with an excellent pair of socks and green hat. We also did manage to find some bright purple bulbs which will be a lasting reminder of our visit.

Despite the hard ground we got the planting done quickly and as we had a few minutes left we did a speedy litter pick and tidy up, even causing some passers by to stop to find out more.

Job done, we walked the short distance to the Waste Not Want Not hub, where Hadas was waiting for us with delicious treats, hot tea and coffee and music. We spent the rest of the morning happily chatting about food, choirs and dragon fruit!

Happy International Women's day to you all - thank you for coming to celebrate and spreading the positivity in our community.

We were a lovely big group last night, which was brilliant as we had a lot to celebrate!

We got to welcome G to GoodGym for the first time - great to have you join us! It was also lovely to have some visitors from Merton - hello Rachael and Jade, and welcome!

Perhaps the good turnout had something to do with our very own Catherine leading the session to become a fully fledged run leader? Catherine absolutely smashed it all, taking us seamlessly from warm up to stretches with a killer fitness session in between. Give her a big cheer!

It might have also had something to do with the double social night - we had not one, but two fantastic social options to choose from. It was our regular monthly pub quiz as usual, but as it was Shrove Tuesday there was also the choice of going for pancakes. What a decision!

We kicked off the night with some great warm ups, and the question of the week was suitably themed. What is your favourite pancake filling? Answers ranged from savoury to sweet, from the classic sugar and lemon to the more avant garde biscoff and nutella!

We set off for Doddington, where we met up with the rest of the team and set about doing various jobs. There is always loads to do at this community garden, which has been transformed from a derelict space on top of a multi story carpark to a thriving area which local residents use for growing food, educating children about nature and composting.

We were tasked with all sorts of jobs, from pruning to digging trenches, to cardboard laying and transporting strawberries, to dispatching a Christmas tree!

If that wasn't enough of a workout, little did we know Catherine had even more in store for us. A fiendishly inventive Shrove themed circuits challenge, complete with star jumps, high knees, repeater lunges, oblique crunches, vertical jumps and explosive squats. See what she did there?! The result was a great all over workout.

Then came the big decision of the night - quiz or pancakes? The majority came down on the seasonal side of things, and had a lovely time eating the sweet treats. Meanwhile a smaller group hit up the pub, and managed a place on the podium in second position! A good time was had by all.

There is lot of fun stuff coming up, including this international women's day run on Saturday - all welcome! Next weekend there is a lovely community mission to help spruce up an day care facility while Monday's group run is a painting job at Wandsworth bereavement services. Hope to see you there! And once again - congratulations to run super leader Catherine.