A last minute change of task yesterday meant that rather than running to help open up a community garden which has been closed for years, we were down at Battersea Park's beautiful Thrive therapy garden. This amazing space is used to promote therapeutic horticultural skills to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, or those who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable. At GoodGym we truly believe in the power of getting active outside so it was the perfect fit for us!

We started off the night by welcoming some new faces to our group - so great to have you along for your first session Ben, Mike and Helen. Give them a big cheer, GoodGym!

Thankfully it was a lovely warm night compared to last week's washout, so we did a brief warm up to get those muscles firing. Before we set off on our 2km run to the park, we also went round the group to find out what everyday item (aside from our phone) we couldn't live without. Coffee and delicious things to eat came very high up, as did our watches, beds and our trusty kettle!

We made our way into the park, trying not to notice all the picnics and cool drinks at the cafe, and headed into the therapy garden where we had a list of jobs waiting for us. There were plenty of tasks to choose from, from watering, litter picking, weeding and leaf raking. Everybody cracked on with their chosen task, and somehow it was Paul who ended up on the wrong end of the hose again - or perhaps given the warm weather the cooling off was welcome?

At the end of 40 minutes we had got loads done, including collecting a huge ton bag full of leaves and making sure all the plants (and some humans) got a good watering. It was a calm, regenerative place to spend the evening and easy to see what a great resource the garden is for local people. We'll be back across the park at the herb garden in a few weeks, so get those green fingers ready for more Thrive fun!

It was almost time to run back, but not before an intense plank challenge. For four minutes without a break we held various plank positions, working all those ab muscles. If that wasn't enough we finished off with a core triathlon before heading back to base for stretches. Great work everybody.

Next week we will be back at the Rose community centre to finish off a huge painting job. There are plenty of other sessions to get involved with too, from supporting junior parkrun to helping deliver food for vulnerable people.

As always, if you have any questions about any sessions or events coming up don't hesitate to let me know, and if you haven't joined already we have a busy whatsapp group full of all the GG and social news. Happy GoodGyming everybody!

If only the skies had been as blue as the paint job we did last night!

We started off the evening dry as a bone, and even though the gathering clouds were ominous, we were looking forward to an inside task. There may have been a little bit of disappointment for some in the air after the football the night before but we were cheered up with a flying visit from a friend - great to have you back for a session Jack!

The theme of the evening was positivity (especially given the prospect of our margs and margs social later on that evening), so after our warm up we each told the group something that gives us a little lift. Answers included sugar, gin, ringing a friend, yoga, coffee and entering a race - which I think is a very good range!

We set off for the ROSE clubroom, a space which is the home to lots of important resources for local people, including free workshops, classes and meals, a community engagement group, local clean ups sessions and events for children.

When we arrived we found the place already set up and ready to go, and we were delighted to see that rather than refreshing white walls with more white paint as we usually do, we had a major colour transformation ahead of us. Grabbing our brushes, masking tape and rollers, we set about changing the colour scheme from a browny purple to a fabulous bright blue!

During the course of the evening there was plenty of Changing Rooms v 30 Minute Makeover chat, remembering Smiley Carol and all the transformations that didn't quite go to plan! Luckily the new colour at the community centre was universally approved of, and we managed to successfully get the first coat on relatively quickly. We were on a roll(er)! We'll be back in a couple of weeks to do the other sections of wall.

We were just having our group photo taken and finishing up the last of the clearing up when the skies darkened even more and there came the sound of thunder rumbling. The next thing we knew the heavens had opened. We stood under cover for a few minutes discussing what to do, but it was showing no signs of stopping. There was nothing for it but to bite the bullet and head into the storm. The rain spurred us on to a nice fast run back to base and we were back in record time. Or perhaps it was the prospect of margarita pizzas and cocktails at a local bar? Who knows!

Next week we're back at a local community garden which is being reopened to the public after being shut since lockdown. It would be great to see you there!

We've also started weekly Sunday morning sessions helping out with the junior parkrun in Battersea Park. It's a really great event helping get young people active, so if you'd like to join in the fun then please sign up here.

As the temperature rose, we were delighted to find we had the perfect task ahead of us in Wandsworth last night - washing the mobility buses at Age UK!

The temptation of a nice cool hose down meant that we sped through our warm up and question of the week, which in honour of all the recent Taylor concerts, was music themed.

We were Swift in our run up to the day centre, which is used by local elderly people for socialising, classes and other important resources. The first job was to connect the hose, which was soon being used to cool us down. Freshly watered we had to Shake it Off, before getting on with the various tasks.

We divided into groups to tackle weeding, washing buses, cleaning windows and watering the new flower beds. Luckily everybody got their chosen job, so there was no Bad Blood between us.

After 40 minutes of hard work we were done, but rather than spending the rest of the evening staring into Blank Space, we headed off to the common for our fitness session.

Using Paul's special commemorative coin, we gambled on either head or tails for various exercises. The frogs were done in true Style, the final jumping jacks completed All Too Well. Great effort everybody!

On Thursday we have a community mission close to Tooting tube that is looking very quiet - could you spare an hour to help a charity which supports adults with learning difficulties?. Would love to see you there! It could be a task that is Taylor made for you....

Don't forget that next Monday is our regular trip to Doddington garden followed by the monthly social - sign up here!.

What a happy place Wandsworth is on a Monday night! With blue skies above us, twenty GGers met to do some good at our regular visit to Doddington community garden, and were delighted to welcome Jordan, Chelsey and James to their first session. Give them a massive cheer!

After our warm up, we went round the group to find out the last film or TV program everybody had watched, and discovered we had some eclectic tastes, ranging from Casualty to Saltburn! It was just a short run down to the garden, so we wasted no time in setting off.

As soon as we arrived Malissa, the lead volunteer, got us started on a number of jobs. This space, which was once a disused carpark, has truly been transformed into a flourishing garden which takes a lot of work to keep it going. Tasks ranged from tying up the raspberry canes and removing bindweed, watering, moving bricks and even creating a brand new raised bed which will soon be planted with lots of vegetables.

Our efforts didn't go unnoticed. The garden is used by people living in the high rises around the estate, and one neighbour sent Malissa a picture of us from her window saying that she had spotted us working hard! Have a look at the photos to check it out.

There was just time for some really lovely words from Jordan and a competitive fitness session which saw the group racing round the square. There was some very rapid running and great form on the holds. Well done everybody!

It was the first Monday of the month which meant our pub quiz and social. Two teams put up some strong performances, emerging in third and fourth place. Don't forget, everybody always welcome, the more the merrier (and the more specialist subjects covered, the better).

We have lots of fun sessions coming up, starting with marshaling at the WLQP walk this Saturday where you'll be rewarded for your efforts with a drink, lunch and entertainment! There is a nice task coming up to help tame a small community garden in Wandsworth Town on the 15th, and if you'd like to join us for parkrun (running or volunteering) at Clapham on the 22nd, followed by a coffee and a quick water of our GG garden, then sign up here. Don't forget we also have our weekly session to help deliver Sunday lunch for vulnerable people. If you'd like to join our whatsapp group where a lot of the social side of things is mentioned, just send me a message.

Hope to see you at the next opportunity to get active and do good very soon!

Another beautiful early summer's evening, another Monday task in a special community space! Tonight 12 of us met up to run to Christchurch school where we had a big job to tackle the overgrown brambles that are threatening to take over the pupils' secret garden.

We enjoyed a downhill run to the school, where, after retrieving the keys, we let ourselves in to the space. It's a special area which is well hidden, and has been an amazing resource for the primary school children who have learned about the environment, how to grow and then cook and eat the fruit and veg they grow.

Unfortunately the plants have made a bid to take over, so we quickly donned gloves, selected our tools of choice, and waged war. The massive bramble was carefully clipped and bagged, the sticky weeds was shown no mercy, and the weeds around the site were plucked and composted.

After a good stint we headed over to the park nearby for some sprinting games. Despite some very sketchy descriptions of the drills from me, we tested our reactions and turn of speed with some impressive results! After a coin toss based chasing game, we moved on to chase the hare, where Sophie showed some brilliant form as the hare and Dylan and the rest of the group displayed steely determination to chase her down! All that was left was a brief core challenge and run back to base.

Great effort and results tonight, well done everybody. Next week Step will be leading a community mission instead of our usual group run. You can choose to meet her at the BAC as usual to run to our task at the GoodGym garden, or meet the group directly at the task. the choice is yours, but you can sign up and find all the details here] (https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/planting-and-weeding).