On a chilly Monday evening some of the usual suspects had the pleasure of welcoming Herman & Tina for their first ever Goodgym group session!

They did join in at the 3-weekly Foodbank session last Saturday and bravely ignored the chilly weather to come and visit the Baby Bank.

As per usual, Linda kindly took charge of the walking group, chased down by the runners, with pretty good timings to arrive at the Cornerstone Church at roughly the same time as Julia by bike.

Adam was waiting, bags ready to be sorted, labels on the tables, kettle boiling - all the ingredient for a nice evening sorting (and posing with) baby clothing ready for a very welcome care package for a mom in need of a helping hand.

Time flew past and before we realised the bags were sorted, results packed away and with a smile the crew went back walking / running / riding.... see you in 6 weeks, Baby Bank

Management of Wanstead Community House asked if we'd be so kind as to spend some time and energy sorting out the mushy layer of leaves & tree bits & mud covering the car park, making it slippery underfoot.

So armed with brooms & shovels we set to work, removing a bin load of muck from in between the parked cars.

Gym & good parts done, the crew split in a walking group and a running one, with a promise to meet back at the same time.... which surprisingly happened!

Thanks for mucking in team!

Perhaps a day early, but it felt just right to add a little Halloween to the Monday evening group session.... or was it just an excuse to dress up?

Sign-up numbers ran into double figures, perhaps down to the suggestion of a little social at the pub afterwards 😉

A few had to unfortunately pull out for various reasons, leaving 9 brave souls to venture out in the dark & misty world, searching for litter.

Linda took Helen & Sharon on a walk down the High Street, while Cedric took the running group to a quiet corner freshly mowed to clear some litter there before the group went round to the usual stretch along the A12.

A few bags and a jog round Leyton Flats later the crew reunited back at base, before strolling down the road to the local pub for a well earned drink.

P.S.... thanks to Elegia for the creative face painting!

This time of the year things do feel a little different with the darkness setting in earlier and earlier, but at least the Baby Bank is a familiar cornerstone.

Linda kindly led the walking group with Helen, while the rest got themselves sorted and waited for some potential latecomers before setting off to chase the walkers, with Becca telling James & me about the adventures of her first half marathon - give her some cheers!

Reunited at the Cornerstone church we found a different member waiting for us with bags of donations to be sorted. As a well oiled machine we set to work, much to babybanks Helens relieve since it was her first time at an evening like this.

Bags of donations sorted, piles packed away and water glasses washed & put away, it was time to make our way back to Wanstead, job done.

Next time, 30/10, we hope to go to a new task, helping tidy up a sensory garden - details tbc.

James, Linda and John arrived at Wanstead House and had a little wait for the new member. As is often the way with first timers they were a no show so we gathered our kit and set off on a litter pick. Surprisingly we got half a bagful from just outside the door to our meeting room. Staff there told us people have been hanging around there at weekends and evenings leaving food and drink packaging behind.

We moved on from there to one of our regular areas where pickings are usually plentiful and found...well...very little for much of the way. It seemed someone had gone before us. About 3/4 of the way down the path we began to see stuff so literally picked up where the others had left off.

In the end a respectable bag and a half was collected and left by the litter bin. After which we walked back, with the talk all being about food as we looked forward to our long awaited dinners.