10 Westminster GoodGymers ran 7k to help the Canal and River Trust keep the Little Venice water ways as clear of rubbish as possible.

Great to have our GG first timers along for the evenings run!

With one of our longer runs ahead we got straight to it making our way to the North West for the borough with a strong 3.5k run. Finishing at the Canal And River Trusts head office on the banks of the Canal in Little Venice we raided our equipment shed to get tooled up for the pick ahead. Buckets, gloves and the super strength grabbers in hand we spread ourselves out along the Canal path with the aim to remove as much rubbish and in particular plastics from the waterways or from the bank to stop it getting in at all.

Filling the buckets up quickly and making a big dent in the litter in Little Venice we grabbed what we could with a few mini fishing expeditions for cans and plastic bottles.

The clock struck 7:30 and what we had we emptied 10 buckets full into the bins before sanitising up and picking up the running pace for the powerful run back to base!!

Back in no time and very sweaty we stretched out and headed off into the summer evening with a physical masterpiece complete.

See you next week

Joel

26 GoodGymers ran 4-6km to help C4WS and Alara with making beds and gardening!

Thanks for coming guys, lots of regulars and tourists - nice! In the news this week:

1. Join the Camden Facebook Group here and the Unnoffical Facebook Group here.
2. If you are still thinking of coming to Sofia in May there is still time to book flights, race places and accommodation - find out more details here.
3. There is a social tomorrow in Waltham Forest led by Pritesh - go along and have fun!
4. Also there is a Community Mission this weekend in Islington this Saturday and another one in Camden next Sunday.

C4WS Report by Katie:

Heading off at a brisk pace south, we ran 2k to the C4WS where we were quickly put to task wheeling chairs, tables (and a piano!) out of the way to make room for 14 beds - which 10 runners made speedy work of.

Our task coordinator, as always, told us a little about some of the challenges faced by the people who would be staying in the shelter, reminding us just what a worthwhile task this is. Two of the people we made beds for last week have gone on to get jobs thanks to being able to access the support and shelter offered by C4WS, so it was really good to know what a big difference it can make - and how GoodGym helps.

Duvets fluffed and pillows plumped, we then ‘hot-footed’ it over to Coal Drops Yard for “playtime” on the light-up musical see-saws installation, where we met up with the rest of the group. There is no better feeling on a wet Wednesday evening than being with a happy bunch of young-at-heart, giggling grown-ups swinging up and down on playground equipment!

Alara Report by PB:

15 of us headed to help Alara Wholefoods, who manage the Kings Cross Orchard and look after green spaces around the Organic Cereal Producer. It was only a 1km run away so we were there super fast to help Alex out. We had three tasks to do:

• Hoe Down - Jess, Steve C, Hanry and Thomas were tasked with hoeing the vineyard - Steve said it was hard work!
• Wheelbarrowers - A team of five collected up moss, leaves and debris with tools, and then wheelbarrowed over to a dumping at the back of the garden.
• Weeders - The other five people weeded three flower pot areas with an array of tools. These pots will have new spring flowers in them soon - lush!

After finishing up the tasks in 30 minutes, Alex gave us each a box of muesli - yum! We then joined the other group in Granary Square for some saw-saw fun and a progression run. Great work all!

Sign up for next week here when we'll be helping Cecil Sharp House and C4WS.

PB out

28 Goodgymers ran 3-5km to help the American International Church and Age UK Camden

Welcome along to newbies Beth, Rachel, Asher, Stephen, Amanda and Ian - thanks for coming along. We also had tourists from Stockport and Lewisham - amazing!

In the news this week:

1. There will be a GoodGym Social next Thursday, sign up here.
2. The GoodGym Olympics is going to be on Saturday 3rd August this year at Parliament Hill Track. Sign up here and represent Camden.

What a good night! We had two wonderful tasks help older people and the homeless in our community. Both tasks involved beds!

Age UK Camden:

15 of us headed around 1km away to help Age UK Camden, a fantastic charity. Our biggest challenge on the way there was crossing Euston Road, I have no idea where all those people are going!!

Upon our arrival Abul tasked us with emptying five planters of soil and dismantling the wooden containers which kept the soil in. It was a great task, our only issue was the lack of tools. We used forks, spades, plastic containers and even our hands to collect soil to pile up on one side of the garden.

Let's Get Physical

Working on three of the planters at once we got tons done over the 45 minutes we were there, taking apart and piling up lots of old wood but also emptying the planters we worked on. Talk about physical!

After finishing up we headed for an extended run home taking in Coram Fields and Russell Square.

American International Church by Pritesh:

13 of us headed off to the American International Church for our weekly trip to make beds for their homeless shelter. Kat was leading and we weaved our way through the streets to get to the church as fast as we could.

Once there we had a stirring speech from one of the organisers explaining the impact our 15 minutes of volunteering really makes – the stories really brought to life the hardships of those that have to use the shelter but also how much good can come from giving up our time and effort to help. With not much time, as ever, we worked quickly to get duvets covered, pillows stuffed in cases and hospital corners fixed on all the sheets!

Impact

With everything done we posed for a group photo and then Kat led us for a high intensity fitness session in Russell Square before we headed back to base, stretched and some headed for a well deserved drink.

Sign up for next week here, we'll be helping Alara and the homeless shelter.

PB out

12 agile GoodGymers ran a storming 8k to help the Canal And River Trust with our adopted strength of waterway in Little Venice.

Powering out 3.5k to the North West of the Borough lead by the Memory Master Emily!! With codes cracked and all tooled up we got cracking up the canal picking up bucket after bucket of grabable rubbish.

Eagle eyes were needed even with the super moon out in force. Cans to carpet, crisp packets to garden rakes everything was picked and binned!

After 35 minutes of litter picking efforts we had done a fantastic job so with our hands fully sanitised up we we powered our way back to base (faster than the cars along the Marylebone Road) with a task brilliantly complete!!

Next week we are off to St Andrew’s youth club to help them with a few sorting out jobs!

See you there

Joel