There was a lot to be cheerful about last night, not least the fact that we had a rare inside task, and a new member - put your hands together for Matheo!

Our job for the evening was at The DRCA Community Kitchen, an organisation which offers cooked meals to those suffering from food poverty. The had asked us to come and give the place a good spruce up, so, as usual we met at the BAC for a warm up before heading down to the Doddington estate.

Featuring plenty of fast feet and dynamic stretches, we got our heart rates up and tested our brains by naming as many board games as possible - as well as debating if Buckeroo actually counted as a board game!

Speeding down the DRCA we were met by Justin, who manages the space, and were delighted to find plenty of new brushes, rollers and tubs of paint for us to use. Not only that, but the place was already covered in dust sheets and the areas that needed attention were marked out, which meant we could dive straight into the task.

The DRCA's vision is to provide a welcoming space where no fewer than 19 charities and voluntary sector organisations can use the facilities to prepare and share meals in a safe, hygienic environment. The food prepared there will be freely accessible to those in need, fostering a sense of community and providing a gathering place for individuals to connect, network, and receive support. It's an invaluable resource and we wanted to help make it look as good as it possibly could, so dividing up into teams we wasted no time getting the paint onto the walls.

The kitchen team had the ceiling to paint, and within no time it was rivaling the Sistine Chapel. Meanwhile the wall painting crew had a huge space to cover so didn't dilly-Dali, while downstairs the team were brushing up on their painting skills, doing a great job that was right on the Monet.

Rather than leave the job unfinished, we decided to sacrifice our fitness session for the evening - but don't worry, there will be a doubly intense (but fun) one next week to make up for it! We'll be delivering flyers for the Library of Things so it's a great opportunity to cover some kilometers while spreading the word about a brilliant new resource for local people. Hope to see you there!

On Pancake Day eve, we totally flipped out to find we had some lovely new faces to welcome to GoodGym - you batter give a cheer to Areti, Niklas, Jason and Leo who all came along for their first session. Great to meet you all!

After a warm up, our question for the night was, of course, pancake related. What is the best topping? The classics including lemon and sugar and maple syrup made an appearance, and there were some more renegade suggestions such as peanut butter, but ultimately it was nutella that came out on top.

Fueled by the prospect of imminent pancakes, we set off for Paradise Cooperative garden, which was founded in 2014 with the aim of utilising underdeveloped land for urban growing and community gardening. After many years of hard work, volunteers have transformed the abandoned and overgrown site into a beautiful smallholding for local people.

We go regularly to help out, although usually it is with the benefit of a bit more light. Unfortunately a charging error on my part (sorry!) meant that we didn't have our floodlight, which did add an extra challenge to the proceedings. However, we quickly split up into to groups, and undeterred, began to tackle the two jobs for the evening.

The soil shovelers had two enormous raised beds to fill, while the concrete block transporters had the upper body workout to end all workouts, carrying the heavy weights across the garden so that an outside classroom could be built this weekend. What a way to get stacked (I know I'm laying on the pancake puns pretty thick...)

If you'd like to help with the creation of this learning space on Saturday, they'd love the support. You can sign up here to lend a hand and you'll even be rewarded with a free lunch!

Despite the dark we powered through, making great progress. Well done team! We decided that was our task and fitness session in one, so all that was left was to roll back to base for stretches and for the pancake crew to head off for some well deserved sweet treats.

Next week we have an inside (and much better lit!) task helping to paint a community kitchen. Sign up here for some Monday fun spent getting active and doing good. Hope to see you there!