It may have been cold, raining and generally behaving like Woking in full autumn sulk mode, but five determined GoodGymers donned their waterproofs and headed out for Session 4/5 at Knaphill Lower School, continuing our mission to help the PTA restore the garden and outdoor classroom to its former, slightly less jungly glory.

Wayne teamed up with Mark (PTA) to engineer a rather impressive wigwam, because when conditions are inclement, why not build a small architectural marvel? Wayne engineering mind was in full flow, and before long the structure had a base, fixings, and all the promise of a very cosy den.

Meanwhile Olalekan, Stephanie, Kirsty, Julie launched into branch hacking mode, carving out what will soon become a magical zone for the children. With her horticultural wisdom, Julie quickly sized up the piles of pruned branches and suggested transforming them into a living hedge… or was it a dead hedge? (We’re still not fully sure, but either way it’s definitely a hedge.)

Olalekan, channelling an upgraded Edward Scissorhands, sliced through the overgrowth with alarming speed and style. Stephanie wore gloves so fabulous they prompted immediate gear envy, and after valiantly battling thick branches with secateurs, she was pleased when Julie allowed her to use the mighty lopper instead.

Rainy? Yes. Muddy? Cold? Yes. Very. Productive? Completely. Another brilliant GoodGym session, and only one more to go this side of Christmas in this mission to bring Knaphill’s outdoor play zone come classroom back to life

Woodhill Church

This bonfire night 5 Goodgym Members met at Woodhill Church To Help With An Outdoor Task 😊

A big Welcome to Ben who joined us for his first task, hopefully first of many 👍

Wayne & Olalekan get to the church a little early and were met by Jules who looks after all the projects around the church grounds.

First task was two get all the 40 compost bags from around the front of the church to the back of the church as they got delivered and dropped off at the wrong side. Wayne & Olalekan started to move them around after 2 rounds Olalekan asked if there was a wheel barrow available which we could load up and save us many trips back & forward. Jules did have one available which made life very easy. After 4 trips all 40 bags were brought to the bedding area. Julie, Stephanie & Ben had arrived at this point. At this point we followed instructions from our garden expert Julie. We placed the bags all along the perimeter and cut them open in readiness to spread the compost.

Above us in the night sky we can see and hear fireworks going off 🎇. Using forks and shovels we spread the compost all around the bedding. Withing 40 mins the job was completed.Jules was very grateful what would of taken her hours we done in no time 😊.

We put the tools away then Jules treated us all the some pasteries and bread which were very tasty ❤

This week again, four GoodGymers met at the Lower Infant School in Knaphill to carry on the work started in the trail garden.

Kirsty enrolled her husband Bryan to come and help, as we had realised, last week, that we needed more muscles for some of the tasks. Let's all welcome Bryan back to GoodGym Woking!

Olalekan was asked to dig some trenches following marked lines on the ground. These represent the different areas of the trail garden. Once he had done this hard work, instead of having a rest, Olalekan took hold of the rake and gathered more leaves. It looks like the never ending job! But we are in November and we are working in a wooded area....

Kirsty chose to do something different from last week and be more artistic: she joined the team who were painting the loooong fence. It is going to take quite a while and hopefully more parents will come and help in the following weeks.

Bryan was eager to use his DIY skills and started to assemble a water fountain. It is made of so many pieces that not everyone could do the job. I am sure Bryan cannot wait to resume his art work and will bring his power tools next time.

Anne was asked to support the stepladder while Mark and Vikki started to set up the beautiful teepee made of slats of wood. The children will certainly like it! Then, it was time to go back to cleaning the beams of the trail covered with green fungi.Quite a dirty job, but it is rewarding to see the end result. There are more beams to clean though...

All in all, we were all pleased with our Saturday morning mission. Olalekan and Anne ran back to town along the canal, making the most of the good weather!

Tomorrow, we might see you at junior parkrun; then on Wednesday we will help the Community Fridge in Knaphill.

In the meantime, happy running to you all.

"This Girl Can" #letsliftthecurfew 🏃🏼‍♀️

This evening Woking GG met at the leisure centre to do a community litter pick run and the highlight the "This Girl Can" campaign. The litter pick part of the task did not happen as Wayne could not find the litter pickers so it was a gentle run around the leisure centre 🏃🏼‍♀️.

Anne, Katie, Julie, Nadia, Luan, Caterina, met at the entrance to the leisure centre they were joined by our newest member Olalekan. After introductions we switched on our head torches and headed off.

It was great seeing Julie who has been very busy of late and also fantastic to see Caterina join us for an evening run 😀.

While we were running we got to know Olalekan who many years ago represented his country in a number of athletic events 🏃‍♂️ Olalekan has just moved to the area and is so far loving Goodgym.

Let’s Lift The Curfew launched in 2023 to showcase women’s stories and concerns around getting active outdoors in the darker months when the clocks go back, as well as calling on wider society to acknowledge their role in making getting active outdoors safer for women. 😀🏃🏼‍♀️