On Monday night Daisy, Lucy, Susan, Chris and Anita all took a zero tolerance approach on when it came to clearing the weeds from our adopted ‘Three Pigeons Plot’ in Buccleuch Gardens, Richmond. A similar ‘tough love’ approach approach to the weeds along the adjacent wall and riverside path left our sponsored plot on the Thames Path looking well kempt and all ready for the growing season ahead.

Wellcome back and a special thank you to Daisy, joining us on her second task and to Lucy who stepped in as run leader and combined it all with her London Marathon training.

The oldest youth club in the world, St Andrew's, is always a buzz of activity offering every kind of club imaginable to local children - from cookery to judo to chess and everything in between! When we arrived the pancake making was happening in the kitchen, the speaker was pumping and boxing club was in full swing. It's amazing to see, but with all the kit needed to make it happen, space is at a premium in this central London location. That meant our job for the evening was to help create some more!

We were taken upstairs to the storage room at the top of the centre to find an area full to the brim with boxes, school uniform, frames and racquets...so many racquets!

We wasted no time getting everything sorted into piles and sorting out the contents of the boxes. There were many questions along the way. What was the mysterious plastic implement, where were we going to put all the empty frames, and why had Jayson (year 6) abandoned his homework?

Before long we had made a big difference and there was a lot of new floor space to show for our efforts. Next week we're back handing out food to rough sleepers, hope to see you there!

It was another chilly night in Westminster, which made it even more clear that our regular task helping distribute clothes and bedding on the Strand makes a big impact.

Thankfully we had plenty of hands on deck, and it was brilliant to be able to welcome Andy and Louise to their first ever session great to have you both join us!

It's a popular spot for getting resources like hot food and other donations to those that need it most, so it was pretty hectic! We didn't have to wait long for Andrea to arrive with her van, and soon got to work.

With Khai jumping into the van to help get the boxes out in some sort of order, the rest of us hauled the clothes and bedding across the street to hang them out in a makeshift fashion display! We soon had jackets, trousers, sleeping bags and shoes out for people to choose what they needed most.

The time flew by, and before long most of the donations had been handed out. Great work everybody!

Next week we'll be meeting at Victoria to pick up and transport surplus food to rough sleepers - hope to see you there!

This evening was all about member Monika hitting a heroic 250 good deeds! Starting at the Tap we also had the pleasure of welcoming Anais for the first time.

A lovely chatty pace run led the group to the Achieving for Children Youth Centre in Mortlake where Monika was adorned with the legendary cape and presented with her group card. Monika joined in 2019 and has completed tasks in seven different areas, an achievement that could only possibly be eclipsed by her fondness for giving cheers on the GoodGym website: 14232 as of this evening! 🤣

The task itself involved moving the large gym equipment around, an almost impossible task for only a couple of people but pretty quick for 10 GoodGymmers, especially with one Super Monika on the team!

Congratulations Monika! ⚡

The January challenge continues as we head off into cold nights with warm hearts to do good in the borough of Richmond upon Thames.

Tonight we ran a bit further than normal to cover just over 4km to Twickenham where INS (Integrated Neurological Services) is based. A chatty run through Richmond High Street and Twickenham up to Richmond Green before turning towards Hampton to the task location.

Lovely task owner Sarah had prepared well for us with everything laid out ready to go to paint the radiators in the loos and one in the gym! Sanding, cleaning and painting saw a fast transformation for four radiators before the team regrouped for the run back to Richmond!

Today may have been Blue Monday, but we painted it red tonight! ♥️