Twenty four good gym runners gathered at the Phoenix cinema for the first run of 2020 to help Stephens House and Gardens. We had three first time runners,Jeffrey,Okan,Siobhan... and Eda tourist from York! Welcome and give them a cheer! It’s a very important month to get motivated and start getting into some positive habits so GG has launched the January Challenge. GGB is in a league table of 53 teams measuring good deeds done, mileage run and people involved. So if you know anybody who wants to get moving and get interacting with their community ask them along to one of our sessions. We have a starter event this Saturday at long lane pasture . Thanks to Rob, Simon Jackson, Rachel and Kat for being the first to start running miles and doing good deeds this year. We are top of the Bronze league so lets get promoted! (at the time of press) Details here We warmed up together shouting out our name, number and favourite colour. I think pink won out as the most popular colour amongst the group....find out more here We then headed off through the back streets of East Finchley heading north to the grade 2 listed house. We stopped occasionally to gather up and do some paired group exercises. This included squats, arm press and an up hill sprint. It was a mild surprisingly rain free night and we soon reached Stephens house (Avenue House). We were met by Melanie who is the charity coordinator for Stephens House and Gardens who advised us on what we would be doing. Built in 1859 by Rev. Edward Cooper and then enlarged and renovated between 1874 and 1878 by Henry “Inky” Stephens. Avenue House is a wonderful Victorian mansion with rooms overlooking the Gardens. Lived in by Henry Stephens from 1878 the house  originally included a library, school rooms and bedrooms. The house and grounds were left for public enjoyment by Stephens in his will and is now a charity. At the time of his death it was already in use as a Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital and between 1919 and 1925 was the RAF central hospital before the grounds were formally opened to the public on 3 May 1928. The house was then used for many years as a public library, and as the offices of Finchley Borough Council after Council Offices in nearby Hendon Lane were destroyed by enemy action in the Second World War. It’s rooms are now used to help fund and maintain the gardens as a public park. It has a lovely little cafe in the old stables. here Melanie had asked us to work in the dinning room waxing the oak panelling . We started by applying wax and then while waiting for it to be absorbed we moved into the drawing room to do some gentle breathing exercises and knee bends. If you are interested to see more please see this great Ted talk on the power of breathing. We then set about buffing the wood to a beautiful shine. Once completed we started a more direct route back to the Phoenix completing a 5.5km circuit by 8.30pm. Thanks for coming and doing some good for a valuable community asset in Barnet. Hope to see some of you this Saturday to support our starter event at a nature reserve in Barnet. Here