Monday 18th November
Report written by Anastasia Hancock (she/her)
It takes a special kind of people to make it out in the freezing rain on a dark Monday night to rake leaves and chop wood. Luckily GGers are made of tough stuff, and a group of 14 of the toughest were not put off by the conditions last night.
Special kudos goes to Stephen and to Veronica who came along to their first GoodGym session - give them a huge welcome! We also cheered Paul and Dylan for smashing the Fulham 10km this weekend. Amazing stuff.
We kicked off with a much needed warm up, discussing the upcoming missions such as this amazing one to sort donated coats for Wrap Up London on Thursday in Morden. There is also a great session helping make the nature reserve in Streatham more accessible on Saturday. Lots of fun stuff to choose from! We also debated the most important issue of the hour - what is the best condiment. It turns about we are passionate about our favourites, from mayonnaises including truffle and garlic, various mustards, olive oil and BBQ - and in a shock twist no one went for ketchup!
There was no time to waste before setting off in the increasingly heavy rain for Paradise community garden. Through the puddles we splashed, arriving not long after to meet even more GGers.
We divided up into two teams; one to take on the challenge of clearing the leaves that were clogging the pathways and transport them to be turned into mulch, the other to chop the wood into manageable sizes.
The leafers got busy, fueled by Steve and Dylan's kind contribution of sweeties, while the axers were contemplating the best method of effectively breaking down the wood. Ali and Pritesh copied what they'd seen in the films to great success, while Beth guided using her recent impressive axe throwing prowess!
It soon got too damp to continue, but we'd made a big dent in the jobs, so all that was left to do was vote on fitness (no surprise on which way it went) and then head off back into the night for warm cups of tea and hot showers.
Well done everybody! Next week you'll be in the super capable hands of our newest run leader Catherine, who will be taking you to help out at Waste Not Want Not for a warm inside task!
Wandsworth
Give those who would otherwise be on their own a warm, festive Christmas