A group of dedicated Goodgym-mers woke up bright and early this morning to join the Friends of Burgess Park on their weekly litter pick. Since it was the Monday after a sunny weekend, there was lots to do!

Combined with Friends of Burgess Park, we made a troop of 19. Armed with litter pickers and black bin bags, we worked together to tackle the barbecue area, making friends with each other and the park gardeners along the way. The 90 minutes passed very quickly and then we headed off for the rest of our day.

Wall of honour

• Big thanks to Dom and Girija for back marking the group tonight.
• High-fives to Joseph and Victoria for joining their first group run in Southwark.
• Pat on the back to Harry for tonight's pun!

Let's have a recap

Its Valentines this week, so what better way to celebrate than visiting a Rose garden. Last night 15 runners ran 8km overall to Stompie Gardens in Southwark. This community space has been looked after by the Tabard Growers community group and tonight was our second visit. It is also the home of a decommissioned tank, currently painted in post Xmas gold.

After welcoming Joseph and Victoria into the group, we set off at 7pm sharp setting a good pace on the way out. Avoiding the bikes on the Surrey Canal, with the temperature dropping we opted to keep moving. When we arrived Peter and Anna directed us to our task for the evening - weeding & spreading wood chip. They had a large pile of wood chip donated by the council from old trees, so Civ & George got to work filling up the wheel barrows and buckets. Another group cleared the weeds from the flower beds, and a chain was set up to shovel, carry and then spread the wood chip in the right place. A second group transformed the overgrown perimeter, pulling up the weeds and clearing any litter, while Abi & Dom got to work with some sheers cutting back the outside hedge.

FACT OF THE DAY The love legend of the red rose stemmed from traditional Roman and Greek mythology. Originally, they believed that the red rose was the flower of Aphrodite and Venus.

Keeping to a quick pace, in only 30 mins all the weeds were cleared, litter collected and wood chip generously spread! We even had time to climb the resident tank for a golden group photo! We thanked Peter and Anna for organising the task and arranging all the tools, before heading back in good speed with a short sprint to finish.

Next week we're running 8km in total to our friends at Galleywall Nature Reserve to help cut back some of the winter growth.

See you soon Team!

Wall of Honour

Pat on the back to Emma for being this weeks back marker and walk leader. High-five to Milena, George, Hannah, Rosie and Susie on their first group session in Southwark!

Let's have a recap

Last night 22 runners ran or walked 4km overall to the brand-new Crisis store in Peckham High Street for the national charity for homeless people. With the new store being right on our doorstep, we went through a quick warm up and a short loop up to the High Street. When we arrived we met Lauren the store manager who directed us to all corners of the store, with many staff making last minute display preparations we were able to add the icing on the cake and as Ed described it! We quickly got to work arranging rails in size order, collecting wipes and cloths to clean every surface of dust, Katie covered the entire floor with a cordless Hoover and Pauline followed up with a dustpan and brush. Richard and George added security lines to the jackets and Civ and Emma lead a group in the back room packing down six bags worth of cardboard! in 40minutes so much was covered, cleaned and re-organised ready for the official opening of the store at 11am.

Be sure to check out the items and artwork on display produced by women who have taken part in the 'Making For Change' programme. A collaborative training initiative for women at HM Prison Downview to learn new skills that could lead to future employment possibilities and break the cycle between prison and homelessness.

FACT OF THE DAY - Groundhog Day is celebrated this week in Canada & the US. It is a Pennsylvanian superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for 6 more weeks! If it does not see its shadow due to cloudiness, spring will arrive early. - Fingers crossed!

We finished the session with a 3km loop around Peckham Rye and a 500m lamp post time trial to test our paces and raise the heart rate!

Next Week we're running 8km overall to Stompie Gardens working with a local community group to help spread out some wood chip and clear up some weeds. It's getting darker so bring along a headtorch! Sign up here.

See you there Team!