It was lights, camera and plenty of action last night in Wandsworth as we not only had a busy session at our regular Doddington task, but we had our monthly pub quiz and a visit from the global press. What a way to kick off the week!

We started the evening with our usual warm ups, and a run down of all the news. Well done to everybody who came to Sunday's mission where we grappled with an enormous sand pit - if that's given you the fomo (fear of missioning out), then why not sign up to this great Saturday mission in Streatham clearing out Unigate woods.

After getting our muscles warmed up for the run ahead, we did a few sprints up and down the hill, and, blinded by the bright lights of the cameras I forgot our regular name, number and question of the week. Sorry about that - although it did mean we got an extra run up and down that hill. Silver linings?

After a quick run down to the task we were met by Malissa, who deployed us around the garden to tackle various jobs. Doddington roof garden is a beautiful area used by local people who don't necessarily have access to green space to grow their own fruit and veg. It is used for community events, kids clubs and is a real urban oasis. It is great to see how it changes and evolves every month when we come for our regular session - and there is always plenty to do!

We were soon busy shifting an enormous barbeque, stripping grass, pulling up mallow and turning compost. In between jobs Catherine, Sophie and Jason were interviewed by the AP, revealing themselves to be consummate professionals in front of the camera.

The time flew by and before long we downed tools, waved goodbye to the Doddington team and headed down to the square for our fitness session. This week we tested our brains and body with a group challenge featuring maths and squats, before moving on to our cardio and conditioning workout. Great effort, everybody.

While some of us ran back to the BAC for stretches and one final run up that hill (that must be some kind of record), the rest of the group ran to the pub to reserve our space for the pub quiz. The rivalry was definitely heating up, and it was a strong performance by both GG teams.

Next week we're back to Larkhall park for some lifting and shifting. If you needed any extra motivation, we've completed 42 of our 125 good deeds target, and have run a 25% of our distance goal for January. We're already almost half way through January - can you help us make it?

Great session, hope to see you at the next one!

The temperature was dropping quickly last night but the energy levels were high for our first group run of 2026.

Maybe that was because we had a lovely warm inside task waiting for us at St Saviour's in Battersea? This church and community hub had asked us for a hand coming to take down the decorations we put up the year before, which nicely coincided with the freezing weather.

Or perhaps it was because we got to welcome Katharine and Rohan to their first session - great to meeting you, both!

It could have been the prospect of a great community mission helping a south London nursery create a space for under fives in the garden this Saturday. Jobs will include removing all old sand from the sandpit, putting in plants, sorting and cleaning the greenhouse and creating a seating area round the fire pit. This will be a fun task that will really make a difference!

I think it probably had a lot to do with the fact that we were coming together for another great year of GoodGyming, running and fun in Wandsworth. We started off with a warm up and pledged how many GoodGym good deeds we wanted to complete in January. Answers ranged from 3 to 125 - which I'm excited about seeing happen!

We enjoyed a nice downhill run to the task where we were met by Layton and Catherine who manage the space. After a few instructions we got started removing baubles from trees, shifting chairs, hoovering up pine needles and the mammoth job of unstringing all the lights around the vast space. Knowing what a tricky job it was unwinding the many metres of string lights when they had not been put away so carefully, Felix and Jordan (having put them up) were extra diligent in packing them away neatly. At the end of the year we'll thank our past selves for doing such a good job.

We got the task done quickly, with Catherine and Layton both commenting that it would have taken them hours. Great work everybody. There was time for a lovely toasty strength and conditioning session on the floor of the centre, and it was good to see that the spirit of insurrection against the weekly fitness session was still alive and kicking this year!

After a run back to the start, we did some stretches and even started making plans for GoodGym Wandsworth's 10th anniversary this year - summer '26 in Paris, anybody? Looking to the more immediate future, we have next week's session to get excited about. We'll be heading to Doddington community garden for our regular task followed by a pub quiz social.