Wall of Honour

• Pat on the Back to Sam for being this weeks back marker.
• High Five to Vanessa for joining us on her first group run.
• Fist Pump to Dave for touristing from Tower Hamlets.
• And a big Hej to all our visiters from Denmark!

Let's have a Recap

Last night we had a group of visitors from Scandinavia that are involved in sports organisations, local authorities, research, and social enterprises, who were keen to see GoodGym's role in using sport as a tool to promote social inclusion and change in people’s lives.

With our 14 regular members plus 6 Danish runners, our group of 20 ran 5km in total on an increasingly chilly evening! Unfortunately the original task was cancelled at the last minute, so we decided to do another Scandinavian activity known as 'plogging' - a combination of jogging and picking up litter.

We began with a few warm up drills of fast feet and mobility stretches before heading up towards the top of Peckham Rye park. At our first stop in Piermont Green we split into teams armed with black bin bags, gloves and head torches. In around 15 minutes we were able to fill 8 bags of rubbish including some surprising items of clothing and a car seat mat! After combing the paths, grass, hedges and railings, we continued back into Peckham Rye itself going in differnt directions on our cleaning mission.

FACT OF THE DAY One Cigarette butt can contaminate 7 litres of water in one hour. Studies show that about half of all animals exposed to the contaminated water get sick from the chemicals of cigarette butts. - Thanks Nelly for this fact.

With more bags filled but fingers starting to chill, we finished our work after 30 minutes of doing good and places all the bags in the nearby bins. As a group we ran 2 continuous laps of the park, discussing upcoming races including the Big Half this Sunday! And we finished with a very evenly contested lamp post post relay, before heading back to Old Spike to stretch. One our Danish friends Mikkel concluded the evening by getting everyone to perform a Danish clap - a reaction test to clap our hands together until we all reacted in unison and sounded as one!

Next week we wil be running 5km in total to carry out our flyering task for Age Uk.

See you soon Team.

Wall of Honour

• Thanks to Dom, Emily & Anna for leading our 3 teams and keeping the groups together.
• Big Shout to Sophie for completing her first run with us!
• Pat on the back to Anna for storing all the donations overnight and transporting to the drop off centre today!!

Let’s have a Recap

Last night 23 runners ran 5km in total up and down the streets of Peckham collecting donations for Southwark Foodbank on behalf of the the Trussell Trust. The trust organise Foodbanks nationwide to provide emergency support to families in poverty.

We had a last minute task change on our last group run of 2019! We split into 3 teams each with a separate destination, armed with shopping lists and empty bags, to ask the people of Peckham to donate items such as mince pies & custard whilst doing their shopping. Dom took his team to Tescos, Londis & another Tesco's collecting donations and also kindly donating bags themselves! Emily's team visited Asda stationing themselves front and back of the store, coming back to Old Spike with 4 full bags, and Anna's team managed to bring back a whole trolley-full all the way from Morrisons!!

With more bags than expected and a need to store them overnight, in true GoodGym spirit Anna offered to store them at her flat, so we gathered all the shopping and transported it to her flat 5 minutes away. Leaving time for a quick lampost sprint drill through Peckham Rye while Dom & Abi returned the trolley back to morrisions.

FACT OF THE DAY A custom from the middle ages says that if you eat a mince pie on every day from Christmas to Twelfth Night (evening of the 5th January) you will have happiness for the next 12 months!

What a feel good evening of GoodGym! Finished off by drinks food and merry Xmas wishes at Peckham Levels.

See you Next Year for our next group run on the 8th January collecting Xmas trees!

Have a wonderful time, run, eat and be merry!

Wall of Honour

• Thanks to Dom for back marking and coming up with this weeks pun!
• Big Shout to Oliver for his first tourist visit to Southwark!
• Pat on the back to Manny, Nat & Kate for reaching 10 GOOD DEEDS this week!

Let’s have a Recap

Last night 14 runners ran 8km in total to the striking Stompie Gardens, to help the Tabard Growers in this community space that is home to a decommissioned Soviet Tank!

With the night being colder and a longer distance to run, we set off out the door promptly and hopped straight into our warm up. Once we got moving conversations were in full flow. We arrived in good time to meet Peter who had laid out gloves and bags for us, and directed us to the task of weeding and litter picking. Splitting into 2 teams we got stuck in clearing weeds all along the perimeter fence, and behind the huge tank sat in the middle off the garden! The ground was soft so the weeds were easily pulled out and in no time the garden had been cleared. Finishing off by picking up litter and placing all garden waste on a compost heap. There was even time for a bit of climbing aboard 'Stompie' for a creative group photo.

FUNNY FACT - Stompie the tank was bought as a gift by the land owner for his son. The tanks gun is apparently pointed towards the council buildings after a dispute between the land owner and the council who tried to get rid of it.

After a swift 30 minutes of work was complete, we said goodbye to Peter until we return to Tabard Gardens again next week. On the way back we upped the anti with some lampost strides, a game of knee tag and our weekly squat hold! With Nellyinstructing us that she couldn't stop moving! We kept the pace going all the way back to Old Spike.

Next week we will be running 10km overall as we return to Tabard Garden Allotments to assist the Tabard Growers with more digging and soil moving.

Great work Team! See you next week.

Wall of Honour

• Thanks to Dom & Helena for back marking and keeping the 2 groups together.
• Big Shout to Helen & Manny for completing their first run with us!
• Pat on the back to Anna for completing 4 Good Deeds at the weekend - including 3 in one day!!

Let’s have a Recap

Last night 21 runners ran 6km in total to the Crisis store in Camberwell. Crisis is the national charity for homeless people, helping them to rebuild their lives. Through research into the causes and consequences of homelessness and the solutions to it, they are committed to ending homelessness for good!

Despite the rain we began a quick warm up with a chance to learn some new names! Then we headed off in an organised group with Task Force members Dom, Helena & Sam in position to make sure as the pace of the group stretched no one was left behind. We ran along Lyndhurst Way to Peckham Road untill we reached the store in Camberwell Green.

Store manager Ross directed us through the evenings tasks, varying from dusting, cleaning rails and rearranging clothes into size order. With so many hands ready to help we quickly split up into different areas of the shop, whilst keeping a keen eye on some bargains! Kate managed to reserve a top and Allie even ran home with a candelabre!! Floors, shelves and rails were swept and mopped and Holly finished up with her favourite job of hoovering! After 30mins we said goodbye to Ross and left his store looking nice and clean!

FACT OF THE DAY A Candelabra Tree cannot stand the cold - anything below 10-12 degrees Celsius. However they do survive indoors, ideal for those living in a chilly climate.

On the way back we still had time for some Mexican Wave Squats, and a slippery but competitive Burpee relay in Warwick Gardens with Ian just about staying on his feet to lead his team to victory!

Next week we will be running 8km to support the Tabard Growers community group with some weeding at Stompie Garden. Come to see 'Stompie' a decommisioned Soviet tank!

See you next week Team. Stay dry!