The Katherine Low Settlement in Battersea is an amazing hub for all sorts of charities. They support refugees with various programs, have clubs for the elderly, provide food for vulnerable groups and loads of resources for kids. They also have a garden which has been neglected over winter, and needed a bit of extra love. Which is where we came in!

A big welcome to Holly who joined for the very first GoodGym session, great to have you with us Holly!

We met at a very chilly BAC and got straight into getting those frozen muscles with lot of dynamic movements up the hill. We finished off the warm up with a quick Valentine's Day related quiz question with a bit of a dark edge to it before setting off.

After a brisk run down to the centre we were shown the garden and given a list of jobs which included deadheading, sweeping, clearing and weeding. There was also a job inside for the lucky few tidying up a games cupboard and sweeping.

Before long we were a buzz of activity and within 25 minutes of hard work the garden was looking so much tidier and more welcome for the service users. The games cupboard was immaculate and ready for use by the kids club, and the floors were spotless thanks to Jo and her giant brush.

After a few minutes thawing out in the warm we headed back out to face the night and do a fitness session based on lower body muscle groups. Every 30 seconds saw us change up the exercise, from curtesy, plié, oblique crunch and static squats, to lunges, jumps, single leg holds and pulses. Phew!

Next week we have an indoor task writing envelopes for an intergenerational charity - sign up here

Great work everybody, thanks for all your efforts on a pretty cold night!

Tonight at Wandsworth we celebrated the start of February and discussed what we were looking forward to for the month ahead! A common theme was the lighter evenings to come but we did get a shout out for more Goodgymming and some must have been hit by Cupid’s arrow with a special mention for Valentine’s Day! We realised that Pancake day isn’t until March this year sadly but I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

We had a brilliant group to set off to Doddington estate and loved welcoming some new faces to Wandsworth (Caroline and Mike)! We wish them all the best over in Merton on Mondays to come. We had to pivot slightly to a plan B at the task but set out enthusiastically litter picking to brighten up the local area. We filled quite a few bags and even had time for a good fitness session covering a whole range of exercises from squats to skaters before heading off to our monthly social. Well done Wandsworth, those brighter evenings are coming!

Last night was testament to the amazing things a group of us working together can do in just a short amount of time - and the level of happy chaos it can also create!

We had the pleasure of a new task yesterday. The Positive Network believes in fostering unity, empowerment and resilience predominately within the Black community across generations. They put on various programs and initiatives, celebrate cultural heritage and create a supportive network. They also believe in the power of community and collaboration to drive positive change - something we can definitely agree on here at GoodGym!

They have a centre in Balham which is used by its members. With so much going on there it is little surprise that its small store room had got to bursting at the seams with food, paperwork and other resources. It had become a bit of an issue for Grace, who runs the centre, and she asked us to come and give it a good sort out. There was also the question of a set of shelves to be built...

We quickly organised ourselves into a human chain. Out came dozens of water bottles, files of paper, more toilet rolls than we could count, a piano, a kettle, even a eyesight chart. It was like our very own generation game. All that was missing was the cuddly toy!

Meanwhile the shelves were being assembled by a group of allen key heroes. They made impressive headway in a short amount of time, only to meet with some resistance right at the last step. Nevertheless they persevered and right at the last minute they could be moved back into the office. Only to find, after all that work that the door didn't close properly with them in it! Disaster. Still, with some very impressive tetris style manoeuvring the problem was solved and we could call it a job well done.

Two groups set off for the pub in stages (thanks for expertly guiding everybody back Pritesh and to Katie for leading stretches!) and an evening of board games. With an epic game of Traitors we learned even more about each other, trust and treachery...!

Next week we're back to Age UK and there is also this great mission on Wimbledon common on Sunday - hope to see you there!