Yesterday was Blue Monday - apparently the most depressing day of the year. In Wandsworth last night there was zero evidence of that, with 46 happy GoodGymers running 6km to lend a hand at a children's adventure playground. We even started off the night discussing what cheers us up when we're feeling down; food definitely came out on top along with running (of course), dogs, cat videos, rum and sunshine. If last night is anything to go by, we can most definitely add GoodGym to that list!

With the BAC being shut for the night we were lucky enough to be given a temporary home by the lovely people at Share Community, a brilliant charity that supports local disabled people. Thanks Share!

It was really lovely to see new faces, familiar faces, runners from different areas, from central office and even from Wandsworth council. Everybody is welcome at GoodGym, and always will be. A special welcome to Sara, Alex, Alexa, Becky, Rachel and Jessica who all came for their first group run last night. Give them a cheer, GoodGym!

We started off with a run through of the news - here's a recap:

• The January challenge is in full swing. In Wandsworth we racked up 129 good deeds and run a total of 1,176 kms which is pretty great. There's still a way to go though, so get yourself to as many group runs and missions as possible and don't forget to strava the heck out of every run!

• Looking for a community mission? Then check out this brilliant one next Tuesday lunchtime. The job is shifting furniture for a LGBTQ+ charity which supports young people locally, so not only will you get a great upper body workout but you'll be helping out an important organisation too. What's not to love?

• Like burgers? Feeling social? Want to catch up with other GoodGymers while not trying to trip up on the pavement or elbow deep in mud? Then our monthly port-run social is for you. Every first Monday of the month, just round the corner from our starting place at the Four Thieves. And it's even two for one on the burgers!What more could you ask for? Sign up here to join us at the next one.

After a rather squished warm up, we set off for our task at Oasis adventure playground. This wonderful place is a local charity that has fun facilities and learning opportunities for disabled and non-disabled young people enabling them to lead happy, fulfilled lives and play positive roles in the community.

We arrived to find David, who manages the place, waiting for us with tools and a pretty inspiring welcome. We were only there for 40 minutes, but he reminded us in that time that we would be playing an active role in improving the lives of young people. With that feel good factor, we got straight to work shifting old pallets from an area that needed to be dug over. We got a nice little chain gang going, before the real hard work began digging over the area, as well as creating a firepit. Which sounds about the most excellent and dangerous thing to introduce in to a children's playground.

Meanwhile, some of the group were treated to an extra conditioning session (lucky!), before getting on with weeding the enormous area - as well as testing out the facilities (which GoodGym trainer was spotted having fun on the trampoline cough, Beth?).

After just over half an hour of hard graft, we downed tools and headed over to the neighbouring park for a very short fitness blast. We warmed up with a game of clusters. While I wouldn't like to fling around any wild accusations of cheating, there was definitely some interesting counting going on! We then knocked out a little conditioning versus high intensity drills, with Chi encouraging everybody to work harder as we squatted, lunged, balanced and high kneed.

All that was left was to run the three kms back to base, and stretch out those tired muscles. Well done on working hard for a brilliant charity, getting a good run under your belt in the process, and giving blue Monday a smack about the chops. Next week we're off to clear leaves in a community garden, you can find out all about it right here. Hope to see you, until then, run happy!

We work with a lot of brilliant organisations that we couldn’t operate without. We wanted to celebrate what we’ve been able to achieve with our partners and to get some inspiration for what we might do next. To this end, on a murky Wednesday morning we held a breakfast event at the BT Tower to bring together lots of our partners to share our ambitions for the future and hear from some special guests about what is possible through the power of social movements.

After a heartfelt introduction from Suzy Christopher, Charity and Community Director for BT, and marathon runner, on her own experience running and doing good with GoodGym Birmingham, our Trustee Ruth Marvel introduced the first of our guest speakers, Chief Executive of Nesta Geoff Mulgan, to reflect on GoodGym and innovation in social movements. His introduction was... sort of complimentary….

"I was initially sceptical of GoodGym being on the original panel that judged it at social innovation camp but I am very happy to have been proved wrong and to have seen it grow so far. I hope that we can see GoodGym continue to grow to every town, city and village in the country."

Geoff then moved on to getting under the skin of what successfully draws people into volunteering in their local area and what GoodGym is doing that taps into this.

"What we've found is that main reason most people don't volunteer is because no one asks them to - we need to find ways of inviting people in.”

Whether it’s running to visit someone, doing a physical task for a community organisation or getting an older person to be a coach, GoodGym constantly calls people to action and asks them to get involved. We’re also a new way of inviting people in that taps into multiple motivations which Geoff really brought to life.

"With GoodGym you feel good about yourself in a physical way and you have the added dopamine rush of helping someone else out- double the happiness."

Next up, Mike Adamson the Chief Executive of British Red Cross (BRC) gave a very honest insight into both the history of social movement through the foundation of the Red Cross 150 years ago, and the evolving nature of volunteering and social action in the present day.

"What we're seeing is, this world [of volunteering] is being disrupted and people are self-mobilising and people are going to Calais and Lesbos to help. We really want to tap into this."

Even with over 20,000 volunteers in the UK, BRC are constantly guarding against complacency, exploring how they can mobilise their wider network of supporters and how they can collaborate with new methods of social action to meet their ambitions.

"We want to be open to innovation and startups outside, there are lots of great projects including Green Gym, Good Company and GoodGym. We know more about what colour pen to encourage them to donate, we want to work to understand better what motivates to people to take action."

Mike also reminded us all that connections start close to home:

"I will endeavour to persuade my daughter to join GoodGym in Leeds"

We’ll keep a look out for her when we get going there. Finally, Baroness Tessa Jowell shared her reflections both on GoodGym and her experience from the 2012 Olympics. Her initial message was clear - simplicity is the key to making this stuff work.

"When I first heard of this idea I thought it was too simple, but actually I think we need to stand up for simplicity. GoodGym is something that is simple that works. The over-complication suffocates so much of social innovation.”

This was reflected in her stories about the volunteers she had met during the 2012 Olympics and how they had connected on a very powerful and human level to being part of something bigger, even if that meant closing their business for a couple of months, or travelling hours each day to volunteer. People make extraordinary sacrifices because they want to, not because they have to;

"The Olympics 2012 volunteering programme was all about being part of something - people can’t be told what to do. We need to change the idea of volunteering being about good people doing good things for people who are subordinate to them. I hate the idea philanthropy. Every GoodGym runner feels different after they've been for a run and spent time with the older person they've had a cuppa with, and that's a huge benefit to them."

To round things off, Ivo who started GoodGym took some time to reflect on everything we had heard and to emphasise the importance of connecting people together both in terms of GoodGym being a success but also communities being a success.

He also announced formally our partnerships for the next three years:

Describing the new partnership with BT he said: “their huge reach, and mission to use the power of communications to make a better world align with our own. We are working together to expand our reach and to mobilise some of their 73,000 strong workforce. The reaction from their staff has been amazing.”

Of the relationship with New Balance he said “GoodGym’s mission is partly about reconnecting volunteering to the rest of our lives and making a more exciting, dynamic form of volunteering that feels aspirational . The two year deal with New Balance will build in their knowledge of and expertise in running to help take GoodGym to the mainstream.”

Of the relationship with parkrun he said "It has been a huge inspiration for GoodGym’s development. The integrity, dedication and focus of what they have achieved is extraordinary. Now numbering at over 2,000,000 runners and 250,000 volunteers it’s achievements are unprecedented in sport or any other field I can think of. Their support in raising awareness of GoodGym and helping us achieve our goals in terms of older people will be game-changing."

Ivo thanked our local authority partners, our amazing referrers such as the Red Cross and AgeUK, and the Big Lottery, Nesta, the London Marathon and the Mayor of London for their support.

Whether it’s through the dedication of runners Becky, Beth and Judy completing 1000 good deeds between them, our coaches Kathleen, Brian and Joy inspiring their runners to get out and be active, or our partners BT, New Balance and parkrun helping us to reach thousands more people across the UK, GoodGym is growing.

Thank you to everyone who helps make this happen. Just like our runners and coaches, GoodGym as a whole, gets by with a little help from our friends.

-Alexander Kenmure