It was another chilly night in Westminster, which made it even more clear that our regular task helping distribute clothes and bedding on the Strand makes a big impact.

Thankfully we had plenty of hands on deck, and it was brilliant to be able to welcome Andy and Louise to their first ever session great to have you both join us!

It's a popular spot for getting resources like hot food and other donations to those that need it most, so it was pretty hectic! We didn't have to wait long for Andrea to arrive with her van, and soon got to work.

With Khai jumping into the van to help get the boxes out in some sort of order, the rest of us hauled the clothes and bedding across the street to hang them out in a makeshift fashion display! We soon had jackets, trousers, sleeping bags and shoes out for people to choose what they needed most.

The time flew by, and before long most of the donations had been handed out. Great work everybody!

Next week we'll be meeting at Victoria to pick up and transport surplus food to rough sleepers - hope to see you there!

This evening was all about member Monika hitting a heroic 250 good deeds! Starting at the Tap we also had the pleasure of welcoming Anais for the first time.

A lovely chatty pace run led the group to the Achieving for Children Youth Centre in Mortlake where Monika was adorned with the legendary cape and presented with her group card. Monika joined in 2019 and has completed tasks in seven different areas, an achievement that could only possibly be eclipsed by her fondness for giving cheers on the GoodGym website: 14232 as of this evening! 🤣

The task itself involved moving the large gym equipment around, an almost impossible task for only a couple of people but pretty quick for 10 GoodGymmers, especially with one Super Monika on the team!

Congratulations Monika! ⚡

The January challenge continues as we head off into cold nights with warm hearts to do good in the borough of Richmond upon Thames.

Tonight we ran a bit further than normal to cover just over 4km to Twickenham where INS (Integrated Neurological Services) is based. A chatty run through Richmond High Street and Twickenham up to Richmond Green before turning towards Hampton to the task location.

Lovely task owner Sarah had prepared well for us with everything laid out ready to go to paint the radiators in the loos and one in the gym! Sanding, cleaning and painting saw a fast transformation for four radiators before the team regrouped for the run back to Richmond!

Today may have been Blue Monday, but we painted it red tonight! ♥️

For several Tuesday evenings now we have been supporting the amazing Under One Sky charity get food to rough sleepers around Victoria. It's a task that makes a difference to the men and women who struggle to access resources. It's brilliant when it goes to plan, but it's not always smooth sailing!

The lows? Last night when we arrived on a freeing cold evening the bakery had shut early so had no donations for us to collect - plus the sub zero temps of course!

The highs? Luckily we had bought some food with us to take to Under One Sky, so when Pret also turned us down we made our way (thanks to Jessica's ace map reading skills) to drop it off. A little bit goes a long way.

Hopefully we're going to be teaming up with UOS to make the sandwiches to hand out going forward - so watch this space for more updates!

A welcome start to 2025 group runs for GoodGym Richmond as we met at Tap Tavern to warm-up together and run the 3.5km route to The Purple Elephant Project, supporting children's mental health.

Task owner Jane met us at the centre with a great list of tasks ready for us to get stuck into in the children's play garden: clear up the leaves, reattach the privacy screening, fix up the den with astroturf underneath, re-support the bird feeder and move a gazebo to the shed. Between a team of happy and well-warmed-up helpers the tasks were all complete in 45 minutes, with a short stop for leftover Christmas chocolates and biscuits from Jane before the group ran back off past Twickenham stadium to Richmond town centre, a lovely steady 7km run.