What a brilliant Monday night we had in Wandsworth – full of energy, effort and excellent exercise!

Sophie led the session superbly from start to finish and, excitingly, is soon to become Wandsworth’s newest fitness leader – a huge congratulations is in order! We can all agree she did a fantastic job, keeping us motivated and moving all evening.

We kicked things off with a fun warm-up where we shared our favourite sporting moments – everything from iconic football goals to Olympic heroics and epic tennis battles. Inspired and limbered up, we set off for the beautiful Paradise Community Garden where we met more GoodGymers ready to get stuck in.

The task for the night was centred around the orchard – we worked together to clear the area around the trees and topped them with manure to help them thrive. Paradise Garden is a vital green space in the heart of Wandsworth, offering a place for locals to connect with nature, grow food, and enjoy some peace – and it was fantastic to contribute to its upkeep. We’ve already heard back from the lead gardener who said we did a fantastic job – great work team!

After our task, Sophie wasn’t finished with us just yet – she put us through our paces with 45 seconds of challenging exercises. Think squat jumps, lunges, jacks with a twist, and the intriguing “marionette move” (a new favourite!). It was tough but satisfying, and a perfect way to round off the evening.

Coming up:

• This Saturday: We've got a huge mission at Doddington – an amazing opportunity to do something good for the community and enjoy a little Saturday social afterwards. We'd love to see you there!

• Next Monday is Bank Holiday so we’re switching things up with a lunchtime run – perfect if you fancy a dose of feel-good activity before your afternoon plans.

See you soon for more good deeds and good vibes!

🌞 GoodGym Wandsworth in the evening sun

On a sun-drenched Monday evening, still basking in the post-London Marathon glow, an energetic gang of GoodGymmers ran to St Mary’s Church in Battersea for a brand-new task. Not just any church—this is Battersea’s oldest, where William Blake tied the knot and J.M.W. Turner once whipped out his paints to create his iconic river scenes.

A massive shoutout to all those who ran the marathon on Sunday, and kudos to the spectators, who undertook the noble task of clapping, shouting and creating signs that Turner would be proud of. Respect.

An even bigger Wandsworth welcome to Kate, who joined us for her very first GoodGym adventure! She picked an absolute banger of an evening: blue skies, a route bursting with blossom, and a riverside scene straight out of a Richard Curtis movie. There were geese waddling past wisteria in full bloom as the sun set over the Thames- all that was missing was Hugh Grant himself.

Our mission for the evening was to weed, litter pick, spruce up paths, and hang bunting. Within minutes, the area was buzzing with the sounds of gardening, laughter and debates over where to hang the next bit of bunting.

Among the more curious discoveries: a small religious plaster figurine and what we concluded was a leg tag—left behind by someone who was in a bit of a hurry...

As the sun dipped lower and the geese gave us side-eye for disrupting their evening stroll, we gathered for a few lovely group shots and admired our handiwork. But we weren’t done yet...

On the way back, we hit up several fitness stations (because one plank is never enough) and made a detour to check on the bulbs we planted earlier in the year. And guess what? Just like GoodGym Wandsworth, they were blooming beautifully 🌷💪

Next week it's a bank holiday so we'll be having a lunchtime run on the Monday over to the GoodGym garden.

This weekend we need help protecting the trees in Wandsworth, and if you fancy a double header of tasks you could op down to Streatham to beautify the nature reserve there - what a bank holiday weekend!

We've gardened in freezing rain, scraped graffiti in sub zero temps, even pulled weeds with the threat of snow - and finally, the evening came. An indoor task! Perfect timing as well, as it was pretty nippy out there last night.

Our job for the evening was to address and stuff envelopes for a charity called Sparkle which runs an intergenerational centre. It brings together elderly people who might be facing loneliness with young ones who can benefit from their experience. A brilliant idea! They just need some help spreading the word about their amazing offering.

So we met at St Michael's church, where some of the activities including gentle exercise, arts and singing are held. It may have been a toasty inside task, but it was no less of a challenge as we found we had no fewer than 1700 envelopes to fill!

Wasting no time we formed an efficient production line, some of us writing, some stuffing and some sealing. While we worked the conversation was certainly wide ranging, from the merits of singing butlers to the best parkrun breakfasts, the joy of sleeper trains and what exactly is meant by 'vibe merchants'.

No wonder then that some of us may have got a little distracted and 'Dear Neighbour' became 'Dear Envelope'! Mentioning no names but a certain glossy beard might be a good disguise?

After a good solid session working away, we had a final count and managed a grand total of over 1000 envelopes - amazing! Next week we'll take on the job of delivering them - hope to see as many of you as possible there to get the word out far and wide!

We had got so used to the comfy warm room that our planned session on agility and balance morphed into a cosy strength and conditioning session. But that didn't mean that there was less, ahem, vocal feedback. Still, hopefully Pritesh didn't pull every single muscle in his body and Steph's hip flexors survived the journey home!

Great work everybody. Join us next week for the second part of the task or check out this week's community missions.