Gemma, Rosemary, Will, and I set off from Old Spike after a quick warm-up for a sunset run to Old Alleynian Sports Club. There, we met Isaac, Sam, and Nathan, ready to tackle our task for the evening. Ian put us to work clearing the astroturf in front of the rugby clubhouse. We used the soil we removed to fill in holes on the cricket pitch, helping to smooth it out in time for summer. By the time we finished, the astro looked much better! As a well-earned reward, Ian treated us to Easter eggs before we set off on our run back to Old Spike for a cool-down. To end the evening we headed to the pub for a well-deserved drink.

Many hands make light work.

Today, Goodgymers, Anna, Brenda and Susan joined Vauxhall food Cooperative volunteers in refilling, sorting, packing and stacking food donations in preparation for tomorrows shop. It was certainly a race against time due to the delivery being delayed.

With the morning light beaming, we gathered in Borough Yards (an amazing place to grab a coffee, some food or even a cinema ticket if you're in the area!) and the excitement of a Saturday morning doing good fell upon us.

Our task today was one of utmost importance, sanctioned by the King himself. He decreed the surrounding green spaces of the Tower of London must match the excellence of the Crown stored within.

The King’s decrees aside, the infamous FNL speakers jumped into action and at 10am we set off from Borough Yards for our 6km run to reach our destination, Tower Hill Terrace. The council had called in the big guns (not you Sam), GroundEcotherapy to help transform the area to a space people could enjoy when visiting one of London’s tourist hotspots.

After an insightful intro with Ivo from GoodGym, and Paul from Grounded Ecotherapy we managed to shift 5 tonnes of soil and LECA (a sort of lightweight clay ball) up a few flights of stairs and completely empty 4 huge planters so new drainage could be put in. What we did today allows the planters to finally be fit for use. The next task is refilling them which you’re welcome to join us for.

Imogen correctly identified our group as definitely having the best time of any runners out this morning, mentioning how great it was to put all this energy into something that is also good for the community!

In less than an hour we felt well and truly accomplished. Haseeb even noted how good it’ll feel to walk past Tower Hill Terrace knowing we helped create it once it was all finished. It was still morning, we’d ticked off a sun fuelled run and helped improve a community space for one of London’s most visited locations. Only one thing remained, a quick return journey to our meet point and a surprise non-alcoholic brew waiting for us courtesy of Athletic Brewing.

Hopefully the feel-good vibes have fuelled an amazing Saturday for you. We do this combination of fitness and volunteering a lot (literally every week) and you’re welcome anytime. See what else is happening here

You’ll also find GoodGym at FNL’s upcoming Couch to 50k festival in Battersea Park. We’ll be hosting some exclusive training sessions in the weeks leading up to the festival. Come say hi, don’t be a stranger if you’re going.

A big shout to Borough Yards for hosting us as we met in the morning. Please do check them out here.

It’s springtime on the farm and that means there’s a lot to do, as ever! 3 Good Gymmers and Farm Manager, Gemma, started off by mucking out the sheep pen. This is home to 9 very pregnant ewes. Once we had cleaned their living quarters, we took the manure and dirty hay round to the compost where it will decay before being bagged up and sold in the Farm Shop. Then we just had time to de-weed one of the paths before taking the ferrets out for their daily exercise. This was a lot of fun as they are very inquisitive creatures. We will be back in 2 weeks and hope to see lots of newborn lambs!

Fuelled by sunshine and feel good vibes we ran 5km across central London to help transform Tower Hill Terrace into a slice of nature for one of London’s hottest tourist spots - the Tower of London.

Together we dug out 4 massive planters and shifted over 5 tonnes of soil and LECA (lightweight clay balls) up 2 flights of stairs and forever put our mark on the foundations of the project.