The Route: A Berry Good Adventure! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

This week our fantastic crew of do-gooders embarked on another mission to spread joy and burn calories in equal measure! We ran to Holy Trinity to meet the lovely Adam, taking the scenic route through the park where we couldn’t resist a spontaneous 50-yard dash. Because apparently regular running isn’t challenging enough - we needed to add some competitive spirit to really get those heart rates pumping!

Well done Fi!! Perdie sorry about the misbehaving bicycle...:0(

Mission: Operation Bramble Trouble

Once we arrived at the vicarage, it was time to get down to the nitty-gritty (and thorny) business of garden warfare:

Blackberry Bramble Battle Royale - Armed with secateurs and sheer determination, we took on some seriously aggressive brambles that had clearly been plotting garden domination. These weren’t just any old thorns - they were the kind that fight back! Several volunteers emerged looking like they’d been wrestling with a particularly grumpy hedgehog, but victory (and a kilo of berries) was ours!

Path Clearing Champions - We declared all-out war on weeds and moss, transforming a slightly shabby path into something so pristine it practically sparkled. The weeds didn’t stand a chance against our green-fingered army of destruction!

Weeding Warriors - No dandelion was safe as our volunteers pulled, tugged, and uprooted with the enthusiasm of people who genuinely enjoy making things tidy (which, let’s face it, is slightly concerning but utterly admirable).

🌟 LEGEND ALERT: Michael Hits the Big 3-0-0! 🌟

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we have a genuine superhero in our midst! Tonight we’re celebrating our absolute legend Michael, who has just recorded his 300th good deed with GoodGym!

That’s right - THREE HUNDRED acts of community kindness since he started back in 2017. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly one good deed for every cup of tea consumed during a typical British crisis meeting, or about the same number of times we’ve all said “this year will definitely be different” since 2017.

Michael, you absolute weapon of community spirit, you’ve been smashing it for seven years and show no signs of slowing down. From bramble battles to litter picking adventures, from community garden chaos to whatever weird and wonderful tasks we’ll inevitably stumble into next week - you’ve been there through it all!

Here’s to Michael: proving that being a legend isn’t just about what you achieve, but about showing up week after week with a smile, a pair of running shoes, and an inexplicable willingness to wrestle with hostile vegetation! 🏆

The Verdict

Another week, another successful mission accomplished! The vicarage is looking absolutely mint (pun intended), our step counters are very happy with us, and somewhere in Lambeth, a group of defeated brambles is probably plotting their revenge for next season.

Until next week, keep running, keep laughing, and keep being the kind of people who think spending their evening pulling weeds is actually a pretty decent way to spend time!

Remember: We’re not just working out - we’re working wonders in our community, one terrible pun at a time!

What a great session we had at Holy Trinity Church! Our fantastic group came together to tackle some much-needed gardening and green waste management with Nicole, and we really rose to the occasion.

The team worked tirelessly to clear overgrown areas, manage green waste, and help transform the church grounds. It’s safe to say we were all rooting for a successful outcome, and we certainly didn’t leaf any job unfinished!

Special Mentions

🌟 Jordan from Wandsworth Thanks for branching out and joining us from across the borough! Your enthusiasm really helped us turnip the energy levels.

🌟 Hanna - Congratulations on your very first GoodGym session! You threw yourself into the work with such dedication - we can tell you’re going to grow into a fantastic regular member of our community.

Birthday wishes go to our wonderful Tilly who also provided sweet treats for everyone - happy birthday!

A huge thank you to Nicole for coordinating the session and showing us exactly what needed doing, as well as Run Leader Joao for taking the run. With teamwork like this, we’re proving that many hands make light work - even when dealing with heavy garden waste!

Until next time, keep running and keep doing good!

The GoodGym Lambeth Team 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🌱

On the run back to base Charlotte put it perfectly, these were the best conditions for our group run so far in 2025, lovely temperature and the sun setting as we made our way back - you could feel the positive vibes all around.

Let's not get into the fact that yet another GGer had just returned from amazing travels in Central America making the rest of us feel greener than Sticky Willy with envy (!) and focus on the awesome run and task of the evening. Charlotte, Dan and AA Yianny met at Papa's and set off on a secret flat route through Brockwell Park even being able to rock t-shirt and shorts for the first time!

On arrival we were met by our host Nicole who presented us with our tasks, Ben who made his way directly to the task, Ellie who arrived straight from work (don't worry Ellie we can sort that for you ;0) and we were delighted to see Adam again - sporting a new mark of bravery but looking well so great to have you back with us!

Over the next 45 mins we finished off the final load of barkchip to lay in the upper garden and then started the never ending task of clearing the circular path's weeds which no sooner do we get to one end seem to grow back at the other.

Not to worry GG are great at repetitive but valuable tasks and so it was that we put another lovely evening to bed and all left HT in high spirits.

We move on to next week and so I wish everyone a lovely week and look forward to seeing you next time.

As AA Yianny had to travel unexpectedly the GG team stepped in and Fi kindly covered the group run this Tuesday.

Feedback from the team was that it was all fine and dandy. Fi and Ben ran together from Papas and met Paul, Adam and Michael at the task.

The group chopped 6 big holly bushes right back (with some secateurs) which took up the whole time available Helping to not block the windows and provide a bit more light ahead of spring.

Big thank you to Fi and the whole group for stepping in / up and delivering another excellent task.

See you all next time!

Our intrepid GoodGymers met at Papa's and were presented with a challenge to start our evening - could anyone help our friends who use Papa's Hall to open the door using the dodgy keys we had? I'll spare you the suspense - no we couldn't! The combined skill and brainpower of a medical professional, a tech titan and an Area Activator failed miserably, but in our defense on that set of keys it has been thus for years......

Never mind we had work to do so Katie, Dan and Yianny set off for a 3km run out to the wonderful Holy Trinity Church and we were able despite the dark to take a tour through Brockwell Park - a lovely twilight run - on our way as we look forward to the lengthening Spring evenings.

On arrival we were met by Paul and Ben and shortly afterwards Michael arrived having completed his longer run to the task as part of his marathon training.

We had two main tasks set out by Nicole: - Trim and collect the bushes and put into compost bags - Shovel woodchip into barrows and wheel up to be spread on the back garden area.

As ever a very satisfying task made all the better by the lovely surroundings (check out some cool photos from Katie and Ben) and great company (Robocop chat and 1980s VHS reminiscences!) and by the end of the hour we had made a significant dent in the work. As always there is plenty of maintenance so we will be back next month but for this session we were done and ready to head back.

A quick sweetie distribution for energy and we set off back to base or home and big thank you to all the team for another excellent task.

See you next time! :0)

It's that time of year again (where has 2024 gone?!) and the Lambeth crew were out in force for our task with Holy Trinity followed by the winter social!

Yule be pleased to know that this report won't be full of bad puns or riddles unlike the GG End of Year Quiz...

As a rare occurrence we all met at HT to help Nicole, Adam and the team get the place ready for the Christmas carrolling service, which meant chair stacking / unstacking / shifting / rolling and storing. The gangways needed to be just large enough for people to get through jingle file and tables were covered with foil and battery operated candles.

We also had the use of two carpet washers - sleigh what?! - and could artistically place the candles around the place to look magical.

But wait there's myrrh, the task was rounded off with a visit to the straw hall to see it open and completed (with GG having helped out in past tasks) while Adam made use of the kitchen to prepare some hot snacks for everyone which was berry welcome.

And so deer friends we headed to the pub for our GG Quiz of the year, some mulled and unmulled wine, amazing prizes and sweet treats.

It only remains for me to thank everyone not only for last night but also the whole year of doing good while getting fit, you guys are awesome :0)

We are back next week for the last Group Run of 2024 so hope to see you there!