So last night we had a bit of a change of plan - Ed from LGPFC called and emailed and they are having some logistical challenges meaning they were no longer able to meet at Pulross centre to do the planters. In the time available it wasn't possible to secure another task and so AA Yianny decided to put it to a group vote - do we bring forward the Social or head out for a run and litter pick....

Given the weather it was no surprise that the group decided to turn the session into a Coach Mission (sitting with an old man the AA) and instead chat all things GoodGym, Park Run, Races and beyond.

In light of this a big thank you to Katie, Michael, Fi and Tilly (who baked banana bread for us!) for coming out despite the weather ready to roll and for spending a lovely evening on a bit of GG team building!

In case you haven't seen it yet - check out the Great British Bake Off Sweepstake on the WhatsApp Group and get signed up if you want to be part of it.

See you next week at the Thor Lands :0)

Sometimes the best laid plans can come a cropper. This evening fell into that category for our intrepid Lambeth GGers.

Michael, Tilly, Fi and Yianny met at Papa's for a quick 1.5kms on the way to Swan Mews and we were met by Kymm at the task. Mohah and her sister Zara from the Grantham Road GP Practice were also there to meet us but unfortunately had been given the wrong combination code for the padlock to the gate this was issue number 1.

No matter, we managed to hop over the fence, pass some little wooden benches back over and everyone (even those wearing long skirts!) made it over the railings safely. Nothing like a bit of breaking and entering to get the blood flowing as they say.

Issue number 2 followed quickly after, the padlock key for the tool bin was not in fact the padlock key to the tool bin and so now we had tonnes of mature compost and no tools to shovel into the wheelbarrow and move. Being GoodGymers that wouldn't stop us as we'd made it this far so we scoured the gardens for anything makeshift we could dig and shift the manure with (plastic pots and a BBQ lid did the trick) and we were away.

Given the challenges we were happy to have completely filled one planter and at least the patients can get on with some planting and can slowly move the rest over a period of time.

All that was left was to clamber back out and take our group selfie - not a bad night's work if I do say so myself.

Huge thanks to all and if you are reading this then don't forget we have our end of summer social next week after the Group Run so get signed up!

See you next time :0)

Let's talk about last night! It was a perfect crisp evening for a run and physical task - the quintessential GG as we called it.

Michael, Tilly and AA Yianny met at Papa's for the 2.5km jog and discovered that we had our meeting room back which was welcome given the chilly temperature outside. We set off in good time and good spirits through a quieter than usual Brixton, heading to meet Caroline down at Jennie Lee Garden.

Frances cycled to the task directly and met us there as we headed in for a briefing and to pick up tools.

Despite a couple of shovels having gone missing we had two barrows and 3 shovels, just enough to ensure plenty of relays from the 1 tonne top soil bags to the planters in the gardens which needed filling. By ten past eight we were packing up having filled one planter ready for today's gardening session where many older patients will be outside getting some fresh air and learning how to plant lots of herbs and vegetables.

We set off with a sense of achievement after a very pleasant task so thank you to Ed and to Caroline for hosting us and coming out in the cold!

Once back at Papa's Michael was discussing the upcoming London Jazz festival and conversation turned to the Tokyo Jazz scene and from there it was a light hop to one of AA's favourite authors Haruki Murakami. If you're a fan then you already know ;0) but if you haven't come across his work I recommend you dive in!

Thanks all and see you next time!

A change is a s good as a break as they say so last night we changed things up and set off from a new running location. Our task was in West Norwood which is the outer limit of our run distances from Brixton but we needed to be there as early as possible as we had a lot to get through.

AA Yianny met Louise in Tulse Hill and set off from there with the rest of the group meeting directly at the task either walking or on their bikes.

Ed from Lambeth GP Food Co-Op was there to meet us and had two wheelbarrows and 5 shovels ready for action, with our task being to get the compost from the one tonne bags over to the two remaining empty planters at the top of the hill. Marie-Noelle led the shovel and tip team, Louise and Tilly kept the compost coming from the bags and Paul, Will and Yianny took the wheelbarrow relays.

The group divided into two with half loading and walk / running the barrows up the hill and the rest shovelling and tipping the compost into the planters. One hour later and after too many trips to and fro to count the two planters were over half full and ready to be used for planting by the patients of the GP Practice at West Norwood.

Sadly this evening was Will's last for a little while as he heads back home to Stroud for a few months, it's been fantastic having you with us and we look forward to your return in the New Year!

Thanks to all and to Ed for hosting us and see you next week!

Joao and I spent an hour moving compost to some planters for the Lambeth GP group in West Norwood. We got through just over a bag so more missions to come!

This Saturday Lasso and Joao helped Ed, who coordinates the activities with Lambeth GP Food Co-Op to fill up planters that are stationed next West Norwood health and leisure centre. Plenty of soil to lift and shift and everyone got their hands dirty!!! In the end, we filled 2 massive pantlers to the brink and volunteers are now able to start planting stage. There's still work to be done and we plan to return and finish the job 😊👍