It was all Gogh Gogh Gogh at H&F tonight...11 runners painted for a local school while 8 runners flyered for a local charity!

After last's week '2 become 1' task situation I was cautious optimistic that lightening wouldn't strike twice this evening. The thunder and lightening had passed, and the pouring rain that had fallen all day had finally stopped and given way to lovely clear blue skies. The pouring rain hadn't deterred my lovely group and I was greeted at the BetterGym reception by 14 other GoodGym'ers, and an extra 4 at the task as work and transport got in the way!

What are two like?!

Tonight we were going to be helping paint the 2nd coat of paint in the room at Flora Gardens and flyering around the streets of Shepherd's Bush for the wonderful charity Turning Paint.

We started off the evening by congratulating Catriona on her 100th good deed and ensured she was dressed appropriately for the run...with her wings of course! Well done Catriona! 💯🙌🥳 ...AND a big well done to Matt on his 50th good deed! 5️⃣0️⃣🙌🥳

Two milestones, two tasks - the 2nd coat of paint - it was all about the 'not so terrible' twos tonight!

P'aint no stopping them!

After a quick run down of the news and pulse raising warm-up we headed off down towards Flora Gardens. It wasn't long before we arrived and were warmly welcomed in by Business Manager, Jeanette. At this point the group split into two with just over a half staying with Jeanette to paint the second of paint and the rest continuing on up to Shepherd's Bush now we had 'dropped the kids off at school!'.

After a couple of kilometers up and around the backstreets of Hammersmith we arrived on Uxbridge Road at the Shepherd's Bush branch of Turning Point.

Come on flyer with me, we'll flyer, we'll flyer away!

We were met by one of the co-ordinators, Hardik who invited us into one of their many branches and explained the extensive offer of drug, alcohol and mental health services they provide for local communities - these included advice, clinics, and health and wellbeing support.

He then presented us with a number of leaflets that promoted and explained their services - this stack of leaflets was HUGE and contained 6 different flyers. Our task tonight was to deliver as many of the leaflets as possible in 20 minutes to the surrounding streets. Alice came up with the perfect plan to ensure maximum efficiency and coverage.

With the team split into two we worked together in a nice chain formation, ensuring each house had a range of the leaflets.

There was a lot of this...

What the shell?!

The rain had led to MANY MANY snails being out in force on the pavements and in driveways which led to a rather cautious approach from our 'gram extraordinaire', Lucy.

As well as lot of flyering there was also a lot of sneaking/checking before entering....

And of course the odd 'gram story to document the evening!

On the Monet....we totally snailed it!

The other team painted away in their black L'oreal tees to ensure their lovely red GG tees were not covered in paint, though somehow a few managed to come away with some artistic dots on their tees!

After 45 minutes of painting work, Jeanette was very happy with what the team had managed to achieve, 2nd coat complete! All that was left was the tidy-up before being 'picked up from school' by the flyering group who had delivered all but a few of their huge stack of leaflets!

With everyone re-grouped together, we headed off on our short run back to base for a stretch off and the best bit of the evening...the cake celebrations! 🧁🍰

As always, the bakers had excelled in providing us all with an absolutely delicious range of cakes, and there was also some bonus sweets! Energy and sugar levels replenished we decided to call it a night. Another wonderful evening of running, doing good and celebrating achievements aced!

Great work tonight team & BIG well done to Catriona and Matt!

This week's news 📣...

1. FREE Local Run Group - Meet at the Stable Yard in Holland Park at 5.45pm for a 6pm start 🕕 this Thursday! The run will be approx. 5-10kms. No sign-up is required, there is also bag storage ✅ & toilets ✅.
2. Chiswick 10k TT - This Sunday is the monthly up & running 10k time trial starting. Meet at Chiswick Bridge for a 9am start.
3. Ealing Half Marathon - Good luck to anyone running, and thank you to all those volunteering.

Next week, the wonderful 'new centurion' Catriona is leading you up to Askham Court to help out with some gardening for the residents. Please sign up here. As the nights are getting darker, please bring a headtorch if you have one! 🔦 Have a great couple of weeks, see you when I'm back!

Ready to hibernate?

Everyone was a bit quiet to start with this night - perhaps the shorter days and drizzly weather wasn't helping.

Let's get ready to rumble

We started with a warm-up outside to get our bodies ready for the run ahead. Then we headed over to The New Coach House to meet Jacqueline from DAWS and pick up their new flyers. The Drug & Alcohol Wellbeing Service (DAWS) is the substance misuse treatment service for the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and the City of Westminster. The flyers we were asked to distribute we to gave an overview of their services. Which includes: 1-2-1 support, Advice & Information, Carer Support, Counselling, a Criminal Justice Support, social groups, Education Training & Employment (ETE), Family & Group Support, Harm Reduction Advice, Peer Mentoring, Prescribing Clinics, Satellite Clinics and SMART Recovery.

Use your run

After Jacqueline gave the group the low down on how DAWS help in the community we split into two groups to tackle two estates in one night. One group headed off to White City Estate and the other to Becklow Estate.

Luckily, the Becklow Estate gang got into all the flats so they were able to do the whole lot and had time to drop the excess flyers back at the charity on the run home.

The white City Estate gang stormed through their pile of flyers and ended up back at the leisure centre early. Thanks to Justine for talking to stretches.

Well done all those that made the effort to come out tonight in the soggy weather.

The Goodgym Dream Team were called in this week to blitz the back garden of Turning Point - a innovative, dynamic Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Service. They wanted to be able to use the garden going forward as an gardening activity in their recovery groups.

We had a couple of GG tourists along again today. Thanks David, David & Claudia - hopefully we'll see you again next week.

After a lovely 2k run up to Uxbridge Road via the tree lined backstreets we met Michael again from Turning Point, who told us in a nutshell about the many facets of TP's service.

A bit like a carpet

We quickly got started weeding the AstroTurf and hoovering up the general debris that had collected on the top of it. Then group cleared and weeded a raised flower bed that had once been a herb garden. Lastly, after moving all the rubbish together and preparing it for collection Jason and George took on the task of sweeping and washing down the concrete alleyway.

Bish Bash Wash

In 25 minutes the garden was completely sorted and looked completely rejuvenated.

Just before we left one of the ladies who had been through Turning Point as a service user and now was a peer mentor came to tell us about her experience and what she does in this role.

Party invitation

We all been invited along to a Recovery Celebration party being held Wednesday 12.30pm at 61 Munster Road, SW6 5RE. There will be music performances, food and celebration. Turning Point wanted to invite Goodgymers along as a thank you for all they’ve done to help the charity.

Drive backwards

On the run back to base we dipped into Ravenscourt Park to learn some running best practice. This week it was all about arms.

We practiced driving our arms backwards, keeping them at a right angle and not crossing the body.

Something to think about on a run this week perhaps?!

PSB,
OUT.