On a sun-drenched summer evening in Walthamstow, fourteen fantastic runners headed out of Mirth, Marvel and Maud and made a beeline along the Hight Street to The Mill.

The Mills is a fantastic multi-use community cafe, space and soft-play facility which plays host to a large number of little visitors who love to make use of the toys and play space. As we all know, toddlers often don't observe the same hygiene protocol as the rest of us so keeping these toys clean and germ-free could help prevent the spread of all sorts of nasty germs.

With this in mind our band of volunteers set about cleaning, polishing and tidying toys. Toy Story 3 came to mind and if the little playthings could talk, I am sure they would have expressed their gratitude at their bright new sheen.

After, dropping the j-cloths we headed west to a local sports centre for some running drills: sprints, grape-vining, fast-feet and skipping all featured in a breathless session before we headed back to base for some stretches and refreshments for some.

Woohoo, Waltham Forest GoodGym is up and running. We had a fabulous turnout for the launch as we welcomed 35 beautiful people to the plush art deco surroundings of Mirth, Marvel, and Maud. With such burgeoning support, we decided to split the group and accomplish not one but two tasks both of which helped to make Walthamstow a slightly better place by the time we returned to base.

GoodGym team one headed to The Limes a fantastic activity and community centre for children and young people. Taking a direct 1 km route to this quaint original William Morris building sleeves were rolled, trays were filled, and fifteen fantastic females grabbed rollers and set to painting a large room from top to bottom.

Meanwhile, the rest of The Limes Crew cleaned the children's play area including the ball pit and sensory area.

After packing away, we regrouped and took the scenic (3.5 km) route home. There was some pretty impressive running on the show, particularly the way everyone conquered the hill at the end of the run.

GoodGym team two headed out with Ed, and ran an impressive 6.5 km to spruce up the area around Lea Valley Riding Centre. A designated site of special scientific interest and home to rare plants, grass snakes and toads the area has a less welcome visitor - litter. Armed with some serious litter picking tools we got to work filling over ten bags full of trash. Horses looked on as we worked and in the cool evening, it was a surprisingly therapeutic experience!

40 minutes later we were cruising back. It wouldn't be GoodGym without a bit of a workout so naturally, we had to stop for some jumping jacks, squat jumps and Lunges. Easy peasy for this lot.

A final sprint up the High Road saw some sweaty faces safely back, and the two teams mingled back to one to enjoy a well-deserved drink.