I walked from Borehamwood to Friary Park along the beautiful Dollis Valley Green Walk. First good deed of the day done; one dog walked and thoroughly happy. We finally reached Friary Park at 11:30 to find Cherian and a whole flock of locals and Thames 21 ers hard at work. As Cherian had been there since kick-off we agreed I'd take on the heavy burden of wordsmith, and write up the report. We planted a whole variety of water-loving plants along the slope of a freshly prepared set of miniature lakes. Digging through soft soil here, dry stoney ground there and painstakingingly peeling away flakes of hardened clay in yet another spot, we prepared holes deep enough for the roots and bedded the young plants in place. The weather was perfect - cool and sunny whilst we worked, then rain to water in the fresh flora. After a little chance the catch up over spades and dirt, Cherian and I headed home, in my case with a very wet and tired first time paricipant of good dog Barnet.

GoodGym Barnet – Use It or Lose It!

Barnet gathered once more at the Phoenix Cinema, and what a turnout it was – boosted by a bumper crop of first-timers. A big cheer to Keith, Natasha, Billy and Lucie for joining us for the first time. Great to have you with us!

We couldn’t have picked a better meeting point. The Phoenix has been in the local news recently – one of the oldest continuously operating cinemas in the country, but sadly struggling to turn a profit. The trust’s message is clear: use it or lose it. ( just like our fitness ) So, while we meet outside for our runs, why not pop back another night for a classic film, an indie gem, and of course, copious amounts of popcorn?

After a gentle warm-up and a quick bank-holiday-weekend debrief (sunshine featured heavily), we set off through Cherry Tree Woods and on to Highgate Woods, where we met Cindy the Ranger. While waiting, we even managed a bit of gentle yoga in the evening light ( who says GoodGym doesn’t stretch you in every sense!)

Cindy led us to a rather large wooden construction. Picturesque, yes. Useful for biodiversity? Not so much. She explained how deadwood plays a vital role in the woodland ecosystem, supporting fungi, insects, and all sorts of wriggly life. Our task: dismantle the wooden tower and repurpose the material into protective fencing to help new undergrowth regenerate.

Armed with determination (and a limited number of gloves…), we attacked the structure with gusto, soon reducing it to neat piles ready for its next life as woodland fencing. Satisfying work – though possibly more splinter-prone than popcorn-eating!

Shout-outs and Top Tips • Huge welcome again to our new recruits – you smashed your first GoodGym mission. • A little plea: future tasks often involve logs, nettles, or other prickly characters. Treat yourself to a pair of lightweight gardening gloves – they’ll make you look the part and save you some splinters. • With darker evenings on the horizon, a head torch is also a worthy sidekick. You’ll thank yourself when you can see both the path and the nettle patch.

As ever, GoodGym is about more than running – it’s about supporting our local community, green spaces, and charities, many of whom are short of volunteers. By showing up, you remind them that what they do matters. Plus, winter training with GoodGym is secretly brilliant – it’s invigorating, you’ll stay motivated, and honestly… it hardly ever rains (and if it does, you’ll hardly notice!).

So keep coming, keep running, and keep helping. Barnet needs you and so do the trees!

On a delicious Mon evening in Sheffield we headed across town and uphill to Somerset Park to meet with the local legend that is Karen from Pitsmoor pickers to help this group keep the area litter free and sparkling.

We met with Karen and four other pickers including a new born baby and got tooled up with pickers, hoops and bags and got straight to it.

Cans were collected separately as Karen takes these away to get recycled.

Karen embraced her arty side and painted some messages, encouraging park users to bin their rubbish.

Once done, bags were collated, labeled and reported ready for collection by the council.

Until next time, happy running! :)

The Phoenix was swarming with film-goers eager for the world premiere of a new documentary about dogs, Dog$piracy. Given the threatening clouds, the cinema seemed like a great place to be, but, never to be put off, our three indomitable Goodgymmers had a mission!

We set off for Coldfall Wood - and into a cold downpour - jogging our way through backstreets. At an opportune clearing in the woods, we stopped for a bit of stretching and, by the time we were back out on Muswell Hill Playing Fields, the rain had cleared up. Crossing the fields, we spied Simone, who met us at the site, and Linda from the Friends of Cold Fall Woods, chatting away around trusty - ploggers and sacks. Great to Simone her back after a hiatus!

After a quick intro, we fanned out across the north field, clearing rubbish and catching up. Beattie got stuck into the brambles, where a few people were out gathering berries. Rachel and the others skirted the perimeter, clearing dog poo bags tossed into the undergrowth because the bin was buried in brambles and nettles. Not a job for us, fortunately - Linda reported that, and a pile of fly-tipping by the gate to the flats north of the fields.

And then, with our work done, we piled the rubbish sacks ready for collection, waved a cheery goodbye to Simone and jogged our way back to the Phoenix. The cinema-goers had only just gone in for the screening by then, so we snuck a quick refreshment in to celebrate a job well done, before trekking home.

Hope to see people next week when we've been asked to help with an emergency watering job for the new planters at Lyttleton Playing Fields.