We had a good crowd of GoodGymers today to tidy the grounds of St.Marks. A few of the gang, Anne, Julie, Maya, Alys, and Nadia headed to Woking park run 👟🎽beforehand to stretch their legs and get the blood flowing for the big clean up to come. We bumped into some friendly faces including James and Rich. ☺️

Upon finishing, the ladies made their way by foot 🦶or wheel 🛞 to St Marks, to meet with other GoodGymers Wayne and Caterina, and we were all warmly greeted by a parishioner and the Reverend Jonathan, who we learned was also a keen runner!

After some warm drinks and biscuits to fuel us, we cracked on with clearing the car park of leaves 🍂, overgrown brambles and other shrubbery around the edges. Everybody seemed to pick a section and worked away at it, making our work very efficient indeed ⏱️ countered by some tutu💃🏻tangling and broom 🧹 blistering!

There was some great conversation about everybody’s Christmas parties, Christmas jumpers, and other festive preparations, when before we knew it, the car park was looking sharp!

Obligatory photo taken and then away we went. We may be back for some other tasks!

Maya kindly invited everybody to her place for a cuppa and biscuits so three of the team went to see her lovely abode. Thank you Maya for your hospitality! ☕️🍪

Wayne organised a fantastic venue for GoodGym Woking's Christmas Party 2024: The Sky Bar on the 22nd floor of The Hilton Hotel in Woking. Everyone was looking forward to celebrating 12 months of friendship, fitness, and, most of all, remembering the collective efforts of GoodGym Woking, which have contributed to improving the lives of others in Woking. Unfortunately, Wayne's Euromillions ticket entry was fruitless, but the evening was successful!

Adam, Alys, Anne, Rebecca, Caterina, Julie, Kirsty, Lauren, Nadia & Wayne were settled in their reserved seating area and were thrilled and surprised when Agathe arrived to join the party. As a recent GG joiner, Agathe shared how much she has appreciated the warmth and friendship offered by everyone since the first time she attended GoodGym. We are pleased you chose to join us, Agathe! Kirsty shared that by joining a community whose purpose is to altruistically help others, she discovered an unintended benefit, 'helper's high' or, to phrase it more scientifically, discovering that completing acts of altruism releases endorphins and boosts oxytocin and dopamine levels.

The first cocktails arrived, and everyone was very interested in observing the chosen concoctions. Each glass was greeted with choruses of enthusiastic 'ohs and ahs'. Nadia wandered over to one of the huge windows before deciding quickly if it was 'a bit too high'! Alys made everyone laugh with her irrepressible sense of fun and gift for storytelling, while Lauren wanted to know if Wayne would consider stopping at McDonald's on the way home. Like Anne and Alys, Rebecca wore her red tutu to keep the event on brand, which is fitting for a GG Trustee! Adam and Wayne seemed too attached to their woolly hats, wearing them throughout the evening. Other revellers were impressed by their efforts. Caterina enjoyed meeting the GG stalwarts properly for the first time and having time for a good natter; she was rather concerned about whether those with early starts in the morning would manage to get up for work. Welcome to GG Woking, Caterina!

Soon, it was time to go home, and thanks to the designated driver, Wayne, those who were too far from home were driven there by Wayne. And yes, he did stop at McDonald's on the way!

What's ahead for Good Gym Woking between now and the end of 2024? The group's 'Run up to Christmas' distance challenge continues raising money for mental health charities until Christmas Day. Five members are participating in Battersea's Park Run this Saturday. There are volunteering opportunities each Sunday in December at Woking's Junior Park Run, where we help children enjoy running. Also, this Sunday, we will support the All Aboard Club by creating an inclusive play setting for children with additional needs. Later in the month, there will be a GG promotion event and a gardening task at a local church. We will support the Woking Rotary Club's Christmas collections on several dates. A litter-picking session is also scheduled. A 10 km trail run at Polesdon Lacey for some training benefits and also leaflet dropping.

Christmas comes, but once a year, and so does this very special task for GoodGym Woking. The purpose was to assist Woking Foodbank with filling 50 bags with 36 food items ready for distribution to Woking residents who likely find December a particularly challenging time of year.

As usual, the GoodGym Woking team was delighted to be requested again to help Woking Foodbank with this vital service: to provided free food to vulnerable Woking residents. The GG 12-strong crew arrived at the task ready to help bring some Christmas cheer to others less fortunate. The team, welcomed by Alison, the Foodbank Project Manager, arrived at 6.30 pm; some had travelled together in Wayne's car or made their way to the location independently. Anne ran 4.5 km to the location, and Kirsty ran a shorter distance from her house to the Foodbank premises. Both ladies are participating in a Good Gym Woking group distance challenge to raise funds for mental health charities by 'running up to Christmas'. Every km helps!

The GG crew was excited. The excitement increased seeing Wayne wearing his fancy Christmas shirt, the girls put on their December tutus, provided by Kirsty, (GG red, of course), and the boys wore light-up Christmas woolly hats. Everybody was very enthusiastic about dressing up, having heeded Kirsty's warning that any 'Grinches' would have to complete a set of dreaded burpees!

Adam, Alys, Anne, Rebecca, Caterina, Julie, Katie, Kirsty, Lauren, Louise and her son Henry, Nadia & Wayne were ready to begin the task. Wayne quickly gathered the list of 36 items provided by Alison. He nominated each item from the list to an individual whose job it was to collect them . Meanwhile Rebecca carefully counted out 50 bags ready to be filled with said items. Having previously completed the challenge on many occasions in an organised fashion, GG Woking was confident of being faster than ever.

Organised quickly turned into disorganised chaos as the 12 elves raced around the unit collecting the required articles losing count and their way in the process. Order was eventually restored, and enough of each item was located. Adam and Rebecca were designated 'quality control', ensuring each of the 50 bags contained the requisite items, then lining up 'finished' bags in neat rows of 10. Some of the 'finished' bags had to be completed more than once, and 5x10 is harder to count, with 'helpful' teammates darting in and out with an item that had been missed. Wayne was spotted checking the list more than twice.

Everyone felt pleased as the task was achieved; it was time for the obligatory team photo in front of the 50 stuffed bags of goodies. We all agreed this was our favourite task of the year, and we hope we are invited back next year. Then we may remember to use a systematic approach ! :) Everyone bundled outside and on to our GoodGym Christmas party at the new Sky Bar in Woking town centre!

Today we had a fairly large group of GoodGymers as we joined together for tree planting at Knaphill lower school. 📚✏️

We had a few things to celebrate today, including Wayne birthday 🎈earlier in the week, along with his 200th GoodGym task 🎉, and we also said hello 👋🏼 to a newcomer Cath who is Nadia auntie. Great work Wayne on your many good deeds, long may they continue. Well done from all of us! 👏🏼

Half the gang, Wayne, Adam and Claire arrived at the start time, where Adam bumped into a work colleague! They got stuck straight in to dig up the turf where the trees were being planted. Then, more GoodGymers joined like Lauren, Cath Anne and Nadia, for the actual planting, having been welcomed warmly by the school staff who had put on drinks and biscuits to fuel everybody! ☕️

After some catching up and intros, we all got on with the task, which was surprisingly technical. Everybody had a turn at doing the various steps, like securing posts, breaking up the soil, hammering in tacks 🔨, and laying mulch in a doughnut 🍩. It was great to see everybody working around each other to complete each tree. We were in the great hands of the Surrey countryside team though who guided us through all the steps to ensure the trees root properly and grow healthily. 🌳

The school have given their new orchard a lovely name, ‘Knapples’, and we are proud to have played a small part in this great initiative. Hopefully in a few seasons the fruit will be plentiful for the children to enjoy and learn about the wonders of organic food. 🍎🍑🍐🍏

After completing 20 tree plantings, most of the team had a photo by the Knapples sign, by the Headteacher, and went on their merry way!

Great task, happy times, celebrating nature 🌳