On a rather wet Wednesday evening 15 GoodGymers headed to two tasks across Camden

The first group of 8 headed to the American International Church to help make beds for the homeless. Run report written by Pritesh:

We were back at the homeless shelter at the American International Church this week and eight brave Camden-ers were on hand to get the beds prepped for their guests this night. A bit of rain never harmed anyone and after a quick briefing from Paul ("don't fall off the stage!") we headed off into the wet night with myself and Becky looking after the group.

Don't fall off the stage

We'd clearly proved our hand at bed making last week and with Stephanie our usual contact away we were just told the number of beds needed and left to get on with it! With fewer of us than we had last week we all had to be efficient and apart from a few issues (is this a double duvet that I'm trying to put a single cover on?!) we managed to get all 18 beds laid out and covered in time. The staff were very grateful and we departed just as the guests arrived.

Castlehaven Run Report:

The other seven wonderful GoodGymers headed to Castlehaven, which is a small but high profile, vibrant community association that continues to develop and respond to the needs of local residents.

After a gentle run there we met Fred and he explained our tasks. We split into two groups, one forking, shovelling and generally rearranging a compost area. The second group raked leaves up around the gardens, this is to prevent any needles or other unpleasant things ending up in the leaves which could be picked up by children.

Forking Compost

Great news from Fred from Castlehaven who told us that the bulbs we planted in autumn are now flowering - really amazing to see the value of our work!

Pritesh and Becky's group arrived at Castlehaven just in time to help pack up before a slog down the canal through the rain and back to base. After a quick stretch in the rain a few people decided they weren't quite wet enough and headed for a deserved beverage at 'the local'!

Starter session on Saturday 5th Match to Kentish Town City Farm. Bring your friends!

Also as Camden GoodGym we are going to do Regents Park 10k together at the start of April.

Thanks for coming, hope you all got dry!

Tonight's long run was nailed by our intrepid runners. 8kms out and back almost to Elephant & Castle felt like a lovely achievement in all in the mid-week blur.

This time, we met Rob, the volunteer co-ordinator for Cool Tan Arts which is a charity for arts and mental health. He told us a little bit about the work they do, showed us some amazing art and then led us to their store cupboard. We vomited audio visual equipment all over their hall, emptied out archive boxes and used a lift reminiscent of a horror movie to dispose of floppy discs and broken musical instruments. It always seems like we'll not finish the task and then somehow we pull it off. With a minute to spare and time to eat some of the fruit which Rob had cut up for us. The discussion then turned to the best colour jelly baby and nearly got ugly (It's green, clearly) and then we got our legs and minds prepped to people dodge our way back to Peckham. A few of the more competitive attendees had sprint races on the quiet streets and our first-timer, Andy, clearly has some extra energy and pace to burn. We've put him up for the Man Vs Horse Race and he likes a challenge.

As ever, we finished our run with a stretch and discussion over which pub is the best pub to have our first GG Southwark social. Front runners are The Rye or the Victoria Inn. Suggestions please for Wednesday 16th March after the run!

See you next week for some outdoor fun at Lettsom Gardens. We'll be shovelling & digging some holes after a much shorter run. Hill sprints at the end, optional!