For our first run of the month, and with the countdown to Christmas well and truly underway, we were back at the beautiful Doddington roof garden.

To kick off the night we welcomed Salaheddine to his first session - lovely to meet you Salaheddine and great having you join us last night!

We did a warm up and discussed our favourite Christmas songs, which ranged from Jingle Bells (in multiple languages) to East 17's classic, Stay. A very diverse mix of festive bangers!

We ran down to the task, stopping to check out one of the tasks for the evening - a massive tonne bag of soil that was looking for a good home! With our eyes on the prize we carried on to the garden, where half the group grabbed tools and went back for the soil, and the other half got on with jobs on site.

While Sophie, Salaheddine, Jordan, Johnnie and Jason tackled the composting and path digging at the roof garden, Catherine, Felix, Matthew, Annabel, Letizia, Steph and Beth were busy digging soil into tugs and wheelbarrows before transporting the heavy mud the kilometer back to Doddington - talk about a good workout! Great to see that the soil - which turned out to be fantastic quality - was put to good use rather than being wasted.

After all that hard work it was almost time to wrap up - but not before a fitness session which really tested our lower body. Featuring pogos, curtsy lunges, squats and jacks we did a five minute finisher which challenged those leg muscles! Great work everybody.

Half of us ran back for stretches while the other half successfully represented GoodGym at the quiz - a job well done all round.

I mentioned a lovely mission happening next Tuesday at the oldest church in Battersea. If you fancy a night helping out at this beautiful location raising funds for the brilliant Katherine Lowe Settlement then please sign up here.

We were back at Doddington for our regular task last night and it was the second consecutive super moon session - but this time it was no ordinary super moon. It was a super beaver moon, the brightest yet this year!

We met as usual at the BAC, where we got to welcome Alice to her first GoodGym session - great to have you join us!

We did a quick warm up where we discussed dog (and one cat) breeds before heading off by the light of the moon to the garden.

As always there were plenty of jobs to do, including leaf clearing, grass pulling and hedge trimming. We divided up into groups and got to work.

The time flew by and before we knew it we just had time to down tools and do our fitness session in the square. This week it was tabata - think fast, dynamic exercises for short bursts. There were lateral leaps, there were squat jumps, there were more steps than you could count. Great effort everybody!

If you've got some time to spare this Saturday and/or next Saturday and would like to help out again at Doddington, please join the weekend sessions - it's a great way to kick off the weekend!

Next Monday we're heading to help create a mud club for under fives - plus a double celebration. See you there!

Last night we proved that it's twice as nice in Wandsworth as we divided up the team to tackle not one but two tasks!

We had been schedule to head to the Scout hall in Battersea to help tidy up the outside area, but we were also asked last minute to come and help sort out donations at a local community hub. What to do - say, yes, of course!

So while Steph and Jordan stepped in to lead the scouting expedition, a second group made our way down to Doddington hub. We arrived to find a room stacked with donations. These had been given to the organisation following a major fire in Battersea, but because many of the residents affected have been moved to hotels, not all the donations were able to be used.

The plan is that the hub will be opened today so that people in the community that need a little extra help can find what they need. But before that can happen, there was a lot of sorting to do! While Annabel and Ali got stuck into the enormous pile of games, deciding what was educational (quiz games), what was fun (Jenga) and what was destined for the bin (the creepy dolls head..see photo). Johnny and Felix tested their sartorial skills by going through a mountain of clothes, and even played a game of 'name the object' (we still haven't figured out what it was that Felix found!) By the end of the session the room was looking much more organised and ready for visitors today. Elizabeth, who runs the hub, called GoodGym 'a miracle team'!

While we had the benefit of an indoor task on a rainy day, the intrepid Scout group were with Peter at the hall, and had a big weeding and clearing job to take on. The drizzle didn't hold them back, and captured by photographer Jordan, the overgrown space was dealt with beautifully. Peter had this to say this morning -

'Thanks again for Goodgym's support. We managed to clear the garage area , and round by back door. Steph did a grand job of sweeping the car park. We also discovered a hole in the ground!'

Great job everybody - and you even managed to divert a potential sinkhole disaster!

A few dates for your diary - next Monday we will be off to Larkhall Park to help out there followed by a Halloween themed social -either drop me an email or join the whatsapp group to find out the finer details of the post-run social but the idea is that we were will be going to a local pub with some Halloweed themed fun. All welcome!

We also have a mission coming up that needs plenty of help - we're back at Paradise for a Sunday morning session shoveling manure. It promises to be a great work out in the fresh air at a beautiful community space!

Last night we visited a very special place in the middle of Battersea Park to help support a local legend!

Battersea Park's peace pagoda is an iconic part of London's riverside, and was constructed in 1984 by a group of volunteers, including The Reverend Gyoro Nagase. It is a symbol of peace and unity and a spiritual place for many. Today the Reverend is the sole caretaker of the pagoda, and lives in a small building nearby.

It is a lot of work for one person, so we were asked to come and lend a hand. It's a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the small temple and to be part of this amazing part of Battersea history!

So after meeting for a warm up and to take a guess at which were the least known European capitals (according to Pointless it is Podgorica, Ljubljana and Bratislava!) we ran down to Battersea Park. Our first stop was the Thrive herb garden where we grabbed tools then split up into two groups.

The first party stayed at the garden to free some tiles from the brambles that had grown over them. These weren't just any tiles though - they were tiles that had been blessed by the Reverend Buddhist monk so they can be used to fix the Pagoda. This definitely means that Chris, Becca, Felix and Pritesh are forever more a part of Battersea history!

Meanwhile the rest of the group headed off to the small house and temple a short walk away to help clear the garden there. We were greeted by The Reverend Gyoro Nagase himself, and got straight on with the main jobs. Tasks included cutting a walkway in the hedge for the Reverend to get access to the back of the garden, and collecting up the masses of leaves that had collected and were making getting around the space tricky.

It was an amazing spot to work in, right by the famous fountains, and in the middle of a very quiet, very dark Battersea Park. It almost felt like we had the place to ourselves until we emerged from the area and back into the main carriageway which was buzzing with other running groups and cyclists.

We reunited to find that the tile group had done a very efficient job, and packed everything away. Join us next week as we head over to the scout hall for a tidy up! Dib, dib, do good and get fit!