Yesterday afternoon, Saturday 20th December, Kirsty, Anne, Olalekan, Melanie and Rosa (who joined us for her first ever community mission - Welcome to Goodgym) met at Woking Leisure Centre for a festive community mission supporting Shooting Star Children’s Hospice.

Our task was to promote Shooting Star’s Christmas tree collection service, which takes the hassle out of recycling by collecting trees from homes on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th January. A minimum donation is welcomed helping raise vital funds for the charity.

The team headed out from the Leisure Center, through Woking Park, around the White Rose Lane area, delivering leaflets to houses and blocks of flats. Covering a few kilometres along the way, the route gave us a little workout with slopes, steps and staircases. The weather stayed calm, crisp, and chilly, ideal once we got moving. Festive vibes were boosted by Anne and Kirsty’s Christmas tutus, which definitely helped spread some extra cheer.

It was lovely to be out in the fresh winter air, combining exercise with something that really matters. Shooting Star Children’s Hospice supports families with a baby, child or young person with a life-limiting condition, as well as bereaved families, across Surrey, South West London and North West London. Every leaflet delivered helps spread awareness and support for this vital service.

By the end of the session, we’d made a strong dent in the leafletting task and everyone kindly took extra leaflets home to continue spreading the word locally.

A tree-mendous effort from the team.

After weeks of hushed whispers, knowing glances and enough rumourfuel to power a sleigh, tonight the truth finally landed: Woking GoodGym had once again received the words we’d all been waiting for: “Could you help pack the Xmas bags at the foodbank warehouse in Knaphill?”

Could we?

Oh yes, yes we could, and no one thought we couldn’t!

Like elves hearing the first jingle of Santa’s bells, we were ready to fill 90 sacks with Christmas time treats.

Each bag received a carefully curated mix of food, treats and love, ready to be delivered across the local community. Every time someone shouted, “We need more cereal!” it sounded like a joyful Christmas emergency.

This task is always a highlight for Woking GoodGym: an evening where teamwork, generosity and seasonal silliness blend perfectly. Knowing that every bag will brighten someone’s Christmas is the best reward.

It was lovely to see Louise from the Woking GoodGym alumni joining us with her son Henry, alongside a fellow alumni Bryan, the 2025 newbies are now well settled in, but of course, veterans, Anne, Adam, James, Katie and Wayne were missed from the production line. 90 bags packed within 45 mins, our most efficient effort yet AND no one lost a finger to the stacking containers, a Christmas miracle!

🎅 Well done GoodGym – another year, another mountain of Xmas bags, and another evening of excellent elf-level teamwork!

Thank you for the photos Nadia! 📸 Welcome to the crew, Zoe - you’ve earned your tutu 💃🏻

It was great to see the sun as four intrepid GoodGymers headed out for Session 5/5 at Knaphill Lower School, continuing our mission to help the PTA restore the garden and outdoor classroom to create a safe, active space for the pupils. Olalekan teamed up with Mark (PTA) to finish the second wigwam, providing another cosy space for imaginative play.

Meanwhile , Kirsty and Julie worked with Alex, a mum from the PTA, to transform a pile of cut branches from last week into a habitat hedge. They were supervised by the local robin who was intrigued to see the final structure, and all the buglife we had disturbed for his breakfast. Anne continued with her mission to restore the wooden climbing equipment from a green slimy mess back to its former glory. The festive Goodgym red tutu and colourful rubber gloves were a great outfit combo. Kudos to Anne for also running to the task.

Vicky, and Mark, members of the PTA, and their son, a former student, have worked so hard to fund, plan and create this new space for the school. The Woking team have done a great job with all the autumn / winter sessions. Watch out for further opportunities to continue to support them in the new year.

It may have been cold, raining and generally behaving like Woking in full autumn sulk mode, but five determined GoodGymers donned their waterproofs and headed out for Session 4/5 at Knaphill Lower School, continuing our mission to help the PTA restore the garden and outdoor classroom to its former, slightly less jungly glory.

Wayne teamed up with Mark (PTA) to engineer a rather impressive wigwam, because when conditions are inclement, why not build a small architectural marvel? Wayne engineering mind was in full flow, and before long the structure had a base, fixings, and all the promise of a very cosy den.

Meanwhile Olalekan, Stephanie, Kirsty, Julie launched into branch hacking mode, carving out what will soon become a magical zone for the children. With her horticultural wisdom, Julie quickly sized up the piles of pruned branches and suggested transforming them into a living hedge… or was it a dead hedge? (We’re still not fully sure, but either way it’s definitely a hedge.)

Olalekan, channelling an upgraded Edward Scissorhands, sliced through the overgrowth with alarming speed and style. Stephanie wore gloves so fabulous they prompted immediate gear envy, and after valiantly battling thick branches with secateurs, she was pleased when Julie allowed her to use the mighty lopper instead.

Rainy? Yes. Muddy? Cold? Yes. Very. Productive? Completely. Another brilliant GoodGym session, and only one more to go this side of Christmas in this mission to bring Knaphill’s outdoor play zone come classroom back to life