Running late as Sam had to rush back home to get the all essential portable lights, he just arrived in time to see Andres (the Old Spike manager) locking up Old Spike. The handover was brief as Nathan, Sophie, Daryl and Gemma made their way to the starting point. We caught up on our weekends and the week we had as we waited for Rachel before Sam started his GoodGym intro.

After the intro and a quick warm-up outside in the alleyway, Sam informed everyone of tonight's ice-breaker question, which was to do with the fact it was Valentine's Day yesterday: What is your favourite Rom-Com?

We had Fifty First Dates, Along Came Polly, Two Weeks Notice, Notting Hill, Love Actually, How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Deuce Bigalow.

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Bin there, done that

Deciding to run the backstreets of Peckham, we took a slightly longer route to get to Surrey Square Primary School as it was a planned 3.5k, but ended up being a 3.75k run. We took our time and stopped in places despite speedy Sam leading at the front and Daryl backmarked.

We arrived just after 19:15 to meet Jack who came for his second good deed and the cyclists, Emma and Magda as well as Peter (the task owner), who explained a bit about the school and the task at hand. Peter had everything prepared, so Sam split the team delegating Emma and Sophie to be in charge of moving the wheelie bins of woodchip from the pile to the spot where they needed to be laid whilst Magda used a pitchfork to rake the woodchip into place. The next team of Daryl, Gemma, Jack, Nathan and Sam took turns in shoveling soil and woodchip to fill the bins and wheelbarrows as the wheelbarrows of soil was initially transported to the beds in the polytunnel before filling a few beds outside.

We had 40 minutes to smash through the task as much as we could as there was tonnes and tonnes of soil and woodchip to transport. What wasn't done on the night was all done come Thursday by Peter. A "Best of British" playlist with a random assortment of songs got us through the session as we called it a night at 19:55 as we had to put the tools away.

A quick snap on the slide before we said our goodbyes at the school gate as Daryl, Gemma and Sam were the only ones to run back to Old Spike. This time taking the shortest and most direct route to get to the pub to watch the footie!

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Another long run to get to the task, so thank you for keeping up with the pace as we arrived on time. The task itself was hard-working, but rewarding to see the difference and the kids will appreciate that they can grow fruits and vegetables come next week.

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Thank You Peter

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peter for this annual treat to come and help out at a local primary school whilst the kids are away on annual leave. I look forward to hearing about other community gardens we can help out with.

Another cold snap hit us this Wednesday night, but that did not deter 11 GoodGymers from showing up for tonight's task.

Sam has earlier been informed that Simon (task owner) was feeling under the weather, but had arranged for the keys to be passed over by Ruth.

As Old Spike started to be filled up with runners, the temptation of staying indoors was real as we decided to do our intros and ice-breaker question inside. Tonight's question was related to the fact it was Blue Monday on Monday and Sam asked: How do you beat the Monday blues?

We had Daryl opting to sleep it off and thus, why he went freelance to avoid Monday mornings...others found ways to lift their mood through "to-do" lists, comforting food for breakfast, getting on their bike and texting/calling friends to see what they were up to on the weekend.

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Many hands; big impact

With Lindy, Magdalena and Rebecca meeting us at Thorlands, we had everyone ready to warm up outside in the alleyway before Daryl took charge of backmarking the 2.7k run to Thorlands via the uphill that is Chadwick Road turn Grove Park...

We arrived within 20 minutes and bang on time for 19:15 to collect the keys off Ruth. The team gathered the wheelbarrows and tools from the Walled Garden before proceeding to the Forest Garden.

The task was simple - weed, put down cardboard (as it's compostible and to block out the sunlight for weeds to grow) and add a layer of mulch/compost on top. We had 30 minutes to do the task, so everyone took a tool or used their gardening gloves to rip out the weeds with some banging tunes from Sam's speakers in the background.

After a good 10-15 minutes, we were ready to split the team to start putting down both the cardboard and mulch as the other half continued with weeding. Clare and Magdalena helped Sam with tearing up and putting down the cardboard whilst Katy, Rebecca, Emily, Lindy, Nathan and Daryl all picked up a shovel and started the quick operation of getting the mulch in a wheelbarrow and onto the cardboard where Benjamin was waiting to rake it.

With limited time left, Sam urged the gang to work double time to get enough mulch on the cardboard as otherwise the foxes dig it up and play with it. Rachel, who had been weeding, jumped in with the mulching team to ensure we could get a few more barrows in before time.

And....we did it all on time! Well done to the whole team for a great session - well coordinated and you made a massive difference. We just need to ensure we keep it all up in the future monthly sessions as well as the Saturday sessions as it can be disheartening to see it grow back wildly. 2023 will be the year we shape Thorlands into the vision Simon sees it!

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! It's was a cold and longer run (for some) than last week. It was great to see Rachel come for her second group run and good deed! We really smashed that task in 30 minutes and those coming on Saturday will continue where you left off.

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Thank You Simon & Ruth

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon and Ruth for arranging the keys to be dropped off as Simon was feeling under the weather.

It has been a wet and windy week, but that didn't stop 10 GoodGymers from showing up on Wednesday night in the warmth and comforts of Old Spike.

Sam arrived early to talk with Andres (manager of Old Spike) as they hadn't seen each other since the last group run of 2022. Joao was there as he had cycled from work in quick fashion and slowly, but surely the usual suspects arrived until one not so usual arrived too. Rachel had heard from a friend all the good things about GoodGym and wanted to give it a try as she is based in Clapham, but will be moving to Camberwell soon. It was great to have another newbie come along after two came last week. We were fortunate enough to get a second task 24 hours before, so not everyone would go flyering. Half the group would go to Salvation Army Nunhead to sort out the donated books that were given over the festive period.

As we were waiting for Paulin, who was to lead the second group to Salvation Army Nunhead, Sam went through the motions of his GG speech as we had a newbie and after a warm-up in the alleyway his ice-breaker question tonight, which was to do with the fact it's was his birthday on Monday, but he had two other questions in mind..: What is your birthday tradition? What is your go-to winter warmer (food)? What do you do on a rainy day?

Let's see if I remember a few answers: sharing a birthday with your sister, celebrating your birthday over a whole month, having brunch and going for a swim and paying for your birthday dinner to your friends and family. There were a load of comforting dessert type foods for the winter warmer and a cheese toastie with hot chocolate. On a rainy day, Clare likes to just get out there, embrace the weather and go for a run/walk.

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Seeking Dulwich Dads for Lindy

Although, Paulin was running late, the group that were going to Salvation Army Nuhead: Clare, Emma, Joao and Rachel were happy to be left at Old Spike until Paulin came as the rest had to rush off to collect the flyers and then flyer around Dulwich.

Sam lead Clare, Daryl, Lindy and Steve through East Dulwich and parts of North Dulwich to get to St. Faith's Community Centre (2.5k at this point) to find the hidden flyers that Andrea had stored away earlier in the day. Once found, we ran a further 250 metres to the starting point, which was Burbage Road. Splitting the flyers and the team by pairing up Clare and Steve to cover one side of the road and Daryl and Lindy to cover the other side. Sam waited at several checkpoints to see how everyone was getting along and within 30 minutes, the team had flyered the whole of Burbage Road and half of Turney Road (by this point, it was 5k). We all took in the massive houses in Dulwich and wished we could be in them. Lindy is on the hunt for Dulwich Dads, so if you know any...please send them her way 😂 Our 2.5k run back meant that we did 7.5k within an hour in total!

The Salvation Army Nunhead group were met by Magdalena who cycled from home to meet the team there and Tiziana, who was covering for Polis whilst he is on break in Argentina (to learn to dance). The charity had received loads of books over the festive period, so like always, the team sorted them out in categories: hard backs, soft backs, travel, cooking, children etc.

By the time, the two teams met again it was 20:10 and Sam ensured everyone did a good stretch despite the Salvation Army group running less than 2k. They were also met by Tamsin who came to do her documents check in order to do missions for the elderly/isolated.

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! It's great to have a core group coming every week and great to see new faces too - thanks Rachel for coming and we hope to see you again soon!

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Thank You Andrea & Tiziana

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tiziana for the last minute task to Salvation Army Nunhead to help them with their stock of books and to Andrea for leaving us flyers at St. Faith's to flyer around Dulwich!