"I'm late, I'm late, I'm very very late, hello, goodbye", like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, Sam (for the first time in his 2.5 years as Area Activator) was very late for the group run and opening Old Spike Peckham as he was held back at work.

Arriving at 18:47, Sam saw everyone gather outside Old Spike Peckham, but to add to his woes, he found out for the first time too that whoever locked up Old Spike Peckham locked the bottom lock too, which he didn't have. Thinking on the spot, he asked the Georgian Wine Bar next door whether the run group could drop bags and coats in their cupboard room at the back. With some persuasion, the bar manager agreed. That was one less stress to deal with. Amongst all the chaos, Sam managed to introduce Tony who came for his first GoodGym session. Hooray and welcome!

The group were led by Paulin to the alleyway as she is preparing to complete her run leader training and wanted to put a practise in tonight. She did a quick jumping and squatting warm up to get us warm.

Noticing the time was approaching 19:00, Sam skipped the ice-breaker (for now) as he led from the front and Steve volunteered to backmark.

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Refreshed walls

Through the backstreets of Peckham, up Chadwick Road (the hill) and down towards Camberwell, we went as we stopped in various places to re-group. We finally made it to Salvation Army Camberwell Corps. in time (19:15) as we met Valentina, Folarin, Phil and Richard who opted to walk / cycle to the task.

After taking a moment to introduce Valentina and what happens at the Salvation Army in Lomond Grove, Valentina gave clear instructions on what needed to be done after learning what we did from the first session. We had to ensure the entrance hall was clear and that there was lining on the floor before any paint could come out. There was enough tools for everyone, so picking up a paint brush or roller and sharing a paint tray, which Lucy had kindly poured out, everyone picked their bit of the wall and concentrated on applying the second coat of paint.

Having missed out on the ice-breaker poll and question earlier, Sam proceeded to ask: Since it was National Pokemon Day on Tuesday, what is your favourite Pokemon from Pikachu, Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur? Plus, he threw in the ice-breaker question which was to do with "Employee Appreciation Day" on Friday: Do you have any cool perks at work that you want to share?

Pikachu won by a few votes, but Squirtle was a close second. Isaac shouted out that his company is doing the 4 day working week (more or less) as he logs off by midday on Friday. Others had flexi-working, which is almost a similar concept, but with a 5 day working week contract.

Once the paint was out and conscious that we had to clean / wash up afterwards, after 30 minutes, we managed to put on a second coat of paint and the team started to head to the kitchen to wash up the water-based paint brushes, rollers and trays.

Valentina was happy with what we had achieved and she will get one or two volunteers to touch up certain parts of the wall that needs to be touched up.

By 20:05, we had to rush off back to Peckham as like a school bus, we said our goodbyes to Adrian, Andrada, Folarin, Isaac and Nelly. After a quick stretch and having reached the Georgian Wine Bar, it was only fair that we brought something from the bar/shop, so Sam and Steve bought a lovely deep red, which was recommended. A great way to end the night!

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Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out last night! It was a bit of a hectic start and we managed to work out a solution to drop off our bags and coats thanks to the Georgian Wine Bar next door. I will ensure Old Spike Peckham does not lock the second lock next Wednesday. Thanks to Steve for backmarking both runs and kudos to everyone for getting stuck in. Another warm welcome to Tony and we hope to see you at another group run or GoodGym session soon. Next Wednesday will be a calm one as we run over to Denmark Hill and Champion Hill to deliver Get Rid Of And Donate (GROAD) flyers to homes and flats around there and on top of that, we have our monthly social, so why don't you join us?