We all met for a lovely spot of running and doing good - making the most of our lunchbreak in the sunshine! It's super important to take a break from studying (especially at this time of year!), and from work, to get involved in your local community and do some physical activity at the same time.

YMCA Group

We started off with a nice warmup to get ready for our 2km run up towards Goodge Street. Our task was to help the YMCA charity shop sort out there mounting donations and have a general tidy up. The team got involved with sorting clothes onto the appropriate hanger sizes, tiding donations on shelves, pricing cds, dusting shelves and tidying the shop floor. The gang achieved loads in just 30minutes. After our time was up we said our goodbyes and headed back to base on the back streets to avoid the lunchtime pedestrians. Lovely stuff.

Groundswell cards group

A fabulous four ran 4km, passing by the LSE, along the Strand, over the Thames and under the IMAX. As we ran we stopped every-so-often to hand cards to homeless people, informing them that they can access GP care when they need it, without having to give an address or present ID. We chatted as we ran, talking about parkrun, exams and boat trips on the Thames. Taking advantage of the grass in Temple Gardens and the benches on the terrace, we also managed to fit in a little fitness session, working our cores and our upper body - great work everyone, thanks for a lovely run and good luck in your exams!

St Luke's Community Centre group

Our group of 10 runners were pumped for a 3k run in the sun to the lovely St Luke's Community Centre, and, avoiding the lift, we hopped outside for our warm up. After having a quick discussion about our favourite ice creams for summer (how were there only two votes for the king of icecreams, the Twister?!) we got our heart rates up with a series of fast feet, high knees, heel flicks and a brief coordination exercise. We set off along what was possibly the busiest road in London, but all that weaving round people just tested our reflexes and make us run further, which can only be a good thing.

With a few stops along the way for squats and wall sits, we arrived in good time to find Marco waiting for us with a massive job. This charity, on the edge of the City, aims to improve the lives of the people living in the area by providing a community centre and services that will help break down barriers and contribute towards making it welcoming, safe, healthy, and active. They have recently established an edible garden complete with some very beautiful chickens, and our job was to sort out a huge shed that needed completely emptying, cleaning and restocking. It sounds like a simple task, right? That's what we thought, until we saw that it was stacked to the brim with oil cans, massive bags of compost and chairs. Unfazed, we got stuck straight in, starting on what turned out to be a great strength work out. 15 minutes later, the shed was clear so we gave it a clean down, knocked up some flooring, and then moved everything back in to the shed more efficiently. By the end of the task we were muddy from top to toe, had aching arms, but a proper sense of satisfaction for getting the job done. Nice work, everyone.

Splitting up into two groups to head home, we gradually picked up the pace and finished with a last push to get back to King's, where a delicious and well earned lunch was waiting for us. Well done team St Luke's!

If anyone is interested in more runs then check out the GoodGym King's runs here and GoodGym's run to do good from City Hall on 4th June here.