Wednesday 8th March 2023
Report written by Sam Lefevre (he/him)
Embrace Equity
International Women's Day fell on the same day as our group run, so in the spirit of the day...we celebrated our women at GoodGym. Sam had brought some merch from his work (as there were spares) to dish out, so we could show our support.
Sam was the first one at Old Spike, but not for long as newbie, David mustered the strength to leave his home in the cold, rainy and windy weather to show up for his first good deed! Kudos to you, David! The rest started to pop through the door and into the warmth of this coffee house between the times of 18:30-18:45.
Sam's GG intro was a slightly longer version for David as he is new. There was a quick warm-up outside in the alleyway before Sam informed everyone of tonight's ice-breaker question, which was to do with the fact it is "International Women's Day", so he asked: Who's the most influential woman in your life (not including family members)?
We had various women of influential in science, sports, literature and history, but Alice found a loop-hole to the question and stated her veterinarian friend and Steve highlighted his first boss.
Alice in Runderland
Tonight was special, not only because it was International Women's Day, but our very own Alice had reached 100 good deeds and claimed her wings! From being a Lambeth regular in the past to recently coming to more Southwark sessions, it's been a pleasure to have Alice come back to GoodGym and finally reach this milestone!
Our run to Salvation Army Nunhead was short and sweet as we ran just over 2k to reach our destination with five minutes to spare. We ran a little bit faster to keep warm and we wanted to get out of the run as soon as possible.
We met Magda who cycled to the task as Tiziana let us in and showed us to what needed to be done tonight.
Our 40 minute session flew by as we organised ourselves into a chain of carrying items from the "room to be sorted" to another room on the other side of the building and up two flights of stairs. There were some quite heavy / bulky / awkward items to carry, but in twos and threes, we managed to take all the items across.
The last few minutes were spent looking at books as Tiziana gifted us the opportunity to take a few books, board games, DVDs and even soft drinks.
It was such a quick run back as we covered less than 800 metres to get back to base.
Thank You to all the GG-ers
A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Firstly, it was great to see David come for his first GoodGym session! It is always lovely to newbies. Thank you to the rest who braved the awful weather to come for this short run and task. I hope you got a workout and the pleasures of a small gift or two.
Thank You 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 holding the Salvation Army Nunhead "fort" whilst Maria and Polis are away. It has been a pleasure to come back every month to help out with various sorting donations tasks. We are taking a break as Spring and Summer brings opportunity to be outside and help community gardens grow, but we'll be in touch as we get closer to October!
Yet, if you are in need of us, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Southwark
Tackles food insecurity and reuses surplus food to prevent food being thrown away!