There was so much to celebrate on a sunny Saturday morning in Battersea, including

• A double birthday celebration, with both task owner and Doddington community garden lead volunteer Malissa and GG Wandsworth's Felix both marking a very special occasion!

• Ali reaching a huge milestone - 100 good deeds! That's such a huge amount of community impact, commitment and positivity spread throughout Wandsworth. Way to go Ali!

• Welcoming Armin to his very first GoodGym session - lovely to have you join us!

There was lots to get done, including sorting pots, digging up grass, snipping strawberries, sweeping leaves and replanting Japanese anemone - so we grabbed tools and got down to business!

After an hour of hard work the garden was looking a lot tidier and the Doddington team were pleased with everything we got done. All that was left to do was celebrate with cake and then on to a coffee nearby! Well done everybody, what a way to kick off the weekend.

Jags deliveries are back after a few months on inactivity. Ran 16 km from South Ealing to Brixton in the rain(on and off) and through puddles of water and mud to collect meals that were prepared just before my arrival in Brixton. Had my regular area in Brixton to go to and deliver food to 11 flats with a total of 14 containers. You should have seen the smiles of each person when they opened the door : not for me but for the delicious food as they have not received these ready meals for some months now, but back to normal as from today. Didnt take pictures of containers as flat numbers on them, but took some pictures in Brixton. Food had rice and chicken for most of them. Until next time and enjoy your meals.

Last night’s GoodGym Wandsworth run had community impact, zombie related content, a lot of manure, and some EMOMs that made sure no one noticed the freezing temperatures.

We kicked things off with a warm-up and a chat about how the January Challenge has been going. We've logged plenty of good deeds but we're still only 75% of the way there - can you help us get there? There’s still time to add to the total this Saturday's community mission in Doddington followed by coffee ☕️.

Before heading off, we paused to celebrate something pretty special: Jordan’s 300th Good Deed. From missions to group runs, socials and celebrations sessions Jordan has shown up to make Wandsworth a better, more community-minded place to live. A great milestone and one that deserves cheers (and cake, next week, when we'll have even more to celebrate!)

We also tackled the big question of the evening: who would you want on your team in a zombie apocalypse? The shortlist was eclectic. Bear Grylls (obvious survival skills), Barack Obama (calm leadership and negotiation under pressure) and Claudia Winkleman (great fringe). Strong team. The Zombies wouldn’t stand a chance.

Then it was time to run – heading up to Age UK Wandsworth Day Centre. This day centre is a vital community resource, offering support, connection and activities for older residents – a place that helps people stay active, social and independent. Spaces like this really make a difference in people's lives.

Our task involved two massive piles of manure which needed spreading across the garden beds. Tools were initially in short supply, but this is GoodGym – we adapt, we improvise, we get it done. With a bit of teamwork and some impressive resourcefulness we dispersed the manure and also squeezed in a big tidy-up of the surrounding area, leaving everything noticeably more welcoming.

With the task complete, it was straight into a fitness session in the car park. The workout? A EMOM (every minute on the minute) session featuring lunges, shuttle runs and squat jumps which kept the cold at bay. Strong effort all round.

Looking ahead to next week: we’ve got more milestones to celebrate, another great task, and then our monthly pub quiz. See you there!

On Wednesday 21st January I volunteered at Runthrough Battersea park 5km and 10km. I walked 8km to get there, I actually thought it was going to be a total washout, however 800 runners attended and it was great to see the determination of all the participants, at the finishing line.

Of course! Here’s the same report with all asterisks removed: Yesterday was meant to be 'Blue Monday', but there was absolutely nothing blue about GoodGym Wandsworth this week. Any gloom was swiftly chased away during the warm-up, where we shared the things that cheer us up most. The answers were a happily mixed bag; animal videos, GoodGym itself, hill sprints , sugar, peanut butter, singing, and—the evening's winner—chocolate. That's your January wellbeing toolkit right there!

**A huge welcome to Evie, who joined us for her very first GoodGym session—lovely to have you join us!.

We set off for Larkhall Park, where we regularly support the brilliant volunteers who care for this thriving green space. These sessions help keep the park well-maintained, improve biodiversity , makes the space safer and more welcoming for the community, and ensures it stays somewhere people want to spend time. Plus, the work couple with the good GG vibes is an instant mood boost for us!

There was plenty to do and everyone got stuck in. Tasks included litter picking, bed maintenance, leaf clearing, and shifting two enormous ton bags of soil. This involved a carefully choreographed shovelling method, which turned out to be quite the workout.

We attracted a fair bit of attention while we worked—some curious passers-by, one particularly questioning lady from the pub and a very welcome visit from a bouncing curious golden retriever, which instantly boosted morale by approximately 300%.

By the end, the jobs were done and the task owners were really pleased with what we’d achieved—always a nice finish to a task. On the way back we broke up the run with several fitness stations along the way: squats, single-leg holds, toe taps, and finally a well-earned set of stretches .

• Coming up soon: a Saturday mission at Doddington, followed by a coffee social.
• Next week, we’re back to Age UK Wandsworth to sort out the garden.

Little Asda Shop for some essentials!