Alys & Stephanie got their rakes on at St John’s the Baptist Church in West Byfleet this morning.

It was chilly 2 degrees and thankfully we’d both brought our boots as it was rather muddy underfoot.

After being equipped with rakes, a leaf scoop and black bags, we got to clearing the drains first so that all the rain were bound to get flows freely where it’s supposed to. Stephanie did a great job clearing them of mud too with the help of a trowel. She did nearly fall down a hole though!

I set to raking the leaves and getting them into black bags. We probably filled around 8 bags (including 4 very large ones) of leaves, and they were helpfully whisked away to the dump by one of the church’s own volunteers.

After weeks of hushed whispers, knowing glances and enough rumourfuel to power a sleigh, tonight the truth finally landed: Woking GoodGym had once again received the words we’d all been waiting for: “Could you help pack the Xmas bags at the foodbank warehouse in Knaphill?”

Could we?

Oh yes, yes we could, and no one thought we couldn’t!

Like elves hearing the first jingle of Santa’s bells, we were ready to fill 90 sacks with Christmas time treats.

Each bag received a carefully curated mix of food, treats and love, ready to be delivered across the local community. Every time someone shouted, “We need more cereal!” it sounded like a joyful Christmas emergency.

This task is always a highlight for Woking GoodGym: an evening where teamwork, generosity and seasonal silliness blend perfectly. Knowing that every bag will brighten someone’s Christmas is the best reward.

It was lovely to see Louise from the Woking GoodGym alumni joining us with her son Henry, alongside a fellow alumni Bryan, the 2025 newbies are now well settled in, but of course, veterans, Anne, Adam, James, Katie and Wayne were missed from the production line. 90 bags packed within 45 mins, our most efficient effort yet AND no one lost a finger to the stacking containers, a Christmas miracle!

🎅 Well done GoodGym – another year, another mountain of Xmas bags, and another evening of excellent elf-level teamwork!

Thank you for the photos Nadia! 📸 Welcome to the crew, Zoe - you’ve earned your tutu 💃🏻

It was definitely a damp park run this morning, although still surprisingly mild for December. The children arrived in true dramatic fashion at the very last minute, at one point it genuinely looked as though the marshals were going to outnumber the runners by a considerable margin. The combination of wet weather and festive commitments also clearly took its toll on attendance.

Wayne, Anne (sadly minus her tutu thanks to the rain), Adam and Karen were out on the course volunteering and managed a quick catch-up about Wednesday’s very enjoyable Christmas meal at Zizzi’s — clearly a highlight of the week!

Despite the drizzle and the soggy course most children bravely completed the two-laps. One can only assume that kids, parents and volunteers then made a swift and determined retreat in search of warmth, dryness and a well-earned hot drink.

It was great to see the sun as four intrepid GoodGymers headed out for Session 5/5 at Knaphill Lower School, continuing our mission to help the PTA restore the garden and outdoor classroom to create a safe, active space for the pupils. Olalekan teamed up with Mark (PTA) to finish the second wigwam, providing another cosy space for imaginative play.

Meanwhile , Kirsty and Julie worked with Alex, a mum from the PTA, to transform a pile of cut branches from last week into a habitat hedge. They were supervised by the local robin who was intrigued to see the final structure, and all the buglife we had disturbed for his breakfast. Anne continued with her mission to restore the wooden climbing equipment from a green slimy mess back to its former glory. The festive Goodgym red tutu and colourful rubber gloves were a great outfit combo. Kudos to Anne for also running to the task.

Vicky, and Mark, members of the PTA, and their son, a former student, have worked so hard to fund, plan and create this new space for the school. The Woking team have done a great job with all the autumn / winter sessions. Watch out for further opportunities to continue to support them in the new year.

Woking GG Xmas Meal 🎅🏽

Goodgym Woking members got together for a Xmas meal last night at Zizzi's 🍕.

What a great turn out last night was it was fantastic to see so many turn up to celebrate a great year together as Woking GG.

Firstly big thank you to Nadia who organised the venue 👏🏻.

Karen arrived first as she was already in town helping out at another local charity 😇 followed by Wayne. The table setting was impressive full of Crackers and decorations 🎗. Adam then arrived without his crutches which was great to see, still not back to 💯 but recovering well. Adam was telling us about his house move last weekend and how grateful he was to his fellow goodgymers who assisted his 😄 Caterina arrived shortly after looking very glam and sparkly ❈. Karen was telling us about her up and coming trip to India 🇮🇳 traveling around for a month just after Xmas, sounds amazing. As the conversation was flowing Kirsty & Bryan arrived followed by Melanie he had come straight from work. Stephanie arrived followed by Julie everyone was looking very festive 🎄. Just behind Anne arrived wearing her GG Shirt as well as her red tutu ❤️ Nadia & Andy arrived followed by Alys who had brough us all little choco treats ❤️. And finally Rebecca arrived straight off the train. It was great hearing about Rebecca 1/2 marathon that she did in New York 🗽 few weekends ago.

Now that everyone had arrived we could order food and drink. Plenty of food was ordered from Pizza's to Risotto's To Pasta dishes everything looked and tasted great.

All in all it was a great night celebrating a great year with fantastic people. ❤️

On a crisp, cold morning, volunteers Anne, James and Nadia helped kick off the Woking Junior parkrun, bringing smiles and energy to the local community.

The event was extra special, as one of the volunteers celebrated a massive milestone - their 250th volunteering credit!

The turnout was fantastic, with 104 young runners taking part in the 2K course. The atmosphere was electric, with kids beaming with excitement as they collected their milestone wristbands.

The first finisher crossed the line at exactly 8 minutes, an impressive feat!

A huge shout-out to GoodGym Woking for continuing dedication to making Woking Junior parkrun a success. Well done, everyone!