It was an eggstra special session last night as Easter weekend is around the corner, so we started off our Monday evening group run with a warm up and a question about our fave way to eat eggs. Answers were varied, ranging from shakshuka to in cakes!

Our job for the evening was at Doddington Roof garden so we took off together on the 2km run to this volunteer-run space. Unaware of what was laying in wait for us, we mused about the task for the evening, with some suspicions it might involve a bit of heavy lifting.

How right we were - we soon arrived to find several pallets and hundreds of bags worth of compost that had been donated by the council to help this community garden flourish. They are a great resource to have, but with only a few volunteers there regularly, its one enormous job to get them transported up the stairs to where they are needed.

We were not to be put off however, and got straight into the task at hand. Joined by Gavin for his first session - give him a cheer! - we quickly sorted ourselves into a a human chain and got stuck in. In just half an hour we managed to shift the majority of the bags - and we certainly felt it in our arms!

Still, there was just time to squeeze in a fitness session. There was not a huge amount of enthusiasm for it after such a tough task, but with the bribery, I mean incentive, of chocolate eggs, we divided up into two teams and took on the challenge. There were several different areas of competition, including sprints, who could hold a plank/squat the longest, tricep dip relay and doing as many power squats as letters in your name. With great effort from everybody, we each got an egg as a reward!

Next week it's a bank holiday so instead of a group run we'll be doing a special lunchtime mission at Paradise garden - hope to see you there!

It was a drizzly start to the session last night, but it was distinctly cheered up by seeing lots of lovely regular faces, some new ones to the group and even a familiar one back after a little time away - everybody is welcome at GoodGym Wandsworth and always will be!

After a warm up which activated our major muscles we did a quick poll to find out our favourite plants and flowers as tonight we were off to Paradise Community Garden. This space was once derelict land but has been transformed into a stunning garden full of flowers, bees, a pond and a community area for local children and residents to use.

We had a long list of jobs to do, but as always our first task was trying to crack the lock to get in. Thanks to Annabel's expertise once again we made our entrance to find the first of our jobs right in front of us. The head gardener Vicky had sent across some detailed instructions about how to fix the wobbly, unsafe path. She had marked the slabs to be replaced with chalk crosses, which added an extra element of challenge as it had been raining all afternoon. Luckily the chalk had mainly survived so we got cracking shifting heavy slabs and replacing them with hardcore. Now I know the clue is in the name, but the sheer weight of the hardcore bags was shocking! Well done to Steph who somehow managed to transport them to their final destination using a pretty wobbly wheelbarrow. Now that's a workout and a half.

Meanwhile another team was sorting out an uneven path in some dim and dark conditions, while other jobs included moving a massive stove and some heavy tiles around the garden. I think it's safe to say this was quite a labour intensive session but it's these kinds of jobs that really make a difference to small teams of volunteers that run important spaces such as Paradise.

After 40 minutes of hard work we all locked our tools back up and gathered by the exit. Or did we? Turns out that while Eva and Athene were having a surprisingly relevant discussion about how they'd fare in escape rooms and were concentrating so hard on their job in hand that somehow I had missed them in the depths of the garden. Luckily my mistake was spotted before they had to spend the night there!

To finish off the evening we did a five minute leg blast which tested our muscles and built strength, as well as displaying the many ways you can do a variation on fast feet!

Next Monday we're off to Sacred Heart School to help with various gardening jobs with the head. Until then, have a great week GoodGym!

11 runners ran 7km to help promote new public garden.

We started the night off chatting about the shindig in July. A fantastic weekend away and an annual opportunity for Goodgymers feedback on how goodgym has been for them and help shape how it grows over the next 12month through workshops and discussions. (Runners check out your email if you want to know more).

After the intro speech we headed outside to do a proper warmup as it was another chilly night.

This week we were running to help out Nubian Life. They wanted help generating awareness in the local area for the natural remedy garden they are going to build and open to the public. To promote this idea they are hosting a free natural hand lotion making workshop that would also double as a consultation with local people. This will enabling them to find out what the community wants and needs to grown in the garden.

To cover nearby houses we spilt the 11 runners into three teams, armed them with a map, highlighters and flyers for the workshop, plus Goodgym ones too. Meeting back at the day centre 20mins later we had covers all of White city Estate and flats down Bloemfontein Road. It’s amazing the amount we can get done in that time.

After that we dropped off the surplus flyers and highlighted maps then headed over to Shepherds Bush Green to do some running gear practice. This exercise helps us get familiar with the different speeds we can run at - learning what it feels like going from a jog all the way up to a sprint. One lap around the green was enough to tire everyone’s legs out, so then we headed back to base in gear three.

After a warm down we went to have well earned belated Shrove Tuesday pancakes and have our February social.