We kicked things off last night with a warm-up and our Quiz Qu of the Week: Which country is wider than the Moon? Russia certainly threw us off the scent, but three of you cracked it! 🌍 Well done! Apologies that I forget to mention at the time, but a huge shout-out goes to Pritesh for running the Royal Parks Half Marathon yesterday – fantastic effort! 🏃‍♂️👏

We also welcomed Molly who joined us for their very first GoodGym session. 👋 Great to have you with us!

Then it was time to head out into the darkness and make our way to Paradise Community Garden, a special green space that provides a haven for wildlife and a green oasis for the local community. Community gardens like this are vital for supporting biodiversity, creating habitats for wildlife and giving people a place to connect with nature.

Unfortunately our original task to shovel manure had to be postponed as access issues meant it hadn't been delivered. Luckily, there were still two tasks to keep us busy – chopping up firewood and painting the shed. But first, we had to navigate our way through the frogs! 🐸 We've never seen so many - they were everywhere, creating, as Joput it,'a carpet of frogs', so careful footwork was essential. We did our best to avoid stepping on our tiny amphibian friends and keep this happy, healthy ecosystem thriving.

Once we'd safely negotiated the frog-filled terrain, we found our way to the firepit and split into two teams.

🎨 Team Shed Painting took on the challenge of finding the right colour for the job. Getting the shade just right was all part of the challenge, as was the dark surroundings. Nevertheless, they persevered and a beautiful newly painted shed was soon underway.

🪵 Team Firewood tackled the sawing, which came with its own challenge: mastering the two-handed saw. With a bit of practice, the team perfected their techniques with various implements around the site, keeping a safe distance from one another. All fingers and toes remained intact – result! Great work, everyone. 💪

As the rain started to set in and we'd already had a good workout, we decided to give the fitness session a miss this time and head back for some well-earned stretches. We took care to avoid the wildlife on the way, although the snails unfortunately didn't all make it through unscathed. 🐌 Let's just say it wasn't a completely casualty-free journey!

A huge well done to everyone for being adaptable, getting stuck into the tasks and helping look after this lovely community space.

Next week: We're heading back to St Mary's to give the outside of Battersea's oldest church a good blitz. 🧹 We hope to see you all there!

Until then, happy running, and thanks for being brilliant, GoodGym Wandsworth! ❤️

What a day for a GoodGym trail run! Yesterday we headed out onto Wimbledon Common, and despite it being October and technically Autumn, the weather hadn’t got the memo. It was a hot 20C and many of us found we regretted our decision to wear layers!

We welcomed Guldjan to her first GoodGym session - lovely to meet you! - and settled into a great pace. The trails were beautiful and leafy, with plenty of hills to keep things interesting. Along the way we explored some of the Common’s more exciting landmarks, including the Big Alp, Little Alp and the infamous Toast Rack. There was even the added excitement of navigating around the golf course and successfully avoiding being taken out by any stray golf balls! ⛳️

After a good run, we finished up at a pub that felt like we’d been transported to the countryside — the perfect place to cool down, relax and give ourselves a pat on the back.

A brilliant run, great company and plenty of ideas for where to explore next. Richmond was mentioned so keep an eye out for the next GoodGym trail adventure! 👀

Thanks everyone for making it such a fun one and to Catherine for plotting us a beautiful route. 🌿💪

A very warm welcome to our new runners Gabriel and Gareth last night — great to have you along for your first GG Wandsworth session!

We started with our usual warm-up, plus the random question of the evening:What is the only dog that doesn’t have a pink tongue? The answer of course was the Chow Chow, whose tongue is famously blue-black. Now fully warmed up — and considerably more knowledgeable about canine anatomy — we set off towards Battersea Park for a rather special visit.

First stop on the magical mystery tour was the Thrive Garden, where we picked up our tools before heading deeper into the park to visit the Battersea Park's resident monk. The famous Peace Pagoda was built in 1985 by the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order as a focus for peace and is one of around 80 such pagodas around the world. Reverend Gyoro Nagase helped construct the Battersea Pagoda and maintains it to this day.

Our mission for the evening was to give his garden a good tidy up. Armed with rakes, bags and plenty of muscle, the team got stuck in. Leaves were raked up and packed away — despite the bag having a significant hole in it which provided an unexpected extra challenge as we attempted to transport the leaves without simply redistributing them across the park!

There was weeding and clearing to be done, along with planting a new salvia bush. Before long the area was looking considerably tidier. The monk came out to thank us and was clearly very happy with the transformation — always a lovely way to finish a task.

But we weren't done for the evening. We squeezed in a two-minute fitness challenge, seeing how many reps of jump squats, shoulder taps and plank jacks. The numbers and form were very impressive! Well done everybody.

Tools returned, it was time to head back to base for some stretches and, of course, that hill. And apparently we didn't suffer enough, because there was even a request for more hill sprints! Ask and you will receive - more sprints are coming soon to a hill near you.

Next week…

We're heading to Doddington community garden followed by our monthly pub quiz social! Everyone is welcome — whether you're joining us for the run, the task, the quiz or all three!

See you there! 🏃‍♂️🌿🍻

Last night we kicked things off with a proper warm-up to get the legs moving, paired with our weekly question: What town has the longest name in the UK? The answer, of course, is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch—a staggering 58 letters long, and a test for anyone attempting to pronounce it mid-lunge!

Warmed up and ready for action, we set off on our run to Larkhall Park. Returning to this green space regularly is so helpful for the local community; keeping a public park safe, clean, and well-maintained means families, runners, and neighbours always have a welcoming place to reset, play, and connect with nature.

We met up with the rest of the team and split into two groups to tackle the tasks at hand. One group got stuck into weeding the overgrown cracks along the pathways, while the other took on a thorough litter pick across the grounds.

It’s always amazing to see how much of a difference a focused group can make in such a short window of time. By the time we finished, the park was noticeably tidier and more cared for—removing litter means fewer environmental pollutants making their way into local soil and wildlife habitats, making the space safer for everyone.

To wrap up all that hard work, we celebrated with a fiery five-minute core blast. It was definitely tough but effective!

A massive well done to everybody who came along and brought all the energy.

Next week on Monday, we're off to a very special place in Battersea Park—you can sign up and find all the details right here:. See you there!

It was our monthly trip back to Doddington last night. This former multistorey car park has been transformed into a thriving community garden, providing a valuable growing space for local people who might not otherwise have access to a garden of their own. We also had some very special reasons to celebrate: a huge congratulations to Jason on his 100th Good Deed! 🎉 And a very happy 30th birthday to Annabel! 🎂

We kicked things off with a warm-up and the evening's quiz question: how many dimples are there on a golf ball? There was some doubt over the answer, but I'll leave you to decide whether to trust the quizmaster…

We arrived to find a whole host of jobs waiting for us: clearing mallow and teasels, laying down cardboard and mulch, shifting mulch into the raised beds and transporting soil. Before too long everyone was busy getting stuck in. 💪🌱

There was also an added incentive for the evening: whoever collected the most teasels would win the famous Tromboncino!

But what exactly is a Tromboncino? This wonderfully weird looking vegetable is a variety of butternut squash which is used like a courgette — and if you leave it to mature, it can grow into a long, curved, trombone-shaped fruit of up to around a metre!

Once we'd done our bit at the garden, it was time to head down to the square for some fitness. This week's challenge was 130-themed: working in pairs, we had to complete a series of exercises which cumulatively added up to 130. Plenty of counting, plenty of reps and plenty of teamwork. Congratulations to Katie and Catherine, who completed the challenge first! 🏆

Then, of course, it was time for cake and the grand presentation of the Tromboncino. After her impressive teasel-gathering efforts, the prize went to Annabel — who immediately demonstrated the true versatility of this magnificent vegetable by wearing it as a rather beautiful neckpiece at the pub quiz. 🥒✨

A brilliant evening of community gardening, celebrations, questionable golf-ball trivia, fitness, cake and vegetable couture.

Huge congratulations again to Jason for this huge milestone - 100 good deeds shows massive commitment, energy and effort which has had an unquantifiable positive impact.

Next week... We're off to Balham Nursery to help with some jobs. You can sign up here