Meanwhile in Bestminster 12 brave souls headed half a click south by south west to the Salvation Army strong hold in Regents hall on Princess street. Why? To help sort through clothing and help distribute to rough sleepers who were coming in to be grab some food at the soup kitchen before heading off to there accommodation.

We were joined by a few newbies so we gave them the fulllllllllll in depth briefing on the goodness that Is goodgym and why what we do is so important. A few announcements about Christmas drinks, races and missions and we were off.

Obviously we took the long way to get there arriving not long after we left lol, we were welcomed by the lovely staff at SA and given a breakdown of what would happen as well as the dos and do nots.

We split into 2 teams, 1 team downstairs sorting clothes into size order and taking orders from upstairs.

The other team upstairs was classed as FRONT OF HOUSE lol. Meeting and greeting those that came in then asking what clothes they needed. All info was jotted down and everyone downstairs prepared socks, jackets, tees, trousers, sleeping bags, shoes and anything else they needed.

We did this for an hour, made new friends and finally said our goodbyes.

We left, had a gentle warm up then began some cheeky lil sprint relays to finish the session on a high.... thanks for coming ;-)

Meanwhile in Westminster 13 runners, 30 bags of food, 30 homeless people fed and a healthy 5k Today was my first GoodGym run. Going along to a new thing is always a bit daunting but what a friendly bunch good gym runners are and with 5 newbies in the same boat, conversation was flowing. A solid group of 13 peeps with some nice matching high-viz gear and at least 3 layers each, managed to organise ourselves into an efficient sandwich conveyor belt to create bags of food. This evening we were to run around central London stopping to give homeless people a food package each. Though it was cold, a run for 45 minutes is nothing compared to the sub-zero temperatures homeless people are facing right now. Zipping down side streets of London, and jostling through the crowds of Oxford Circus allowed some good breaks and developed my knowledge of roads other than the high street. But the main goal was to find and feed as many homeless people as possible. When we gave our small gifts of sandwiches, fruit and a chocolate treats away we received overwhelming thanks, excited faces and even looks of surprise at the generosity. I can’t really put into words my feelings but you could see how grateful these people were, how you brightened their day, through just a small gesture, the difference had been made. With the food all given away we started to head back to base but not without a detour run around Trafalgar square. Two quick ‘race’ laps upped our speed, not one of us anticipated the hill (small incline..) back up to our starting point and were sufficiently breathless and challenged. A gentle jog back to base and our task here was done. For me, GoodGym helped me achieve two goals. Supporting homeless people on the streets of London. Running around London evenings in the dark (the treadmill really is boring now) 10/10 and yes, I’ve already recommended to a friend.

On a chilly Wednesday evening 9 GoodGym-ers braved the cold, ran 8km and cleared St Saviour's grounds of leaves!

With Cory away I took up the Westminster mantle and was pleased to meet eight hardy runners who wanted their Wednesday night fix of getting fit and doing good!

Smooth was not how the night was going to go but no problem ever stops a GoodGym-er and with a hastily cobbled together sign in sheet, a slightly all over the place intro and some last minute direction setting we were all ready to go!

Not so smooth

Huge thanks to Howard and newcomer Jason for leading the way with their superior knowledge of Westminster's streets!

We managed to evade the hordes of shoppers around Oxford Street and made our way south to Pimlico, and with a a brisk run that really warmed us up, we reached Saint Saviour's and set about finding the store cupboard where our tools were waiting for us! This ought've been a simple task in itself but proved to be the hardest part of the night! We weren't to be stopped though and after much wandering about the church grounds we found a door that accepted our code and we were rewarded with gloves, rakes, brushes and bin bags!

Found it

In 25 minutes we cleared the whole rear section of the church and completely filled all the bags provided for us! We posed for a group photo (thanks to David our impromptu photographer) and then were back on our way to base. Earning ourselves some bemused looks from those around we completed a good stretch outside the university and then headed on our merry way home.

A great night

Thanks to everyone for supporting me and making it a fun night for all! Don't forget the upcoming GG Christmas party - lots of fancy dress options for Westminster!

You can sign up for next week here!

Cheers, Pritesh