As Storm Eleanor whipped around, twenty toughies ran 5km across Lewisham to sort through donations at GRACE.

It might have been one of the grimmest evenings to go running, but somehow, all these amazing people felt the need to pull on their Lycra and head on down to Glass Mill to do some good. Additional kudos and Lewisham Love go to our FOUR newcomers and one tourist, welcome to first-timers Mary, Tom, Mary Anne and Sarah and to Hannah, who was crossing the border from (our gorgeous neighbours over in) Bromley (I might be biased, they're my Tuesday night lovelies...). If you click on their names you can give them a cheer, go on, it feels lovely to get a cheer :)

A big thank you tonight to Jo, who has made my life so much easier by coming up with this week's title pun, good work Jo, I can get an early night now!

So, this storm. A few of us were blown this way by bike and some came flying through the doors sideways, which made our warm-up a bit more challenging. Well done to everyone for staying upright and for entering into the games with gusto! Gathering round, we set our various devices going (did you all get new watches for Christmas, there was a fair bit of beeping going on?!) and set off towards Lee. Thank you to Caireen for being our back-marker this week, making sure nobody was left behind (or blown away).

On arriving at GRACE, we were quickly given direction by Claire, who pointed out the many bags of clothes, shoes and random bits and bobs, which were to be sorted into the great big white bags, with the various categories, women, men, children, babies. As always, everyone grabbed a bag and got stuck in. Anyone who has been here before, will have noticed the changes over the time we have been visiting and we always marvel at the progress that has been made - when we came to this space the first time, it was an empty shell, full of dust and in need of a lot of attention. Now we see a shop space, a community space and an area to sort and prepare clothing to be taken to those who need it.

Of course, it wasn't long before the pants were out. It's tradition now for someone to uncover some either massive or 'interesting' items of underwear and tonight we hit the jackpot with some wide pants AND some frilly knickers. Good work Amber, Vic and Hannah!

Quite soon all of the white sacks were full to overflowing and full time had passed (we did push on for a tiny bit longer!). We said our goodbyes and promised to return in a few weeks, as Claire and her team have a few trips coming up and could do with our help. If you want to help out at other times, check the website here to find out how you can get involved.

Heading back, I invited Conroy to take the lead, while I wheezed away at the back (yes, even your robust trainer feels under the weather sometimes). Thank you Conroy for guiding everyone home and for keeping the group moving until we all regrouped for some press-ups and tricep-dips at the curvy bench. A quick round of planks (ouch, we've neglected those over Christmas!) and it was time for a stretch. Don't forget to sign up for next week, when we will run over to Seniors to take down the Christmas decorations (this is a slightly longer run, of around 7km in total) and also link your Strava to your GoodGym profile, to make sure all your miles count towards our January challenge!

Great work team!

FAST FOOD PART 1

14 Brave Brent bandits, ran miles, to sort through piles of food that was sent, for the community of Brent!!

Food donation sorting for the amazing Brent Food Bank.

Having spent the last few days sending out a shed load of 'don't leave me hanging' emails to my crew, I was delighted to be met at base camp by a team of 13!! This of course was an absolute miracle considering the icy weather, freezing cold snow and wintery conditions!! So thank you, thank you team of brave warriors!!! What an awesome turn out for GG Brent's last sesh of 2017!!

The tasks (plural) at hand this evening, for our last and final session of the year, were helping out the Brent Food Bank, with their enormous hoard of food donations for Christmas at not one but two locations!!

As there were a couple of sites to get to; the storage center and the base, we split into 2 and set off! I led the team heading for base camp - The vestry hall, for an evening of lifting, loading and sorting all kinds of food groups into orderly piles and racked onto the shelves. Supported by my amazing team - Pete, Mouse, Marie, Ellen, Isabelle and Beth!

Our journey of 1.4 Miles was a cold one, so to beat the icy bite of the winds, we made it rapid!! That's fast food, if ever you did see!

Looked after by Maxine and Nana on arrival we were set to work instantly! There was so much to get through, we were like a team of busy elves, beavering away in our nutritious workshop!

Halfway through, we were rewarded with mugs of hot tea, which gave us the added energy to keep up the good work, for an extended session of 60 Mins, as we didn't want to go until we'd made a hefty impact on the massive piles!!

After a full hour of Good-deeding and about 100 tins and packets of food galore stocked up onto shelves, we said our farewells and head back out into the night.

Facing the cold once more, the run was again, a swift affair, but we didn't care. Pleased with our effors, we couldn't have done better. For Brent's amazing bank of food, not a worthier cause could we choose!!

FAST FOOD PART 2 - By Tabitha Skinner

So our group had the task of running to Brent Food Bank's storage unit, where they keep the tons of donations they receive. It was a 2.4Mile route there and we were thrilled to get there in less than 30mins woop woop.

We met Michele on site, who took us to the storage unit and told us a bit about what the Brent Food Bank do for the community! But to read a bit more yourselves check out their website - https://brent.foodbank.org.uk

Amazing cause What we found out was that they have boxes of food donations ready for when people in need.... need them. They also do packs of toiletries and nappies and things for new mums when they go to hospital to have a baby, as well as feminine products for girls who can't afford them. If that wasn't enough, this amazing cause also put on and host cooking classes at their base, for the community to teach people how to eat healthily and well for less money.
Loads of good stuff!!

Weigh-hey So back to our task, which was to empty out their big yellow, storage unit and weigh EVERYTHING before putting it back! This is because they have to do a yearly audit of donations, so we were helping with that. It was a mammoth task which took longer than a usual GG amount of set time, however, as it was our last one for the tear, we were all happy to stay and do more for these amazing people.

Fast food.... literally We got to work quickly using human chains to take it all out, weigh the boxes, then put them back. Each box was easily 20kg so we definitely worked hard, and we had hundreds of them to sort, so that's easily a tonne of donations we lifted. David our very own Isabelle's hubby (she finally dragged him along!!), was at the end of the chain most the night so probably did the most work! What an intro!! Even though there was so much food, Michele said, if they didn't get any more it would only last until April so they are always looking for more donations all the time!!!

Nearly there The last few boxes were Christmas presents and decorations so they were the last ones in, ready to be taken out again this week, for creations of Christmas Cheer all over Brent homes. After our epic efforts, we all ran back to base in the cold, other than karen who ubered it - Don't blame you Kazzer!!!

Until next year!!!!! That's GG Brent over and out!