Southwark News

• This Saturday 8th September we're doing a parkrun takeover. Come join us in your GoodGym tshirt, we'll be going for coffee after at the cafe on the Rye. You don't have to offer to pace but if you'd like to, we're looking for 21, 23, 29, 31 minutes. Sign up here.

• Welcome to Darya, Alex **and Ben Ten** who joined us on their first ever group runs last night. Delighted to have you!

• Next week we're going to the Crisis charity shop in Camberwell to sort donations for their winter changeover. I am very excited! Sign up here.

• Peckham Festival are holding a fun run on 16th September. It would be awesome to have loads of GoodGym faces there. I'll set it up as a community mission, but in the meantime, find out more here.

That's enough of the business

The night are drawing in but that sure as heck won't stop us doing good! We gathered at Old Spike for a slightly-more-complicated-than-usual brief:

• Split into 3 groups running: 3km, 5km and 7km suprise (the surprise was hills...)

• Arm your group with posters and flyers for Peckham Festival's fun run, booklets for the festival and posters for #findAliceKing who went missing from the Catford area on 24th August.

• Come back to the Rye empty handed for 20.00 for fitness fun.

• Best team photo wins a prize (the prize was glory...)

Off we went.

Every team passed out all their leaflets and posters! Amazing job everyone!

Team 3km came back with a creative photo of them drinking much earned pints in front of a McPinty sign, Team 5km had a very arty shot of them in action as well as a photo clearly showing their leaflets and Team 7km surprise didn't quite manage the distance but had a brilliant photo opportunity in a phonebox (it's just asking for a caption competition). Team 3km and Team 5km drew on votes so we had a plank off which every member of the team participated in. Team 3km were the victors with planks of over 1 minute 10 seconds. Nice one! Whilst they were planking the rest of the group did rounds of 10 squats and 10 press ups.

Victories celebrated, we moved further into the Rye and away from traffic to do our favourite Sally Squats. Sally we love you!

An awesome evening, I know that Peckham Festival and #findAliceKing will be delighted. A heartfelt thank you.

See you next week!

Lucy J

8 runners ran 7km to Galleywall Nature Reserve to shift compost, earth and do some weeding

Southwark News

• Cross country season is coming up! One race a month starting in October - a £5 flat fee - Bargain! 6k races for women, 8k races for men. You need to join the GoodGym RaceTeam in order to do it (you have to be UKAthletics affiliated with us) and then all the info on the first race etc is here. Once you've joined the RaceTeam, request to join the Facebook group where you'll get lots of info! Any questions, email axel@goodgym.org

• Next week we're doing a flyer drop for Peckham Festival. There will be different distances to cover and some fitness fun to be had after. Sign up here!

• We're doing a parkrun takeover at Peckham Rye parkrun on 8th September. If you'd like to pace you can sign up on the spreadsheet, otherwise bring your GoodGym tshirt and your lovely self! Find out more here.

That's enough of the business

Last night 8 of us gathered at Old Spike to revisit a task we haven't been to since February! Galleywall Nature Reserve is a little piece of wilderness in Bermondsey that the Friends of Galleywall Nature Reserve have successfully stopped developers from building on for 15 years! We were met there by Alan, Jane and Ollie who set us to work:

• Removing the top layer of twigs from the compost bins to get to the good stuff

• Spreading the good stuff on the allotment

• Moving a dirt pile to be spread by the pond

• Weeding!

Ollie offered us marshmallows and the highlight of the evening was getting to use Southwark's first composting toilet. Alan explained that their toilet is an aerobic composting toilet (not a long drop) which means that things break down more quickly and most importantly, you don't get the bad smells. Aerobic composting toilets are the future! All finished up we set off for the run home. A big thanks to Jane, Ollie and Alan for having us.

Great work team, looking forward to seeing you next week.

Lucy J

Southwark News

• Next week is the third Wednesday of the month and you know what that means! Social! We're heading to Batch next door for a drink after the run - sign up here.

• Tonight is the monthly GoodGym social at The Mulberry Bush by Southbank. Expect International Pun of the Month, heroes and more! Sign up here.

• Next week I'm on holibobs so Ben from Greenwich is popping over to cover. We're going to Grove Park Allotments our old fave, total distance 3km. Sign up here.

• Hello and Welcome to Danielle and Beth who joined us for the first time last night. We hope to see your faces again!

Knock on the door we're twenty-four

Last night at whopping TWENTY FOUR GoodGymers gathered at Old Spike Roastery to tackle two tasks at once. One group was off on an 8km round trip to see Barnaby at Bee Urban and the other went on a 6km round trip over to Bell House in Dulwich. It was a beautiful evening and with the slightly cooler temperatures, we were keen to head out. The long runners set off early with Helena and Girija and the shorter runners warmed up with me and then set off for Bell House.

The long runners encountered a bit of an issue - Barnaby at Bee Urban had confused us with Lambeth who run on a Tuesday and had been expecting us the night before. Oh no! Luckily we got in touch with him and found plenty of leaves and rubbish that needed shifting. We still managed to get our good done! Big props to the long runners for using their initiative. You can find out more about the Barnaby's projects here.

The 6km runners went to beautiful Bell House where we got to work loosening the soil in a bed we cleared last time we were there and then planting. With the help of Sarah and George we got plenty of bulbs in and can't wait to see them make the garden even more beautiful. For more info on the gorgeous Bell House and everything they do - click here. It was hard to tear ourselves away but we managed to tidy up and get ready for our group photo. We went for 'moody indie album cover' before our usual happy selfie variation. We'd make a mean gardening-based indie band. Any thoughts on names?

Great work team. Have a great night next week, see you on 22nd August!

Keep running happy, Lucy

Ps. sorry about the Taylor Swift pun

12 runners ran 2km to shift woodchip, move logs and water plots at Grove Park Allotments

Southwark News

• There are PLENTY of coaches waiting for pairing in the area. If you think you could spare 20 mins every week for a social visit to an isolated older person in Southwark, now is the time! If you've had a DBS check and you haven't heard anything for a while send me an email. It may have got stuck in the system... Let's get this show on the road!

• A big huge whoop to Nikki who joined us for her first ever group run last night! Click through and give her a big cheer!

• Over the weekend 80 odd GoodGymers descended upon Stratford-Upon-Avon for the Shindig. It was spectacular. We brought Red Thunder to parkrun, workshopped ideas about GoodGym's future and impact and much much more... and of course there was a quiz too! It was amazing to see runners from all over the country come together to discuss this thing we're all so passionate about. Read the report here and get excited about coming to join next year!

• Next week we're helping clear out the hall at Cossall Estate - they had a big flood and the council are funding its renovation so they need us to pull up the old flooring ready for the new flooring! There will be plenty of other jobs to get done too - sign up here.

• It's our very own Emma's birthday today. Joyeux Anniversaire Emma! She's always a delightfully smiley face to see each week so give her a cheer by clicking here.

Grove Park Allotments always gives us a sense of be-logging

Last night 12 of us gathered in the UNBELIEVABLE HEAT to run a leisurely 1km to our friends at Grove Park Allotment to do three big jobs:

• Moving a big pile of woodchip to spread in the new bee area, on the paths around the shed and wherever else it was needed!

• Moving chairs, tables and tarpaulin so the woodchip could be spread.

• Moving big logs inside the gate and arranging them in an area for children to enjoy - big cheer to Mikhail who got this done single handedly.

• Watering plots for some allotment users who are less able to do it themselves.

Un-bee-lievable scenes in the bee area...

We moved almost the entire pile of woodchip - this will be so useful everywhere in the allotment, it keeps the weeds down and when the rain comes (it will, I promise) it turns to mulch which is awesome for using on plants to retain water and keep them warm. We're always learning at GoodGym! The bee area is transformed - it used to be brambles and weeds and now it's a cleared, woodchipped area perfect for the bees. All thanks to many visits from GoodGym! Mikhail made a lovely picnic area for the kids to use (see photos) and we gave some gorgeous veg and plants a much needed watering. A big whoop for Kath who provided the photos tonight - just look at those sunflowers!

Solid work team, looking forward to next week.

Keep running happy, Lucy