Four happy Goodgymmers (Anh, Ros, Sarah and Xiaoru) attended our monthly task at the Walthamstow Toy Library, and this month the time had come to clean and organise the toy store. Many hands made light work, and much hoovering, cobweb busting, toy cleaning and furniture rearranging was done. Toys were sorted, and some of the very generous excess toy donations received were set aside for a forthcoming toy sale to raise funds for the Library. The Toy Library, as always, continues to do wonderful work for our community, providing a wealth of resources for local families, far beyond the rental of toys and games. Toy Library CEO Helen was, as ever, very happy to have our help. A big shoutout to Anh and Xiaoru who were both attending their first Goodgym sessions!

Our next Toy Library mission will be on 12 November, when we'll be getting into the seasonal spirit wrapping presents for Father Christmas, whose annual visit to the Toy Library will be forthcoming. His elves are extremely busy, so it's only right that Goodgym should lend a hand. If you fancy coming along and getting an early taste of Christmas cheer, do come and join us!

Three jolly Goodgymmers made the most of a sunny(ish) Sunday afternoon to get stuck into the rennovation work at Walthamstow Toy Library's new adventure playground. Ros, Ruby and Sarah all mucked in, putting up fencing, laying woodchip and tackling lots of pesky bindweed, all in a contribution to the ongoing efforts to get the adventure playground ready for its grand opening on 30 May. So much work has been done, but there's still a way to go, and, as ever, Helen and her team were delighted to have some extra helping hands on board. We got some good work done in a couple of hours, and it was lovely to be able to contribute to preparing this incredible new addition to the Toy Library's facilities and to think of all the intrepid little adventurers who will get hours of fun and joy from the playground for years to come!

Helen, Ros and Sarah met at the William Morris Gallery steps for a social run to mark the Goodgym crossover with This Girl Can, drawing attention to the issue of women's safety when out running in the darker winter months. And dark it most certainly was! It definitely felt like autumn had well and truly arrived. We had a lovely jog to Cheney Row Park, where we had a little bounce on the trampolines in memory of our dear friend Ray, and then we circled back to Lloyd Park and up to Yardsale, where we made the most of their crossover with Dishoom and demolished a giganitc and very delicious spicy Indian pizza. I think we would all admit that we wouldn't have fancied a solo run this evening in the cold darkness, so it was especially lovely to get together, have a jog, catch up, reminisce and raise a glass to Goodgym friends no longer with us. Our little social run may not look like much, but it felt like a Very Good Thing!

Five happy Goodgymmers (Lily, Manuel, Pippa, Ros and Sarah) braved a dark task at St Mary’s Churchyard, to tackle the ever-accumulating autumn leaves. Thankfully the rain stopped in good time, and armed with rakes, brooms, scoops and a brilliant leaf grabber, we set to work clearing the pathways round the church, which were inundated with soggy, slippery leaves. Many hands made light work, and we quickly filled the four huge rubble bags that Tim the Head Gardener at St Mary’s had left for us. While of course the leaves continue to fall and more clearing will soon be needed, we did a great job and the paths were tidier and safer in no time at all! A satisfying task indeed, and a couple of passers-by thanked us for our efforts, which was lovely! Special mention to Manuel, who was doing his first ever Goodgym task! (Apologies for the stock photo of autumn leaves - we forgot to do our before and after pictures!!!)