Three jolly Goodgymmers went to WalthamstowToy Library this morning to join Helen and her husband John and some Toy Library volunteers, to tackle the epic task of clearing the currently defunct adventure playground, to prepare it for refurbishment. Lily got started with a big litter pick, Sarah swiftly joined in and they weeded, picked up lots of plastic and rubbish (and a dinosaur!), shifted rubble and timber, and removed all the weed-proof matting from the grounds. Later on, as if a morning of competitive Crossfit weren't enough for her, Pippa came to provide a fresh wave of energy for a lot more clearing of vegetation and removal of rubbish once the hedges had been cut. Thankfully the rain cleared up and the sun shone a little. All in all, it was a gigantic task (my back is certainly feeling it now!) and a very, very good job done. Helen was delighted with the progress made and immensely grateful for the help. The adventure playground, which will soon be repaired and ready for use, will be an incredible new addition to the Toy Library's facilities, providing a much-needed play resource for families in our local community. Well done GGWF - we did an excellent job and made a huge difference!

Four enthusiastic Waltham Forest Goodgymmers (Lily, Matiyas, Sara and Sarah) met at the Toy Library this evening for our first task of 2026, helping Helen with a few odd jobs she'd kindly saved for us! Matiyas proved himself to be quite the handyman with some toy and furniture repairs, while Lily, Sara and Sarah did some toy cleaning, sorted and categorised some cuddly friends for storage, and organised some lovely donations received for the SEND toy library, a fantastic new resource for our local community, which is due to open very soon. As ever, Helen was delighted to have some extra help, and it was great to get the new year started for Goodgym WF. A big welcome and well done to Matiyas and Sara who were attending their first Goodgym missions - it was lovely to have you on board!

From February, our Toy Library sessions will be on the second Thursday of each month at 6:30pm, meeting at the task. Come and join us - the more the merrier!

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!