Southwark News

• Next week the awesome new trainer Ian is taking the group on a 7k round trip to Galleywall Nature Reserve to get stuck into the allotments. Find out more and sign up here.

• Saturday 7th September come on down to paint Peckham Rye parkrun red. Sign up for a volunteer spot on the spreadsheet found here. And if you're looking for an extra fix of good there's litter picking pre-parkrun for Peckham Rye Summer Fete.

• Final call for Big Half community places! Only £10! Email me lucyj@goodgym.org for details, you must be signed up by the end of August. I'll be coming back for it so look out for a pub lunch being organised afterwards.

• Surrey Docks Farm are putting on a gardening workshop for us! Date yet to be confirmed but keep your eyes on the website for it.

A flipping good handover

Last night an all time Southwark-record-smashing 37 people (THIRTY SEVEN!) descended on Old Spike Roastery to run 6km to Bell House in Dulwich. There was a queue for the sign up sheet! There's never a queue for the sign up sheet! Unbelievable scenes.

Bell House is a stunning Georgian House that currently houses an educational charity that offers support outside the mainstream school curriculum, lifelong learning, short courses, exhibitions, talks and musical events. You can find out more about them here. We've been visiting for nearly two years and seen the garden taking amazing shape.

The rain stopped, just for us!

We set off in two groups - party pace (slower) and 'in a hurry' which quickly became three groups because there was so many of us! To get to Bell House we run straight up Barry Road which is a solid mile of uphill - tough going! Then we pass through gorgeous Dulwich park before ending up at Bell House. Our tasks? One group turning and moving compost, one group weeding (and fussing over Clementine the dog). We got an insane amount done - giving the beds a good sorting out and turning over huge amounts of compost - that would have taken George hours to do on his own.

Hello and welcome to Ineke who came on her first group run tonight!

Before we knew it time was up and we needed to split into three groups to run back home where we stretched and went immediately next door to Batch.

And now the soppy bit

Being at Old Spike Roastery every single Wednesday evening come rain, shine or anything in between has been the joy of my week since February last year. There is no other job (or anything) in my life that has grown my confidence, strength and compassion like GoodGym Southwark. Last night saying goodbye to people individually I realised that as trainers we are in such a special, privileged position. We are a constant in lives that twist and turn around us, we are a reliable friendly face, a hug, a question about that race you did, we are there to support every single runner in whatever capacity they need that day. How do I express what that means to me? All I can really say is that whether you've come once or you've come a hundred times to a group run please know that your presence has at some point made my day.

There are many, many thank yous to say. First of all to the amazing individuals on Southwark taskforce who have been with me every step of the way, from last minute task cancellations to finding new task contacts to being the lively, joyful heart of the group. Thank you to those who arrive early and chat with me about their day, thank you to those who arrive (just about) on time and scrabble for the sign-in sheet. Thank you to the people new to running who bring their enthusiasm, their interest, their fresh energy and thank you to the veterans for their wisdom and encouragement. Thank you to all of you for putting up with the same exact intro speech and jokes for the last year and laughing politely at the particularly bad gags about peanuts. Thank you to those that organised and contributed to my gifts - what an amazing peanut butter gluten free cake! Who knew such wonders could exist! I look forward to putting my fabulous tea towel to good use and of course those amazing gardening tools. Thank you for becoming my friends and my family. I cannot wait to see what you all do next.

And last but by no means least, thank you to Ian for taking on this wonderful group of people and undoubtedly taking GoodGym Southwark to new and exciting heights. I know you will love it as much as I do because, after all, there's really nothing quite like it.

Keep running happy,

Lucy J

Southwark News

• Next week we're going to Surrey Docks Farm - it's a 10km run overall but there's the option to get the overground back. Yay! Surrey Docks Farm means goats and pigs and sheep and loveliness. Come join the fun. Find out more and sign up here.

• This Sunday is the London Marathon! There will be a GoodGym cheer squad outside Somerset House around mile 25 - where they really need you! Hopefully we'll have the banner so we'll be easy to spot. Sign up here. If you're running it, you can comment your number on this page here so we can track you and give you a big old cheer!

• Saturday 18th May Friends of Nunhead Cemetery are having an Open Day and need help setting up. Find out more and sign up here.

• Dulwich parkrun takeover on 1st June! We'll be providing all volunteer positions and pacing (if we have enough volunteers!). Find out more and fill in the spreadsheet here.

That's enough of the business

Last night we gathered at Old Spike Roastery as usual to run 5km to help School Food Matters unload 3 tonnes of compost and then run back 5km back. A busy evening!

We set off bang on 7pm to make it on time and arrived at St Paul's Primary school ready to go. Unfortunately no one was home and after buzzing a few times, doing several laps of the school and calling various numbers, we had to concede defeat. School Food Matters got in touch with me today to apologise, they're not sure what happened and are very sorry as they expected Roy the premises manager to be there.

On the way over we'd spotted a brand new looking adventure playground in Burgess park so that's where we headed! First off we did the Burgess Park rollercoaster focusing on up and downhill running form and then - playtime!

A huge hello and welcome to Lara who came for her first group run last night AND ran the furthest she's ever run!

We made good use of the playground - swings, slides and all. Nothing like a good play! Then we set off home.

Sorry about the task team, next week will be a corker!

See you then, Lucy J

Southwark News

• Next week Fergus from a community juggling club in Peckham is coming to tell us about the club and show us some of the benefits of juggling. We'll then head out to do some plogging and support the club. Find out more and sign up here.

• Tonight! It's Matt's fundraiser for the charity we supported last night - Westminster House. Matt is also running the London Marathon for them. Come and watch short films about running and suport Westminster House.

• SAVE THE DATE! GoodGym Olympics is happening on 3rd August at Parliament Hill Athletics Track! We have some mega achievements in the egg and spoon to defend. Sign up to enjoy baked goods, ridicuously fun sports day events and a bit of running.

That's enough of the business

Last night 8 runners gathered at Old Spike Roastery to support two local charities: Link Age Southwark and Westminster House. Link Age Southwark offers friendly volunteer support to older people in Southwark, to combat loneliness and isolation. Find out more about them here. Westminster House is one of the oldest youth clubs in the country which has always worked with young people amongst the most deprived and disadvantaged in the country. Find out more about them here.

We ran to Westminster House where Katie gave us a tour of the club - table tennis room, gym, homework club and library included. They support local kids to get skilled up in all kinds of things including Duke of Edinburgh which involves fully kitting them out with donations (see photos). Westminster House is amazing but they're being squeezed by the gentrification of the area so they gave us leaflets that detailed what your donation can provide for a kid eg. £300 a year buys a place on Fire Safety, First Aid, Basic Food Hygiene and Conflict Management courses for 1 young person. The LinkAge leaflets provided information for volunteering opportunities on one side and for older people on the other.

We posted over 400 in total!

After our tour, off we headed off, leaflets in hand to cover ground! We ran 6k distributing, but not before we stopped to play Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Cone - a game based on your reaction to cues.

On the way back we hit the area around Old Spike and finally finished up.

A smashing evening, great work team!

Lucy J

21 runners ran 8km to empty planters and do a general tidy up at Camberwell Subterranea

Southwark News

• We're doing a parkrun takeover! 8th September, Peckham Rye Parkrun. Bring your red (or black) tshirt and a smile. If you're interested in pacing sign up on the spreadsheet. Let us know you're coming here.

• Rutland Water, the penultimate of the Big Six this year is coming up. Sunday 16th September - there's a half marathon, a marathon and a marathon relay. Find out more here.

• A big woop to our new runners - Caitlin, Sarah, Natalie, Emma and Eleanor! Give them a cheer!

That's enough of the bee-sness

Bee-n and done it!

Last night a whopping 21 of us went Camberwell Subterranea (part of Bee Urban) to meet Nick. We split into two groups - one 'in a hurry' and one at 'party pace'. The 'in a hurry' group arrived first (because they're in a hurry!) and Nick put them to work. There were countless planters on the roof where the bees hives are that had shrivelled up in all the heat and needed bringing down. The good earth in them then needed spreading on the planters below by the bike workshop. We shifted at least 15 planters! Core blimey!

It was heavy work but we got all of them spread out on the fruit trees and such like. We also set about generally clearing up the area - sweeping leaves and moving rubbish. It was all fun and games - Theo found a mandrake!

Looking forward to seeing you next week when we're off to Galleywall Nature Reserve, it's a 7km total run. Sign up here.

Keep running happy!

Lucy

We had a spectacular turn out for the British 10K, where GoodGym were helping put the race on by looking after the 7-8km aid stations, rehydrating runners as they ran past.

One group were on the water station whilst the other group handed out nuun electrolyte drinks.

Water hot day it was!

It was hot hot hot out on Victoria Embankment, but everyone arrived bright and early to set up the stations so they were ready for 9.30am when the race started. GoodGym had the perfect spot - right on Victoria Embankment, opposite the London Eye - perfect for cheering, supporting and handing out water to the runners (plus there was even a bit of shade under the trees!).

It was a mega success and we provided the runners with lots of support for their last push of the race.

Hopefully we'll manage an aid station at the Oxford Half too - so watch this space!

Report written by Alyx Murray-Jackman

14 runners ran 6km to do their bodies a good deed in Southwark

This week's news:

• The monthly GoodGym social is in Greenwich this week - from 18.30 at the Greenwich Tavern - sign up here. We're celebrating International Women's Day and there will of course be the highly anticipated International Pun of the Month.

• Next week we're laying fresh beds at Bee Urban - sign up now.

• Sign up for the Sunday mission to help out with lunch for the homeless at KCL - for more info look here.

• Next week we're going to the White Horse after the group run - sign up here

A huge cheer and woop for the Southwark runners who took part in the Big Half last weekend!

Unfortunately Camden Society could no longer have us last night (don't worry, we'll be back!) but taskless doesn't mean heartless so we set off into the night for our scheduled run (plus a bit) and a fitness session. Arriving at our urban gym the groups split into two - one half went indian file running around the court whilst the other half did some conditioning - squats, plank and lunges. The two groups joined forces at the end to form one huge indian file and whizz round the courts three times. It was quite a sight!

Then it was onto the Sally Squat Challenge (we love you Sally!). Google it, you'll see what I mean. The group did an amazing job of the challenge and had an audience of an entire train that stopped above us just to marvel at our squatting skills.

A big welcome to Theo and Vinayak who joined us for the first time!

A fantastic evening in spite of no task! Can't wait to see you next week.

Lucy J