We gathered outside FGS HQ at 10am for a pre-task briefing. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, spirits were high…

We set off through Bermondsey and Southwark’s sunny streets at a leisurely pace, which became more leisurely as the 2.4km walk went on (it was a bit hot to run) as I grappled with Google’s chosen route. Thankfully Matt stepped in and after negotiating the busy Bricklayers Arms, we found quieter, greener streets, closer to our location of Burgess Park.

What were we doing today?

We were off to meet to Frankie of Friends of Burgess Park for a litter-pick.

The Friends of Burgess Park are a group whose aim is to help protect, promote and enhance this gorgeous inner city park. As regular users of the park they observe park management and maintenance; support events, and encourage new visitors.

Why were we doing this?

The parks’ team do a fantastic job of tending to the gardens, and the whole of the park’s green space.

Despite the team undertaking daily litter-picks of high volumes of rubbish, there are nonetheless bits that get left behind, including small items of plastic, latex (party balloons), and beer bottle tops, particularly at this time of year. While these don’t pose such an issue as the larger items, they can nonetheless prove problematic if they’re sharp, as well as being less than ideal material for birds building nests.

The Friends of Burgess Park coordinate weekly litter-picks to help tackle hotspots and were incredibly welcoming and enthusiastic when it came to facilitating a litter-pick for the team today.

Fun in the sun

We met up with Frankie who wasted no time in handing us the best litter-picking hoops (complete with handles); tent pegs for prising bottle tops out of solid ground, and brand new gloves.

We set off in two teams: one to the lake and the woodland area, and another towards the library and the long grass.

Before long, bags were jingling with the sound of hundreds of bottle tops. We passed a leisurely hour filling bag after bag, clocking step after step, and even managing to get a few pics in.

Before we knew it, it was time to meet back at Chumleigh Gardens, empty all our bags into one (no waste for us) and say cheerio to Frankie.

After the briefest of refreshment stops at the lovely little café, we headed back to base, John on navigation, for a well-earned lunch.

Way to go, team.

Until next time.

It was windy, it was rainy, it was a slightly longer run than usual…But that didn’t deter an 8-strong team showing up for today’s task, heading just over 2.5km to Bermondsey to help the Thames Reach team tidy up a residential outdoor space.

Why were we doing this?

Thames Reach is a London charity working with those affected by homelessness, offering a range of support from outreach services and accommodation to employment training.

Joel and Elvis head up one of the residential locations in Bermondsey, whose garden needed a bit of TLC in time for the summer.

It’s all about the map reading

After a couple of dynamic stretches at the FGS base, we made our through the streets of Southwark and Bermondsey, led and expertly navigated by Matt.

Stopping only for a brief rest, we arrived at our location nice and early to be greeted by Joel and Elvis handing out all the equipment needed to get the job done.

What’s not a weed?

Trowels were gathered, gloves donned, strimmers powered up…It was all go.

The area at the front of the accommodation was, no joke, pretty much all weeds, along with some tough roots. But the team did good, identifying weeds from the odd shrub, tackling tough roots and avoiding stones.

The weed pile grew, the compost bin overflowed, but still they kept going.

Residents popped out to say hello and we discussed the art of good gardening; a rubbish bag was added for a last minute litter-pick, while the extensive sweeping up was merely a finale.

In terms of before and after pics, this was a good gig.

Before we knew it, it was after 12, and we were returning kit to the shed and saying cheerio to the team.

The run back to base was marginally tougher going due to the 75 minutes our arms and legs had endured in the gardening bonanza, but nonetheless it was fun, companionable and a fitting end to a terrific morning.

“So, about the trees…”

Two surprises awaited the team on arrival at FGS HQ today:

• The trees for the tree-planting task hadn’t arrived, so the task had, er, changed.
• The team were unaware we were kicking off with a workout.

But the robust crew of 9 seemed unperturbed as we set out for Guy Street Park on this rather grey Wednesday lunchtime. After a speedy warm-up, we whizzed through a top-to-toe body weight workout using walls, tarmac and benches as the ultimate multi-gym:

Lunges, split squats, decline push-ups, elevated side planks and endless V-sits were the order of the day.

With fitness feathers somewhat ruffled, we took an easy jog around to the Kipling Estate to meet the brilliant Clive, who’d prepared today’s task with great care. We said our hellos and distributed kit in the well cared for community centre, before heading out to the new garden area, with its raised beds, and border awaiting completion.

What was the task?

Good question. It was to empty a great stash of woodchip into the pathway, and distribute it evenly.

Why were we doing this?

Well, this new garden area is a much-loved new green project on the estate, created and overseen by Clive and Jo, and other members of the TRA. With funding from the mayor earlier this year, despite all hands on deck from members of the TRA and keen gardeners among the estate’s residents, as people return to work and temperatures drop, a few additional pairs of hands in the form of the fantastic FGS squad was very much appreciated today.

All about the teamwork

Three teams were formed:

• The woodchip shovellers

• The wheelbarrow gang

• Team Rake

They didn’t stop. Literally. “It’s like a machine,” marvelled Clive.

Bag after bag, barrow after barrow…Only stopping to pose patiently for a pic.

And then it was done. “Wait, is that right?” I asked Matt: “Has it taken you fewer than 50 minutes?”

Glancing down at our watches, blinking, Clive and I marvelled at the FGS team’s speed, efficiency and stamina.

And so we said our cheerios, taking a slow jog back to the office not forgetting a shout-out to Barry for patient camera-tutorial and to Nat, for our splendid pun.

A little while later, on arrival home, I received an email from Clive, "The wood chip pathway looks brilliant, and everyone who has seen it is so impressed and proud of how the garden now looks, so much more complete and established. …The team were absolutely perfect guests, who deserve medals for their community works. What great neighbours!"

Way to go. Until next time.

10 awesome runners ran 4km to help clear the garden at the Age UK Yalding Healthy Living Centre!

Another successful run to do good in the bag! A great turnout from the For Goodness Shakes crew once again, especially on such a cold October morning but thankfully the sun was shining and it was PERFECT running weather!

Since it was Halloween, I thought it would be nice to give everyone a fright by chucking in some intervals before we even made it to the task... The decision got mixed reviews but the effort was 110% from everyone! Kind of.

After 3 fast laps of Bermondsey Spa Gardens, we continued our run and arrived at the Yalding Healthy Living Centre shortly after.

We were greeted by the ever so enthusiastic Catrina who explained a few jobs to be done in the garden. Essentially lots of weeding, leaf clearing and general tidying up so that the visitors and members don't trip up on anything and can enjoy the garden a bit more in these autumn months.

Before we knew it, the shed had been stripped of all its contents and everyone got stuck in! There were some questionable initial tekkers for the leaves with a debate of whether they should be raked directly off the tree.... But we thought we'd concentrate on the fallen ones first!

After half an hour most of the leaves were gone and the tidying up job commenced.

There was a huge pile of rubbish/bags of garden waste, which looked like it had all been there for a number of years and just been forgotten about. The next twenty minutes was all about clearing as much of that as possible and simply transferring to the bins. The wheelbarrow came in fairly handy for this, until it got a flat tire! Meanwhile some of the guys were getting rid of more weeds, turning the soil and raking it out.

It was then time to head back to the office. We cleared everything away, put tools back in the shed, took a couple of photos and ran back to HQ. As GoodGym tasks go, that one was quite a workout!

Hope you all had a nice restful weekend after that!

See you next time!!!

10 runners ran 4km to help at Bermondsey Community Kitchen

Today saw 6th installment of GoodGym runs with FGS which means a whole year's worth of good deeding around the local area!

We started off with a little warm up and then had a little jog down to the task where we were greeted by Shannon who manages the facility. She explained a little bit about the work they do at the kitchen and the cafe downstairs which sounds really amazing and they're really helping out so many people in the local community. AWESOME!

Our main task was unfortunately not cooking or food prep but a much needed paint job instead! A few members of GoodGym visited a few weeks ago but only managed to do half of the room so it was our job to finish it off! We weren't going to leave until we got it done!

Everyone grabbed either a brush or a roller, kicked off their shoes and got stuck in!! The wall had lots of patches on it where holes and cracks had been filled in and needed covering up, although a fresh lick of paint all over was the aim!

After just half an hour it was done and all looking super fresh. Now the clean up operation could commence. It's almost impossible not to get paint where it shouldn't be. It ended up on the floors, chairs, counter tops, people's hair and clothes.... but thankfully it was water-based paint and washed off pretty easily. Phew!

Once everything was cleaned up, we set off to do a few exercises in the park all to be captured by the videographer, he even had to do a bit of running himself! Whatever it takes to get THE shot, right???

After a few minutes and a couple of interviews everyone headed back and we called it a day!

Great work everyone! Shannon and Felix were SO pleased and impressed with your efficient painting and were absolutely delighted with everything you got done so huge thank you on their behalf!

11 awesome runners ran 5k and helped out at the Tabard Garden's Community Allotments!

Yesterday was the fourth installment of GoodGym runs! So far we have helped at a charity shop, cleaned up the Thames and packed up Christmas presents for those in need... so many good deeds! This time, we kept it very local, just around the corner in fact, at the Tabard Gardens Community Allotments.

Since it was a stones throw from the office, we ran around the block a bit to add a bit of distance and then shortly arrived at the allotment. We were greeted by Peter who helps with the upkeep of the place. He explained a few things that needed doing, the main one being to dismantle the fruit cage and dig out all the plants.

Everyone made their way over to the cage and started untying the net. Within minutes it had been removed and it was time to start digging everything up! Everyone grabbed a fork or a shovel and got stuck in! After about 15 minutes, all the shrubs had been removed and set aside for safekeeping. They will be replanted elsewhere in a few days time. Then it was all hands on deck weeding, clearing leaves and picking litter.

Amazingly you guys managed to fill 6 of the big brown bags full of weeds and leaves. It would have taken Peter hours to do that himself so really well done.

He was quite a shy guy but later in the day I received a lovely message from him saying how thankful he was for all of your help. It's not often that he gets volunteers down at the allotment so when he does it makes a huge difference. Nice work!

Need for speeeeeed!

After 40 minutes or so it was time to head off. Sadly we said farewell to the cyclists while the rest of us headed to Bermondsey Spa Gardens for a mini interval session. The circle is about 340 meters all the way around and hardly anyone there so perfect for some fast running! We did a little ladder of 1 lap followed by 1 minute rest, 2 laps 2 mins rest and finally 3 laps 3 mins rest with the aim being to try and keep a consistent pace throughout each interval. It was great to see you all push yourselves and open up your stride a bit! Lots of extremely speedy people in the group! After 6 fast laps it was time for a nice easy cool down jog back to the office and a stretch!

Until next time....!