Last night we had a very special Sunlight Society x GoodGym collaboration in Westminster — bringing together two communities with plenty in common: getting active, getting outdoors, meeting people and feeling good.

Sunlight Society helps women in London move their bodies, spend time outdoors and make genuine connections and founder Caterina is herself a GoodGymer! So it was brilliant to bring the two communities together for an evening of running, volunteering and plenty of laughs.

We met at Hyde Park for some warm-ups, introductions and a chat about what the evening had in store. Then we were off!

Our route took us across some very busy central London crossings before we found ourselves running away from the traffic through Green Park. The final stretch involved us encountering a slightly spooky alleyway and an invitation to join a ghost tour - which we politely declined despite how close we are to Halloween! 👻

From there it was past some very swanky bars, followed by some very expensive-looking shops. We managed to resist temptation and arrived at St James’s Church Garden, where Catherine welcomed us and told us more about this fascinating place.

The church has a long connection with social justice and provides space, support and resources for a range of community groups. Even the ground beneath our feet has a story to tell — what is now the garden was once a graveyard and was later used as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War.

We divided into groups and got stuck into the gardening jobs: clearing leaves, shifting bags of compost and leaf mould, managing kitchen waste, chopping branches and twigs ready to be composted, and generally giving the garden a good tidy-up.

There was plenty of work, but also plenty of chat, plenty of laughs and plenty of teamwork. It was brilliant to see everyone getting stuck in and making such a positive difference to this little pocket of green in the heart of Westminster.

After half an hour of hard work the result was a cleaner, safer, more welcoming and more biodiverse green space for local people and the wider community to enjoy. 🌱

With the task complete, we headed back towards Hyde Park — with that all important stop along the way for a quick fitness blast featuring several stations and several different exercises. There were perfect planks, super squats and even some creative use of a tree. 🌳💪

Then it was back to Hyde Park for stretches and goodbyes. Great running, great impact, great company — and a brilliant reminder of how much good we can fit into an evening when we get together.

Thank you everyone for coming, for getting stuck in and for making the evening such fun. It was lovely to spend it with you all. ❤️

And next week...

We're off to the oldest youth club in the world! Join us!. We also have plenty going on during the week, including picking up surplus food, making sandwiches for rough sleepers, and helping to reduce waste going to landfill. Check out all our sessions here