A big welcome to Rebecca for the first time at GoodGym, as well as seeing Luis for the first time in a while. The venue this evening was INS in Twickenham and manager Sarah put us all straight to work moving large furniture around in the summer house to prepare for better weather, including a very unwieldy set of lockers that needed to be brought down from upstairs. Team work really does make the dream work and in no time at all everything was in its new home!

This evening we welcomed Daisy for the first time as well as Honor returning for the second time as well set off from Richmond town centre to INS in Twickenham. A round run trip of nearly 9km, the run gave plenty of time to chat as we ran down Richmond high street, across th bridge and made our way to Twickenham, collecting Monika and Honor on the way.

Arriving at INS, task owner Sarah showed us a storage cabinet that needed to be emptied and moved from room one (with a very small doorway) to room two while a desk needed to move from room three to room one, a chair needed to move from room two to room one and another desk needed to move from room four to room two!

It all called for a lot of pivots, some good upper body strength and some sensible manoeuvring. But many hands do indeed make light work and we were done ahead of schedule, ready for the run home!

The January challenge continues as we head off into cold nights with warm hearts to do good in the borough of Richmond upon Thames.

Tonight we ran a bit further than normal to cover just over 4km to Twickenham where INS (Integrated Neurological Services) is based. A chatty run through Richmond High Street and Twickenham up to Richmond Green before turning towards Hampton to the task location.

Lovely task owner Sarah had prepared well for us with everything laid out ready to go to paint the radiators in the loos and one in the gym! Sanding, cleaning and painting saw a fast transformation for four radiators before the team regrouped for the run back to Richmond!

Today may have been Blue Monday, but we painted it red tonight! ♥️

Perfect summer running weather provided a warm welcome for the group to the streets of the borough of Richmond-upon-Thames for one of our further beneficiaries from our start point in Richmond town centre. This evening we trialled out a second stop which allowed those who live on the other side of the river to fall into stride with us as we ran through St Margaret's and into Twickenham. Red GoodGym t-shirts ablaze, we carried on running, chatting about life, the Olympics and everything to lovely INS.

INS are always so welcoming to us and always bring out the water when we arrive. This evening's task involved prepping and rejuvenating garden furniture and the front door with plenty of sanding before filling, painting and oiling took place.

In classic GoodGym style, the transformation was both satisfying and speedy, a necessity to make sure those who wanted to could be home in time for the 800m Olympic final, or the half price Itsu sushi, whatever the motivation it encouraged a swift return run!

INS have asked us to come back to paint the railings and the office spaces indoors, so keep an eye out for further tasks at the location.

A warm welcome indeed at GoodGym this evening as the sun came out and Lucy led her first session to qualify as a fitness leader. Lucy took us all through the intro and a good warm-up to prep the body for a 4km run to INS in Twickenham.

The lovely base at INS is always very grateful for our help and the mix of weather had led the garden to take on a life of its own, ready to be tamed by the red shirt gang!

Jobs included putting up the gazebo, clearing the summer house of extra furniture and many eight-legged guests, clearing the paving areas of moss and grass, sweeping, weeding, watering, putting the garden furniture out and clearing the front area. The transformation was great for that end of task feel good factor, as was the return run and the completion of Lucy's qualification, congratulations Lucy! 🎉🎉🎉

Various tasks awaited the group in the garden at INS this morning, requiring similar tools but very different levels of force.

Adam and Karla set about the more genteel task of weeding the raised beds, carefully discerning between friend and foe before discarding the offending weeds.

JP, Chris, and Rosie took to the alleyway to scrape moss from the path to make it safer for service users. After a brief interlude to break down a cabinet for later disposal at the tip, all debris was swept up and we left the place looking much tidier than when we arrived.