Since GoodGym Greenwich was set up in early 2016, we've made a few local friends. Friends whom we come back to help regularly. Some every few months and others at least once a year.

The wonderful Montessori school on Westcombe Hill in East Greenwich is one such friend. And they're a friend with friendly people.

I associate the lovely Wendy and Richard with Summer. It might be nostalgia, but I don't think it is. Because every memory of popping on over to their gorgeous setup seems soaked in sun. But then maybe that's because they're so welcoming. Smiles always brighten, don't they.

But we have had a bit of a hiatus from our visits to Westcome Hill. The last time we were there, it would have been Summer 2019. We spent that time gardening and running vines (with real life grapes) through trellis. Arriving today, their garden - which they use as a forest school - is lush and their vines are full; they're even thinking of making a spot of wine this year... GG Greenwich Christmas party anyone?

Today, good-deeders Brin, Jenny, Julian, Kerry, Linda, Mandi (welcome to GG Greenwich, Mandi!), Sara, and Steve got to a whole suite of tasks. Several of us tackled their entire exterior fence, varnishing it into weather-proofed hardiness; a few more of us varnished and stained a bench and table; and a couple of us fixed up a new sign for the school. And all in an hour whilst soaking up the evening and each other's stories.

Let's not leave it 2 years until we're back.

Nice one.

19 awesome runners ran 5km to help at the Mefa Montessori!

It was celebrations twice over yesterday as the amazing Amy and Steve both hit their hundredth good deed!

Amy has been one of our longest standing members, doing good since March 2016! For those of you who don't know, she's also pretty quick.. She ran the London Marathon this year in a lightning fast 2:57! To have a marathon time that starts with a 2 is something that most people only dream about but she made it look effortless! Well done Amy, keep up the good deeding and fast running :):):)

Steve has been coming to GoodGym for 3 years and in that time has seen his running go from strength to strength, completing multiple marathons and earlier this year did 3 in 4 weeks... ouch! So many amazing achievements and never without a gigantic smile on his face! Keep up the great work Steve! Looking forward to your next running challenge :):):)

We did a quick little warm up and then headed off for our run to the Montessori! If you don't know what a Montessori is (I didn't before I started coming here with GoodGym!) it is a type of education method that centres very much around sensory learning and the Mefa Montessori specialises in teaching children and adults with autism. They have recently done up the back garden and turned it into a lovely forest school. On our previous visit we varnished the shed, but this time it was the fence's turn!

We split the group up, 8 people headed off to do the fence. Meanwhile we needed a tall person to help feed the grape vine through a trellis so Linda kindly volunteered hahahaha! Marta who by the way has recently gone through a whopping 200 good deeds(!!!!!),took a broom to sweep away the cobwebs from the windows. The rest of the crew headed out front to do some weeding between the paving slabs and clear the leaves!

After half an hour, we sadly ran out of varnish. That fence was just lapping it up. We just about finished it, with one small patch not quite done but it's where the shed lives anyway so not the end of the world! We gathered all the weeds, gave the place a sweep, put the plants back in their place and tidied the brushes and buckets away and we were done! After a quick photo we headed back to the uni the way we came, had a little stretch and then celebrated with loads of biscuits, pies, brownies and flapjacks! YUM!

Community mission at Charlton House

Here is the link to the Charlton House pop up kitchen event next Thursday. If you can spare an hour or 2 between midday and around 8pm then it would be hugely appreciated!!

Great job last night everyone! Fantastic running and lovely work at the task as well! See you next week where we will be back at St Lukes!

16 lovely runners ran 5km to help at the Mefa Montessori!

It was a wonderfully muggy evening over in Greenwich tonight, perfect for a summery GoodGym group run!

We had one new runner with us, welcome to Arjun, hope you enjoyed your first good deed!

The evening began as it always does, with a little intro followed by a warm up and then it was time to go!

Our journey took us through Greenwich Park, up the hill and through the Westcombe Park area until we arrived 15 minutes later at the Montessori!

We haven't been here for at least a year, so it was lovely to see Wendy greeting us with open arms! The place had undergone a huge makeover since last time we were there with the introduction of a new forestry school in the back yard which was amazing! They acquired the land and also received a grant from the council to create it and it's turned out fantastically.

The main jobs for us were cutting down some branches of next door's dead tree, varnishing the shed and putting up a trellis! So lots to be getting on with!

As soon as Wendy mentioned the word "drill" all the guys were on it! Going against all the GoodGym health and safety rules regarding power tools but I won't tell if you don't. I know you're a sensible bunch :) it took a bit of time to get the trellis level resulting in perhaps one unwanted hole in the wall but it all worked out perfectly in the end and Wendy was delighted with the result! Next time we can look forward to some Montessori wine now that the vines have someting to cling onto!

Meanwhile, the branches of the tree were coming down at a speedy rate and being cut up and packed up into bags. Also the shed was looking really rather shiny! After about half an hour, everything was done!! Excellent work!!

We took a quick pic and then set off on our run back to the uni.

Foot nerd alert

We didn't have much time left and I for one was quite tired so we finished off with a few balancing exercises instead of a regular fitness session. The aim of it was to bring some awareness back into our feet and try and strengthen those intrinsic muscles that don't get used very often. Our feet have 28 bones and 30 joints so they are meant to move A LOT, but sadly we lead lives that involve an increased amount of sitting and that coupled with modern footwear means they tend to get squished into high heels and narrow shoes and then lose a lot of their function which then translates into bad mechanics up the kinetic chain. EEEK!

So if you ever get sore knees or hips, or even lower back pain, it could be to do with weakened or immobile feet and ankles! Fix your foundations and the rest will fall into place. You wouldn't build a house on sand now would you?? :)

We did 2 simple exercises, one of which was a single leg balance but with eyes closed. As soon as you shut your eyes, your ankle and foot start twitching and gripping onto the floor which is a great one for awakening the muscles and strengthening the arch. The second one involved taking our socks off and doing some sock scrunches. Again this is super basic but really great to get the toes moving and the arch working. Your arch acts like a spring, so having a strong arch is basically free energy and will make you run faster. Yes you could go and buy a pair of Nike Next % shoes for £240 but that's cheating. This is way more cool.

So take care of your feet folks! The stronger they are, the happier your running will be and you will not need to wear insoles or "supportive shoes", your feet will be able to do the work instead!

Great work tonight everyone! Wendy was so pleased with everything you got done. The trellis and the branches in particular they would have found very difficult to do themselves so well done!! Hopefully see some of you at Greenwich Parkrun on Saturday, if not next Wednesday!

18 amazing runners ran 5k in the POURING RAIN to transform the gardens at the MEfA Montessori in Westcombe Park!

OH MA GADDD I can't believe how many of you turned up on such a wash out of an evening! You guys are hardcore!!! No newbies this evening but we did welcome back Elliot after a little break! Great to have you back! And the boys' housemate Matthew was also back for more after his first run with us last week. Well done getting that paint out of your hair!

Flagging already...

Fave thing this week was favourite FLAG. Yes, times are getting tough over in the favourite things department. From next week I'll be taking requests! And Alex in case you were wondering, the Djibouti flag looks like this.

We went round the corner to drop off our stuff, Vickie had a bit of an altercation with the security guy and her bike, classic Vickie.

We did a little warm up in the sheltered bit, trying to stay dry for as long as possible but everyone was fully ready to embrace the rain. Nina made an appearance just in time for a group photo and then we headed off!

The Montessori route involves a bit of elevation but nothing too scary. After 15 minutes we had arrived and were greeted by the SWEETEST lady I have EVER met, the super cute, super lovely.. WENDY :) We came to the Montessori a few times before in the summer but when the group was A LOT smaller so I wasn't sure if there would be enough for everyone to do but Wendy had a big list and we weren't even sure we were going to get it all done!

Things that needed doing included weeding the paving stones, clearing the trench area in the front garden, filling the trench with woodchip, cutting down the ivy in the back garden and clearing all the weeds from another area with steps in the back garden. So lots to do!

George got stuck in and started moving the big bags of wood chip from the back garden through to the front, and maybe got a little carried away as he was absolutely covered! Helen, Ben and Clare armed themselves with black sacks and got going with weeding the steps. Nina, Vickie, Alex, Elliot, Yaz and Amy M got started with the weeds on the paving slabs in the front garden while Christian and Matt tackled the trench. Which left the others to attack the HUGE bush of super stubborn ivy. Amy B queen of the loppers got straight in there, Steve too with his saw. Matthew, Laura and James were also part of team ivy and each began to hack away at it bit by bit.

Looking good

Twenty minutes down and things were looking AMAZING. A huge pile of bin bags was forming out the front and the garden was looking neater by the second. With 5 minutes to go, the only thing that was still causing issues was the pesky ivy!!! But these guys and girls were not going to leave that job unfinished, that ivy was going down, literally. Wendy didn't even care if half the fence went with it too! With 30 seconds left, they had done it! What an achievement!!!

Everyone peeled off their gloves, put the tools away and gathered around (in front of the Montessori sign of course) for a photo. We said our goodbyes to our favourite lady and Ben led us into the underpass...... ;)

It was STILL pouring at this point, my weather app was right when it said 95% chance of rain after 5pm but there was a nice little bit of shelter that Ben had found for us to do the fitness session! A little lower body circuit consisting of some fast foot taps on the step, some squats and side lunges. Amy B and Yaz had some lovely coordination going on with their lunges, but Nina felt like she couldn't do the exercises properly without her leg warmers and a leotard, she just about managed though. 2 rounds and then we headed back for a stretch! :)

Amazing job last night everyone! Thanks for coming out in the rain, I know it was miserable but it is quite liberating at the same time right?? Anyway, you got SO much done. That would have taken Wendy literally a whole day to do herself and you did it all in 30 minutes. She emailed me this morning and was so thankful so give yourselves a pat on the back! Good luck to those racing at the weekend and I shall see you next week!