We've gardened in freezing rain, scraped graffiti in sub zero temps, even pulled weeds with the threat of snow - and finally, the evening came. An indoor task! Perfect timing as well, as it was pretty nippy out there last night.

Our job for the evening was to address and stuff envelopes for a charity called Sparkle which runs an intergenerational centre. It brings together elderly people who might be facing loneliness with young ones who can benefit from their experience. A brilliant idea! They just need some help spreading the word about their amazing offering.

So we met at St Michael's church, where some of the activities including gentle exercise, arts and singing are held. It may have been a toasty inside task, but it was no less of a challenge as we found we had no fewer than 1700 envelopes to fill!

Wasting no time we formed an efficient production line, some of us writing, some stuffing and some sealing. While we worked the conversation was certainly wide ranging, from the merits of singing butlers to the best parkrun breakfasts, the joy of sleeper trains and what exactly is meant by 'vibe merchants'.

No wonder then that some of us may have got a little distracted and 'Dear Neighbour' became 'Dear Envelope'! Mentioning no names but a certain glossy beard might be a good disguise?

After a good solid session working away, we had a final count and managed a grand total of over 1000 envelopes - amazing! Next week we'll take on the job of delivering them - hope to see as many of you as possible there to get the word out far and wide!

We had got so used to the comfy warm room that our planned session on agility and balance morphed into a cosy strength and conditioning session. But that didn't mean that there was less, ahem, vocal feedback. Still, hopefully Pritesh didn't pull every single muscle in his body and Steph's hip flexors survived the journey home!

Great work everybody. Join us next week for the second part of the task or check out this week's community missions.

The Katherine Low Settlement in Battersea is an amazing hub for all sorts of charities. They support refugees with various programs, have clubs for the elderly, provide food for vulnerable groups and loads of resources for kids. They also have a garden which has been neglected over winter, and needed a bit of extra love. Which is where we came in!

A big welcome to Holly who joined for the very first GoodGym session, great to have you with us Holly!

We met at a very chilly BAC and got straight into getting those frozen muscles with lot of dynamic movements up the hill. We finished off the warm up with a quick Valentine's Day related quiz question with a bit of a dark edge to it before setting off.

After a brisk run down to the centre we were shown the garden and given a list of jobs which included deadheading, sweeping, clearing and weeding. There was also a job inside for the lucky few tidying up a games cupboard and sweeping.

Before long we were a buzz of activity and within 25 minutes of hard work the garden was looking so much tidier and more welcome for the service users. The games cupboard was immaculate and ready for use by the kids club, and the floors were spotless thanks to Jo and her giant brush.

After a few minutes thawing out in the warm we headed back out to face the night and do a fitness session based on lower body muscle groups. Every 30 seconds saw us change up the exercise, from curtesy, plié, oblique crunch and static squats, to lunges, jumps, single leg holds and pulses. Phew!

Next week we have an indoor task writing envelopes for an intergenerational charity - sign up here

Great work everybody, thanks for all your efforts on a pretty cold night!

Tonight at Wandsworth we celebrated the start of February and discussed what we were looking forward to for the month ahead! A common theme was the lighter evenings to come but we did get a shout out for more Goodgymming and some must have been hit by Cupid’s arrow with a special mention for Valentine’s Day! We realised that Pancake day isn’t until March this year sadly but I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

We had a brilliant group to set off to Doddington estate and loved welcoming some new faces to Wandsworth (Caroline and Mike)! We wish them all the best over in Merton on Mondays to come. We had to pivot slightly to a plan B at the task but set out enthusiastically litter picking to brighten up the local area. We filled quite a few bags and even had time for a good fitness session covering a whole range of exercises from squats to skaters before heading off to our monthly social. Well done Wandsworth, those brighter evenings are coming!

It was a double header of a Monday group session last night - just the thing to ward off any lingering January vibes!

We also got to welcome Andy to his first run - great to have you join us. To put us in the right frame of mind to kick off the evening, we did a dynamic warm up and then each shared one thing that cheers us up. Running came up top, as did going to the garden centre, playing with the dogs, and coming to GoodGym. What a wholesome bunch we are!

We set off in the drizzle, weaving our way round the Clapham commuters, and eventually arriving at Age UK Wandsworth for our first task of the evening. With Sophie leading the group, the first job was to drop off old magazines so the service users can repurpose them into art projects. Kudos to Steph for her very classy choice of reading material!

While the team got on with planting bulbs in the raised beds with old spoons as their tool of choice for the evening, as well as clearing leaves in the car park, the rest of us ran down to Bramford Garden. Our job was to help Shah, the community gardener, get rid of a massive piece of graffiti that appeared recently. Shah has been working on it singlehandedly for a while, but the sheer scale of it was too big for one person so she called in reinforcements.

We each grabbed a wire brush and gloves, and got stuck in. It was hard going but satisfying work. Certain colours were strangely harder to remove than others, but with some serious elbow grease we slowly got there -with Pritesh even making sparks fly!

With not one but two tasks successfully completed and the rain threatening to come down even harder, we hit the road. But don't worry, there is plenty more GGing to look forward to! There is this task tonight helping out an environmental clothes store packing up their sale - and it's a nice toasty inside job! Or why not help Jason and his team build tree protectors - the perfect way to kick off the weekend.

Last night was testament to the amazing things a group of us working together can do in just a short amount of time - and the level of happy chaos it can also create!

We had the pleasure of a new task yesterday. The Positive Network believes in fostering unity, empowerment and resilience predominately within the Black community across generations. They put on various programs and initiatives, celebrate cultural heritage and create a supportive network. They also believe in the power of community and collaboration to drive positive change - something we can definitely agree on here at GoodGym!

They have a centre in Balham which is used by its members. With so much going on there it is little surprise that its small store room had got to bursting at the seams with food, paperwork and other resources. It had become a bit of an issue for Grace, who runs the centre, and she asked us to come and give it a good sort out. There was also the question of a set of shelves to be built...

We quickly organised ourselves into a human chain. Out came dozens of water bottles, files of paper, more toilet rolls than we could count, a piano, a kettle, even a eyesight chart. It was like our very own generation game. All that was missing was the cuddly toy!

Meanwhile the shelves were being assembled by a group of allen key heroes. They made impressive headway in a short amount of time, only to meet with some resistance right at the last step. Nevertheless they persevered and right at the last minute they could be moved back into the office. Only to find, after all that work that the door didn't close properly with them in it! Disaster. Still, with some very impressive tetris style manoeuvring the problem was solved and we could call it a job well done.

Two groups set off for the pub in stages (thanks for expertly guiding everybody back Pritesh and to Katie for leading stretches!) and an evening of board games. With an epic game of Traitors we learned even more about each other, trust and treachery...!

Next week we're back to Age UK and there is also this great mission on Wimbledon common on Sunday - hope to see you there!

This weekend, The Wood got a much-needed trim, and we weren’t afraid to get down to the root of the issue! Armed with gloves, clippers, and the mighty slasher, 4 determined GoodGymers, members of the Friends of Unigate Wood, and Doug the Pug tackled the tangle of brambles and overgrowth that had taken over. It was a prickly situation, but we rose to the occasion, hacking away at the thorns that had overstayed their welcome. With every snip, slash, and pull, we were determined to bring out the hidden beauty of The Wood and make it a more inviting space for everyone.

Of course, no great adventure is complete without a break! Midway through the day, we gathered for some well-deserved coffee and biscuits, taking a moment to chat and share a few laughs. It was the perfect recharge before diving back into our bramble battle. By the end of our day, The Wood was looking sharper, and our team was all smiles. But we did lose one slasher along the way. Who knew clearing overgrowth with a slasher could be such a “vine” experience? It just goes to show, when it comes to community spirit, we’re all about plant-ing seeds for a greener future!