This evening pre-Halloween we made our way to Herne Hill, where part of the group would be meeting the runners.

After dividing ourselves up into 3 teams we went down a number of streets flyering. We gave out the entire stack of GROAD flyers and for bonus points we did our GG flyers! 🙌

Nelly judged the many decorated houses and gave us her verdict! She was impressed (pic included).

We then wrapped up and headed back to the Old Spike for a stretch.

Last night, 12 Goodgymmers helped out at Galleywall Nature reserve. Lindy, Emma, Nelly, Nathan, Cecilia, Gemma, Alex, Mansur and Katy met me at Old Spike and we ran together. Then we were joined by Daryl and Andrada at Galleywall.

Alan from Galleywall had already prepared a list of tasks for us to do, so we quickly split off and got stuck in. Tasks involved: Digging up bramble roots, attaching other brambles to the fence, taking twigs and sticks out of compost bins, sawing firewood, and adding items to the habitat walls.

Three years, 2,432 GoodGym sessions (of which 150 were group runs) and just shy of 5,000 of good deeds completed by 592 GoodGymers, Sam's time as AA of GG Southwark had come to an end!

Sam opened up Old Spike Peckham for one last time and as he has always done welcomed in each and every runner that came through the door: Maria, Paulin, James, Steve, Nelly, Lindy, Emma, Daryl, Gemma, Rosemary, Rosalind, Nathan, Louise, Cecilia, Isaac, Anna, Katy, Benjamin, Jo, Fi, Andrada and Mansur as knew we would meet Daisy and Will.

Despite the occasion, he went through his usual speech and today's ice-breaker question, Sam asked everyone: "What their favourite Sam ice-breaker question was?"

With over 150 ice-breaker questions over the years, it was great to see that they all stuck in people's mind from all the social dates in the year to the awkward, but meaningful questions...

---

The One Where We Said Goodbye

After a quick warm-up in the the alleyway, which we all managed to fit in, Sam led the group out towards East Dulwich via Goose Green and in front of East Dulwich station before climbing Champion Hill to get to Albrighton Community Centre, where Elodie was waiting for us and had told us that Daisy and Will had arrived too. The run took us just over 10 minutes covering 1.7k.

After two Saturday morning sessions in the summer, it was great to be back at Albrighton Community Gardens to tackle the next part of the challenge - clear the ivy that was left. With 5 loppers and a couple of hand tools, the team knew what to do and like clockwork, they all started pulling at the ivy to start breaking it all up. Most needed the loppers and shears to cut through the tougher ivy branches. Whilst those who wanted to stay out of the ivy bushes chose to carry the cuttings from the ground to the compost area around the corner.

Sam took photos, videos and put on his favourite songs as he witnessed and watched everything unfold - the reason GoodGym exists as a concept. As we peeled back the layers of ivy, evidence of litter started to appear, so a small team started to pick up items as Elodie provided black bin bags.

Although, we had 45 minutes to clear as much as we could, we were done in 40 minutes. Leaving Elodie will a few bits to tidy up and a quick sweep too. The last thing we had to do, of course, was get in a couple of group photos to mark the end of an era.

Saying our goodbyes to Elodie, we ran back through a short cut down Ondine Road to make it back to the alleyway in less than 10 minutes and to cover 3k in total. Sam did his final stretch before the real farewell could begin at 80-20 Wines next door. A heartfelt speech from Emma and a wonderful gift from everyone made Sam feel so special and he wanted to convey that in his own speech and video to mark the end of the evening. Of course, it's not a complete evening, if we don't need up at the Nag's Head, which we did.

---

Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out on Wednesday night for my final group run as AA! The sheer number of you spoke volumes to me and the session couldn't have gone any better. It showed exactly why I joined and fell in love with the GoodGym concept and model. The fact you can bring a group of people together, mix in a short run and a volunteering activity to give back to society. By the end of the night, you feel a sense of accomplishment that you have done something for yourself and others. Elodie, the task owner, was taken aback at what we can do and I hope it can still keep on going as we adapt to a CLA model. Thank you to Anna and Emma for backmarking the runs.