These January nights are getting easier! Despite the day's rain, we had a cool, clear evening in which to help our favourite local cinema charity and community hub, the Phoenix.

A whopping 7 Goodgymmers showed up tonight, but the Phoenix could only find a couple of hundred leaflets for us, so we immediately plotted a longer route. During our warm up, Jack gave us the question to chat about: favourite films. A good one! Rachel went with one of her favourite comedies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Paul chose Groundhog Day, so he'll be going back leafleting every day this week until he works out how to break the loop.

Then we set off with Lucinda and Subham backmarking. Around the corner and up a long road, we targeted houses we'd not leafleted for a while, to remind them, yes, cinema is great and they are in walking distance of a lovely venue. Jacqui snapped action shots of people hitting letterboxes. Down a really interesting cul-de-sac with retirement bungalows, George disturbed an old, lazy fox sleeping on a doormat.

We ran out of leaflets soon after, so Paul suggested we jog over to the corner of Highgate Wood and do sprints up the Capital Ring path. After two rounds of that we headed back, with a short detour via a famous musician's home (clue: we admired the wonderful walls). Subham's creative interpretation of backmarking put him in the lead, so we had another quick sprint to keep ahead of him then our warm down stretch outside the Phoenix.

We rounded off with a round of drinks and popcorn at the Phoenix, making judicious use of our 10% discount at the bar. No better way to spend a January evening!

GoodGym Barnet Starter Session & January Challenge Good Deed

A dull January day, but thankfully the rain mostly held off just the odd light mist to keep things atmospheric.

We gathered at Stephens House & Gardens, chatting and welcoming everyone along. Huge thanks to today’s heroes , and a big welcome to Joyceon her very first GoodGym run she did magnificently and fitted right in from the off.

We spent a bit of time talking about why Stephens House & Gardens is such a special place. As a charitable trust, it relies heavily on volunteers and community support, and it’s somewhere we help throughout the year with a wide range of tasks.

From there, we headed off to Long Lane Pastures, a local nature reserve we support occasionally. It’s a fantastic spot to explore, but the path alongside it was looking pretty tired, so out came the bags and litter-pickers. With limited time we didn’t quite finish the job definitely one to return to.

We then ran on to visit the Tiny Forest, giving our newer runners and walkers a flavour of the kinds of community projects we support on GoodGym runs.

After the session, some of us rounded things off with well-earned snacks and drinks at the Stables Café back at Stephens House & Gardens a perfect way to end the morning.

Another great example of getting active, doing good, and enjoying each other’s company. Well done everyone

The Edgy Collective reached out for help stewarding their wassail and procession and three Goodgymmers stepped up, 'apple' to help. The wassail started at Castlehaven Community Association with a gathering of organisers, locals and an amazing side of Morris dancers, the New Esperance Morris. After some hot mulled apple juice, and some lovely vegan gingerbread biscuits baked by Daniella, our host, we moved to the nearby mulberry tree to start the procession.

The tree was hung with cider-soaked toast and ribbons representing the community's messages of hope. We banged pots, ululated and hollered to banish evil spirits, wake the trees and summon forth fruit and good health for the year. Then we set off to the centre of Camden High Street, where the Council has created an experimental, car-free zone. The Edgy Collective's lovely installation, subSTRATUM, sits in the middle of the street outside Box Park, with metal planters full of shrubs and flowers, benches and a stage area for community events.

The Morris dancers then got dancer, with a piper and violinist and a giant pigeon! Camden's high street was FULL, like, FULL, and everyone seemed to be utterly amazed by the joyous, wholesome and weird sight. There were quite a few pigeon selfies too. It was Cherian's first ever experience of this unique tradition and, well, she was speechless! Ariane has been to quite a few, and merrily sang along with the wassail songs.

After the festivities were done, we processed back to Castlehaven, drank more apple juice and mulled cider, cheered and departed. Ariane went off to Regents Park for a run, Cherian went home and I stuck around to help pack down. All round, a wonderful community event, with wonderful people. Wassail!

Three of us gathered for a session, this time mostly on top ropes. Beattie has climbed a lot in the past, but not for a while. It was Theodore's first time climbing in the UK and second climb ever. So we had a gentle go on the ropes, followed by a bit of bouldering.

A helpful receptionist told me I can bring five free first timers every month because I'm a member, which is great!