Our GoodGym Camden group are experts at running without colliding into passersby.

The employ several effective techniques.

Which include the swivel, the hop-and-side-step, and the zigzag.

I've seen our runners employ each of these techniques to great success on our weekly group runs through bustling Camden.

As one local journalist described our runners: as deft as a gentle spring breeze - they make urban running look relaxing*

But!

Our wonderful group (of Emilie, Jackie, John, Rose, Steve, and Will) didn't need to employ their anti-collision techniques this week.

Meeting in the calm of Regent's Park, we started our evening with a calm and quiet run around the park's outer circle and up through quieter streets to West Hampstead.

Having reached a healthy 5K and shared stories with each other, we arrived at the Sherriff Centre and were met by the brilliant Daisy and Gosia :)

Across the next 30 minutes, we donned gloves and grabbed litter pickers, and we cleared bag-upon-bag of strewn trash and litter - the perimeter (and trees..!) of the centre are a magnet for this, but we finished leaving it clear and tidy!

Thank you so much, everyone, for your time and work - I know just how much of a difference this makes to the Sherriff Centre's team!!

Here's to next time!!

*I might be lying

Food was dropped off at various locations for the benefit of food banks.

Gosia helped with sorting the donations for Borough Food Cooperative. Had some second thoughts 💭 as the weather was just awful in the morning, with a heavy rain 🌧 and strong wind 🌬. I ended up arriving at 10:30 soaked with hair all over the place 🧹🧙‍♀️.

Almost right away the delivery truck 🚚 arrived so I made a break and helped with unloading it. Once all have been moved to the main hall, the tasks I tackled this time were as follows:

• - assembling and labelling assorted packages of bread 🍞 - delivery was very large and I spent almost an hour on this task;
• - assembling and labelling assorted packages of rolls and pastries 🥐 - just few packages here;
• - checking and sorting fruit supplies 🍌🍍 - a quick review of crates with pineapples and bananas and preparing them to go on the shelves;
• - sorting a mix of food on the racks 🍟🥣 - all to keep the products nice and tidy ready for the shoppers tomorrow.

There were just two volunteers today but we maange to tackle the entire delivery. Although I was in doubt in the morning I ended up being very pleased that I decided to be here today!

Happy New Year 🎉

The 1st junior park run of 2025 was either going to be a white one or wet one, while most of the country was covered in Snow Woking was very wet 🌧️ the only sign of snow was a little snowman sitting all alone on a bench ⛄️

Their was a course check early this morning as their were some big puddles around the 2k course the run went ahead 🏃🏻‍♂️

We had plenty of volunteers this morning making sure the young runners were safe while running around.

This morning the Woking GG team welcomed Gosia who is GG member from Camden along with her partner who are in Woking for the next few weeks 😀 Gosia had her tambourine and was shaking away with words of encouragement as the runners went by, Gosia has also signed up to a few more up & coming tasks 👍🏾

Nadia came well prepared with her Brolly which took a battering in the wind 💨. Nadia has been very active over the festive period doing various park runs. Nadia has set herself a goal for 2025 doing a 5k in 25mins we are sure she will achieve this 🤞🏽

Adam was also back from his Xmas travels, and is looking forward to kick start his running in 2025 after a few recent injuries 😀

James continues with his recovery but also has some training sessions planned for speed and endurance. 🏃‍♂️💨

Wayne was also back for his first task of 2025 and continues with his training for the Dubai 1/2 Marathon 🇦🇪 as well as some Brutal Runs 😤

This morning 80 runners took part in the wet conditions with the fastest time being 07:35 with 6PB's great running by everyone

So far we have a nice variety of tasks in January & we also have the Surrey 1/2 Marathon coming up in March to either run or volunteer, keep a look out on the GG Page.

This coming Wednesday we are meeting at the leisure center where we will head off to deliver GG leaflets that Anne had updated with an email address 😀

Gosia visited Ms F in the afternoon today to sort out her weekly shopping 🛒.

I arrived few minutes before 4 pm, Ms F's cleaning lady - A opened the door to let me in as Ms F was in the bathroom 🛁 at the time. A couple of minutes after, Ms F welcomed me warmly, apologised and disappeared for few more minutes to handle some important calls ☎️ she needed to make.

As usual, she went through an entire shopping list 📝with me (with very precise instructions and also pics to make sure I will take right products). At the same time I also learned a bit more about her accident 🚑 as she recently fell and broke her wrist. She is recovering but the injury is still very painful.

I diligently gathered the shopping in the trolley, incl. 6-pack of Buxton water 💧 and Charlie Bingham's Chicken Korma 🍗 meal both waiting to be picked up at the Customer Service desk (Ms F called the shop ahead to make sure they are available for her).

I was back at Ms F's door after around 40 mins.

All products were present except of Clipper's Breakfast Tea ☕️ which was not available (tried to call Ms F few times to let her know earlier but she couldn't pick up at the time). She explained that she can comfortably manage without the new tea box until the next shopping round.

There was also an issue with a package of poached salmon 🍣 (I have purchased two instead of one). I have taken the extra salmon back to Waitrose to get a full refund (£6.95) which I brought back to Ms F.

As there were few manouveres with the shopping, at the very end we went together through the entire receipt and also the change left from the shopping. Everything turned out to be correct and I made sure that Ms F is comfortable with everything that was purchased, paid for and returned 🙂.

An entire mission took a bit more than 90 mins. Ms F was grateful for the shopping and maybe also a bit anxious overall (she mentioned earlier social service call that she wasn't happy about). She said she hoped that I am not upset with her and asked to promise I will come back 😉.

Andy and Gosia visited Mrs B apartament in Camden to help prepare two old sofas 🛋🛋 for a rubbish collection. Two new ones are planned to be delivered in the next couple of days.

We arrived just before 2 pm 👌 and used the buzzer to enter the property. Mrs B's son welcomed us at the door. He showed us sofas (both placed in the living room) and also pointed a place where these should be discarded 🗑.

Sofa nr 1 (brown) was party dismantled - only top part - which became our starting point 🏇. We took it down using the stairs (4 flights of stairs 🏔 to be precise) and quickly learned that it won't be an easy task if we need to carry something bigger 😆.

When we came back upstairs, we decided to continue with the rest of Sofa nr 1 but we got stuck in the door between the living room and the corridor (classic! 🤷‍♀️). We gave it few tries but realised that it needs to be dismantled to let us succeed. Luckily we had a basic set of tools with us 👷‍♀️ (learned from experience 🤓) and found right screwdrivers 🪛 to handle the screws. It helped us to detach one side of the sofa and allowed us to fit through all doors up to the collection point.

Pretty sweaty 🥵 but proud 😊 - we came back upstairs to tackle Sofa nr 2 (grey). We didn't think twice and also used the screwdriver to detach the legs 🍗 as these could risk us getting stuck again. Luckily the screws 🔩🔩 were very friendly to take out. After this operation, we took down the most tricky sofa part of the day (it was wide and sometimes also folded). Andy was counting on increased heart rate ❤️ so there you go 😆.

We came back for few bits and pieces that we left as a result of dismantling (but really this was just a piece of cake 🎂). Mrs B's son thanked us for the help for his parents and we left wishing him a great day ☀️.