It was certainly nippy last night, but that did not stop a group of buds coming together to, er, nip some leaves in the bud...

We kicked off the first Monday group run of 2025 with lots of cheers, some bad puns, talking about our favourite cheeses, and by welcoming Helen to her very first session - great to have you join us!

Feelin' gouda

We did a much needed warm up whilst discussing all the future plans that January holds - like this excellent new mission gardening at St Barnabus Church this Saturday and another the following weekend clearing paths at Unigate common.

The Age UK Wandsworth day centre is also looking for old magazines to use for an art project for their older service users. If you have any that you'd like to donate then you can drop them off at the Gwyneth Morgan day centre on East Hill for the attention of Frank, or let me know and I'll sort something out.

Just before setting off we each chose our fave cheese. There was blue (clearly influenced by the sub zero temperatures!), brie, gorgonzola and Wensleydale (which was accompanied by a very interesting Wallace & Gromit fact!)

Brie the best you can be!

It was a short run down to the garden and we wasted no time with cracker-ing on with jobs. There were plenty of brown leaves to be picked to fill the raised beds, compost to be shifted, naked trees to clothe and dead branches to transport. There was an interesting disparity in the size of tools on offer, from massive spades to a teeny tiny fork.

Still, it didn't hold us back and it's always amazing to see just how much can be done in a short amount of time. This is our traditional first task of the year, and it's been a joy to see how the community garden has evolved over the years.

It doesn't get cheddar than this

Job done, and with very little feeling left in any of our extremities we made our way down to the square for some EMOM based fun. With five rounds of exercises completed against the clock, we soon warmed up! Great to see you all work so hard and don't forget that if you have any goals this new year I can help with then don't hesitate to let me know.

Most of the team headed off for the monthly pub quiz social which came down to a nail biting finish. There is another one planned with games towards the end of the month, so watch this space!

Great to see you all for a fantastic start to the year. Don't forget you have three more days to make your GoodGym good deed pledge for January - it's a great way to aim for a target and stick with it.

Looking forward to seeing you all at another session that is guaranteed to beat the January blues soon!

Not even the sub zero temperatures could hold make a group of GoodGymers from meeting up to kick off 2025 in true GG style!

It had been a while since we'd been to the garden, so we were pleased to see we had a few bits and pieces to harvest. These included some healthy kale, a few bits of broccoli and some decidedly micro carrots and leeks! Still, small can be mighty.

We also cleared leaves and weeded, and celebrated kicking of the January challenge with hot drinks across the road. We warmed up with some cake and chats, including what you have to do to get into the royal garden party, notorious rugby team escapades and, of course, our January pledges - have you made yours yet?!

A great way to start the new year - well done everybody!

Finally December is here, which means that we can start talking all things festive! These included

• reminding everybody of our Christmas social on the 12th December - no task, no run, just all the festive fun!

• discussing which was our favourite carols during our warm up - all the classics got a mention with some lovely vocals from Isabel

• and our first gift of December was to be able to welcome Ellen to her very first session at GoodGym - great to have you join us!

After a steady run down to the garden for our monthly task at Doddington, we were tasked with clearing all the leaves to create a mulch bed where flowers will be grown. So without waiting to get cold, we grabbed brooms, brushes and trugs and started collecting all the fallen leaves we could lay our bemittened hands on.

There were plenty of other jobs to be done, including compost turning, jasmine taming and cardboard laying. The range of conversations going on round the garden was testament to what an interesting group of people GoodGymers are! There was chat about ancient burial techniques in Greece, how to make Christmas wreathes and we also talked about Dylan's amazing recent achievement of completing the parkrun alphabet!

Before long the garden was looking practically leafless so we moved downstairs to do a leg strength and conditioning workout which saw us challenge those hamstrings, glutes and calves through various exercises. If that wasn't enough we finished with the minute squat challenge - brilliant efforts everyone.

With a quick run to the pub the group saw off the evening with the monthly quiz and a strong result for team GoodGym!

Don't forget there is a lovely mission this Saturday helping to clear paths at a nature reserve - a great way to kick off the weekend!

It takes a special kind of people to make it out in the freezing rain on a dark Monday night to rake leaves and chop wood. Luckily GGers are made of tough stuff, and a group of 14 of the toughest were not put off by the conditions last night.

Special kudos goes to Stephen and to Veronica who came along to their first GoodGym session - give them a huge welcome! We also cheered Paul and Dylan for smashing the Fulham 10km this weekend. Amazing stuff.

We kicked off with a much needed warm up, discussing the upcoming missions such as this amazing one to sort donated coats for Wrap Up London on Thursday in Morden. There is also a great session helping make the nature reserve in Streatham more accessible on Saturday. Lots of fun stuff to choose from! We also debated the most important issue of the hour - what is the best condiment. It turns about we are passionate about our favourites, from mayonnaises including truffle and garlic, various mustards, olive oil and BBQ - and in a shock twist no one went for ketchup!

There was no time to waste before setting off in the increasingly heavy rain for Paradise community garden. Through the puddles we splashed, arriving not long after to meet even more GGers.

We divided up into two teams; one to take on the challenge of clearing the leaves that were clogging the pathways and transport them to be turned into mulch, the other to chop the wood into manageable sizes.

The leafers got busy, fueled by Steve and Dylan's kind contribution of sweeties, while the axers were contemplating the best method of effectively breaking down the wood. Ali and Pritesh copied what they'd seen in the films to great success, while Beth guided using her recent impressive axe throwing prowess!

It soon got too damp to continue, but we'd made a big dent in the jobs, so all that was left to do was vote on fitness (no surprise on which way it went) and then head off back into the night for warm cups of tea and hot showers.

Well done everybody! Next week you'll be in the super capable hands of our newest run leader Catherine, who will be taking you to help out at Waste Not Want Not for a warm inside task!