The team's first GoodGym event of the summer saw a great-sized team assemble in the sun today to get involved with an active, outdoor task.

Today we were helping the Mint Street Music Festival distribute a lot of leaflets around the nearby residential areas.

Mint Street Music Festival CIC provides arts projects and free live music events in Southwark.

This year is the tenth anniversary of the festival, a day "filled with live music featuring an eclectic range of bands, dance performances, children’s entertainment, and food stalls."

Supported by Southwark Council's Cultural Events, the team behind this free festival were happy to have a hand dropping leaflets in preparation for Saturday's big event.

Meeting at the FGS base at 11am, we set out for a short run to nearby Tabard Gardens, before whizzing through a 15-minute, full-body workout.

It was a great effort, from the balance challenges to the seated abs moves, topped off with a few good stretches.

...And so to the task

Hannah, today's task owner, arrived with a big box of leaflets and an interesting history of the festival.

Then, dispersing into three groups, we headed out onto the surrounding streets.

Taking steps and stairs galore, we tried to distribute as many of these little leaflets as we could in a short space of time.

Venturing as far afield as we could, it was certainly a useful addition to the day's step count.

Arriving back at base at various times, we concluded it was a job well done, and a great way to spend a Thursday lunchtime.

After saying cheerio to Hannah, we sped back to base, finishing with 'the best calf stretch in the world'.

Well done, team. (And a big shout-out to Southwark Area Activator, Sam for sourcing and coordinating our task today),

Until next time.

Meeting by the FGS HQ entrance, we ran through a few stretches this morning, before heading out to today’s task.

Working with Lambeth-and-Southwark-based Get Rid of and Donate, today saw us sorting donated toys and books for local schools and families.

But first the run.

Matt was tasked with route navigation again, and he led a brilliant run (barely any traffic, and some picturesque streets and squares en route).

On arrival at our task location, we were welcomed into a warm hall…

Draper Hall, located in the heart of Elephant and Castle, was very kindly hosting this activity, with task owner Jayne setting up trestle tables with clear signage for ages vs donated items ahead of our arrival.

The task at first glance seemed enormous, but the team nonetheless wasted no time grabbing spreadsheets, bags, labels, and bundles of book-and-toy know-how, left by Andrea from Get Rid of and Donate.

Moving from bag to bag, table to table, working across six schools and multiple families, we assessed who would like what, from the colourful, fun and interesting range of items of available.

From Harry Potter to Pokemon rucksacks; WiiFits to My Little Pony, we aimed to combine lively reading material with fun and exciting toys.

The time sped by – a little bit too speedily. Two hours in, with 5 of the 6 schools completed, the team started to pack away remaining donated items, bin any rubbish, and stack everything neatly and carefully for Andrea to collect.

With the runners expertly led back to base by Matt, we concluded it had been a productive and interesting morning. Well done to the whole team (and a big thank you to Southwark Area Activator Sam for co-ordinating this task).

Until next time.