7km!! of Leafleting Long Roads & Loads of Good: Supporting Citizens Advice Barnet

It was a cool, crisp evening in East Finchley perfect weather for a purposeful GoodGym group run. This week we teamed up with Citizens Advice Barnet, a charity doing vital, often unseen work supporting people across our borough. Many don’t realise that our local CAB is a standalone fundraising charity, completely reliant on grants and donations to keep offering free advice on debt, housing, benefits, employment issues and more. When people hit crisis, CAB is often the first and only safety net so helping them reach more residents felt especially worthwhile.

We met in the foyer of the Phoenix Cinema, where Louise from CAB (and keen runner!) joined us with a quick intro and a giant stack of freshly printed flyers — 1,000 of them to be exact. Our mission: get as many as possible through local letterboxes to spread the word about their current appeal, which also has a match-funding sponsor doubling any donations. If you’ve got a spare few pennies, this is the moment they go twice as far.

Before setting off, we shared the meanings behind our names from Georges to Louises to those of us named after 60s bands which set a relaxed and cheerful tone for the evening. It was also great to welcome Sonya ( meaning wisdom) , joining us for the first time in awhile!

Beattie took back-marking duties as we warmed up with a gentle jog through the cool East Finchley streets, looping past the station and into the long, straight roads around Brim Hill prime leaflet territory with plenty of front gardens, long driveways, and a fair few tempting glimpses into cosy houses on a November night.

We split into two teams of three and got to work. There’s something uniquely satisfying about a leafleting mission: a rhythm develops, steps rack up fast, you admire (or survive!) people’s front paths, and you always spot an impressive number of parcels on doorsteps.

Despite our best efforts, 1,000 leaflets was a tall order but we managed around 450, which was an excellent push for one evening. We’ll look to return for a follow-up mission to complete the rest.

A big thank you to everyone who came, to Sonia for joining us, and to Louise for bringing the materials and the motivation. Great cause, great company, and a great night.

It was a real pleasure to complete my first ever volunteering stint at Lewes parkrun. The morning arrived foggy and cool, with the sun making a few brave attempts to break through the mist — but never quite managing it.

I joined the volunteer team at 8:30am, ready for the 9am start, and was genuinely astonished by how many people turn out to support this event. My previous volunteering has mostly been in North London, so it was lovely to see such a strong, enthusiastic team here in Sussex.

I ended up chatting with Richard, a keen runner all his life who now volunteers regularly to give something back to the parkrun community. We were paired up as marshals, stationed to guide runners around the cones — a surprisingly hard job, but someone’s got to do it! We took our role seriously, encouraged the runners, and enjoyed being part of a wonderfully friendly and committed group.

A great start to helping out at Lewes — and hopefully the first of many.

Ever responsive and happy to help, we were asked by Martin Primary to run over and mulch a new path double time, as the school's winter fair is fast approaching. Although we're booked up solidly, we had a short notice cancellation that freed us up for some emergency TLC in the forest school.

Five of us set off promptly after our usual warm up by the side of the Phoenix. Given the holiday season's fast approach, we shared our favourite seasonal films - from Die Hard to Bad Santa, the classic It's a Wonderful Life and The Grinch that Stole Christmas, to some decidedly offbeat Russian film Beattie couldn't remember the name of (but post in the chat if you do). Great to see Gus joining us, looking eager for the exercise and a chance to sniff out foxes.

Then to the pathing - and boy, what a path! At least 50m of it (not that I measured) needed mulching, all along the side of their courts. We rocked up in short time - so early, John the groundskeeper wasn't even ready for us - and rolled up our metaphorical sleeves because it was pretty cold. John went looking for some extra hands to help us, but the school is so busy with music and yoga classes, no one emerged.

With two wheelie bins and two wheelbarrows, we had plenty of ferrying, shovelling and raking to do. Subham, Beattie and Paul shovelled and barrowed with the rest of us taking shifts, while Lucy and George mostly focused on raking. We started at the far end and slowly spread the mulch back toward the gate into the orchard, without thinking how far we'd get. We fillled a couple of deep holes with mulch as well, working by torchlight along the court's fence.

At ten to 8 we looked up and saw the gate in sight. Seeing we'd nearly reached the goal, we went for it, full speed (well, full care as well!) mulching, tipping and raking until, boom, almost bang on 8pm, we were done!

After a good cheer and a bit of a rest on the mulch pile, plus a thank you from John, that was it, and we jogged back up the High Road to the cinema for a warm down. A really satisfying session!

We're out every Tuesday until 16 December, so why not join us? Also, keep an eye out for our winter social on Tuesday 2 December. We'll be leafleting for the Citizens Advice Barnet, then gathering for food and a drink after.

A few members came online to do Goodgym Yoga.

Yoga talk

Yoga, through relaxation techniques, deep breathing (pranayama), and meditation, reduces sympathetic nervous system activity. This shift towards parasympathetic dominance (rest and digest state) lowers heart rate and blood pressure by promoting relaxation and vasodilation.

Second Mission of the Day – Supporting an Elderly Couple in Totteridge

After our morning in Colindale, George and I headed to our second mission, helping an elderly couple who had been feeling overwhelmed by the effort of clearing their home and garden shed.

We’ve visited a few times before, and this session was all about finishing touches. We met Mr J, who showed us through to the garden, where we repacked the shed, sorted through items no longer needed, and moved everything to the front garden ready for collection. We also swept the front steps clear of leaves and gave the space a much-needed tidy.

Before leaving, Mr J mentioned that his back gate wasn’t closing properly, so I took the screws out, reset the bolts, and got it working again. With everything sorted and the sun beginning to set, we wrapped up for the day another satisfying mission completed.

Cultivating Colindale – Community Mission Report

George and I teamed up with four keen asylum seekers from their accommodation for a morning at the Cultivate Colindale garden project. Anna welcomed us and showed us the impressive progress they’ve made transforming a once-derelict patch of land into a thriving community space.

Our jobs were to plant bulbs, sow wildflower meadow seeds and pull up some old dried weeds. The asylum seekers threw themselves into the work with real enthusiasm, making a big difference in a short time and helping the project take another step forward.

After wrapping up, George and I headed off separately—me by bike, George by public transport—for our second community mission of the day in Totteridge, supporting an elderly couple at home.

A great morning of teamwork and community spirit.