Tooting Newsie Weekly Newsletter
Local tours and walks, Tooting parkrun celebrate their 10th birthday, local causes and community groups, new openings, a Tooting crater on Mars, and lots more...
Local historian Geoff Simmons has some fantastic local walks and events coming up, featuring Tooting Bingo Hall, food heritage tours for Tooting Food Festival, and many more!
For a full list of events and to book, visit Geoff’s Eventbrite page.
It’s Tooting Common parkrun’s 10th birthday this Saturday! The free, weekly 5k community run (or you can walk or jog) around Tooting Common takes place every Saturday at 9am and is open to all!
They’re on the lookout for volunteers this Saturday 31st January, so if you can help then please email tootingcommon@parkrun.com – or visit their website to find out more about running or volunteering!
Over 50 local artists are part of Sprout Community Arts’s We ❤️ Wandsworth exhibition in Furzedown, which opened with a fantastic ‘Meet the Artist’ event on Tuesday 27th January.
The show brings together artists’ portrayals of local places and everyday moments, exploring community and culture, nature and the environment, and personal experiences connected to Wandsworth.
There will also be free artist-led workshops during the exhibition, which is open every day, 11am-5pm, until Saturday 7th February.
The exhibition is part of the We Art Wandsworth visual arts programme for Welcome to Wandsworth London Borough of Culture 2025 – celebrating the creative energy of Wandsworth’s neighbourhoods with a series of exhibitions and public showcases across Wandsworth, including Battersea Arts Centre, Putney School of Art and Design, and many other community venues between January and March.
More info via sproutarts.com and weartwandsworth.co.uk
📍 Sprout Arts, 74 Moyser Road, SW16 6SQ
The next Mega Skip Day takes place from 9am this Saturday 31st January, in seven locations around Wandsworth, including Tooting.
Mega Skip Days are an opportunity for people to dispose of bulky items for free. Large skips are placed in neighbourhoods around the borough for all local residents to use.
The skips are open to residents of the London Borough of Wandsworth only. Proof of address may be required on the day.
The skips will be in the following places:
• Church Lane car park, SW17 9PP
• Pountney Road, SW11 5TU
• Malva Close, SW18 5TY
• Larch Close, SW12 2JU
• Putney Park Lane, SW15 5HU
• McDermott Close, SW11 2LY
• Danebury Avenue, SW15 4DU
More info, including details of what you can bring and when the skips will be open, via Wandsworth Council.
💦 Children’s Swim and Women’s Only Swim sessions at Burntwood Swimming Pool in Tooting, organised by Enable Leisure! 💦
Sessions are affordable, accessible, and designed to help everyone feel confident in the water:
🏊 Children’s Swim Programme – affordable swimming lessons for children aged 5–15
• Days: Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Cost: £85 per term
• Discounted sessions through Wandsworth Access for All Scheme
📧 To find out more or to register, email activecommunities@enablelc.org
🏊 Women’s Only Swim Session – Inclusive and welcoming swimming sessions designed exclusively for women
• Days: Tuesdays and Thursday Evenings
• Cost: £85 per term
• Discounted sessions through Wandsworth Access for All Scheme
📧 To find out more or to register, email activecommunities@enablelc.org
📍 Burntwood School, Burntwood Lane, SW17 0AQ
The Tooting Broadway flower stall is back open! Pop by to see Danny and Chris 7am-6.30pm, Thursday to Sunday. 🌷💐🌹
Tooting-based property advisor Homes with Chuk continues his ‘Meet The Neighbours’ series – this time with Rivers of Blueprint Baristas!
“Tooting is absolutely blessed with fantastic coffee shops — each with its own identity — and Blueprint is right up there with the very best. With locations at 162a Mitcham Road (Tooting Broadway) and 60 Franciscan Road (by Tooting Bec Common), it’s become a firm favourite for many locals.
“I sat down with Rivers, (owner) for a chat about his love for the Tooting community, his brilliant team, and how Blueprint came to be. Spoiler alert… he started in the coffee game very young! Watch the full video via my Instagram.
Chuk will be sharing ‘Meet The Neighbours’ every week in January – watch this space!
Need some property advice? Email Chuk at hello@homeswithchuk.co.uk, call 07940 546 190, or pop into Tooting Works at 89 Bickersteth Road and ask for him at reception!
@square_haus_media (Instagram)
No joining fee at Energie Fitness Tooting until 31st January 2026 (see below) – with some great deals on gym, classes, and Personal Training packages for 2026!
⚡Their Classic Membership, giving you unlimited gym access, is only £39.99 per month!
⚡Their WOW membership gets you unlimited class bookings from Pilates to calisthenics, yoga to strength and conditioning (and much much more), plus unlimited gym access, 2x guest passes a month, and multigym access (meaning you can attend other Energie Fitness gyms) – all for just £43.99 a month!
⚡And their EPIC membership gets you unlimited gym access, unlimited class bookings, 2x Personal Training sessions a month, 2x guest passes a month, AND multigym access!
Locally owned in Springfield Village in Tooting, Energie Fitness has top of the range equipment, fully trained staff and a fantastic team of instructors delivering incredible classes!
📍 15 Seacole Walk, SW17 0ZH. To sign up with no joining fee (usually £20), visit their website and purchase by 11.59pm on Saturday 31st January 2026!
DONATIONS NEEDED! Royal Trinity Hospice, who have a charity shop in Tooting (and over twenty others around London), are asking locals to donate clothes, books, accessories and more!
Drop your donations into one of their shops, or you can book a free home collection if you have lots of bags. More info (including how to book a collection) via their website.
Royal Trinity Hospice’s Tooting charity shop is located at 17a Mitcham Road, SW17 9PA
Award-winning South London food charity Be Enriched (who run a Community Canteen in Tooting) has been using food to bring people together, reduce waste and tackle social isolation for people facing socio-economic inequality for over a decade.
In 2024, they worked with more than 1,200 volunteers to run Community Canteens in Tooting, Clapham and Elephant & Castle, turning surplus food into nutritious three-course meals, offering spaces of connection to those who need it most.
Volunteers also help operate a double-decker Food Bus and a Food Float, bringing affordable, fresh and culturally appropriate groceries directly to housing estates, schools and hospitals. Alongside this, Be Enriched delivers cooking clubs and school-holiday food provision so children who rely on free school meals stay fed, active and supported outside of term time.
They’re currently fundraising to ensure those who need it most can access healthy, nutritious food this Winter via their Canteens and Food Bus Project. To donate, please visit their Crowdfunder.
If you’d like to volunteer Be Enriched, you can find out more via their website.
Tooting’s Lahore Karahi have extended their 20% OFF all collection orders offer until the end of February, when you order direct via their website. Discount applied automatically at checkout.
Located on Tooting High Street since 1995, the restaurant has also has a recent facelift, enhancing the warm and cosy atmosphere, both in the main dining space and the private dining area upstairs — perfect for relaxed meals, celebrations, and family gatherings.
You’ll find Lahore Karahi located at 1 Tooting High Street, SW17 0SN.
Open 7 days a week | 10am–midnight
Book a table or order online at lahorekarahi.co.uk
Calling local residents who remember Balham and Tooting in the early 1970s!
The Balham & Tooting Community & Sports Club would love to hear your memories, stories, photographs, or old flyers from that era. Organisers are exploring a heritage project called My Love Affair With Wrinkles, which aims to capture and preserve local experiences for future generations.
Olga Carnegie (pictured), Secretary to the Seniors group at the club is organising the project, and tells us that they are especially interested in:
📸 Photographs of events, clubs, or social gatherings
📰 Old flyers, programmes, newsletters, or notices
🗣 Memories of people, places, or moments that mattered
💭 Stories about how community life felt at the time
Original items are not required - copies, scans, or even a conversation are enough. All contributions will be treated with care and respect.
Over the decades, the Club has been at the heart of local life. Founded in 1970, it grew from a need for connection, culture, and support, especially among members of the Windrush generation and their families settling in the area. It has been a place where friendships were formed, ideas shared, celebrations held, and challenges faced together. Much of this history now lives in memories and in keepsakes tucked away in drawers and albums.
Anyone willing to share a memory, photograph, or to suggest someone who might be interested is invited to contact Olga by emailing balhamtcsc@gmail.com or calling 07400 006653.
The Balham & Tooting Community & Sports Club is located at 94 Balham High Road.
Local sustainability group Transition Town Tooting (TTT) was set up in 2008 by a group of local residents inspired by other UK Transition groups, helping communities take action in response to climate change.
TTT aims to support Tooting to become a more sustainable community and address the climate crisis. They start with the idea of just getting on and doing stuff, unleashing the ingenuity of the community and the power of saying “yes and…”, rather than “yes, but…”
Projects have included the Trashcatchers Carnival with 800 participants parading down the High Street, the Tooting Twirl which closed the bus turning circle for a day with a pop-up village green, the annual Foodival, and much more. They’re part of a network of hundreds of transition groups in over 60 countries worldwide.
Ongoing projects include:
• The Tooting Community Garden, open on Saturdays 11am-1pm for people to meet other gardeners, share advice, and garden in a beautiful space.
• Regular repair sessions where people can bring their sewing, mending and broken electrical items and learn to fix them.
• A Sewing and Sanctuary group for refugees and local women.
• WhatsApp groups about plant-based cooking, seed swaps and general chats about sustainability.
• A yearly skill sharing event – Tooting CAN!
In 2024, Transition Town Tooting held an event called Town Anywhere, Tooting, where nearly 100 local people created their own imaginary town with all the features that were important to them. The participants ranged from council members and local businesses to community groups and residents. It offered opportunities to think about town planning in a totally different way and give participants a voice to show how they wanted their local communities to be.
To find out more and to get involved, visit their website or email transitiontowntooting@gmail.com
New riders welcome for 2026! 🚴 The Balham Cycling Club, founded in 1897, holds social rides on the 3rd Sunday of each month with five different pace groups and ride leaders – and they’re welcoming new riders!
For more information on social rides or how to become a member, visit www.balhamcc.com
TC Fitness, a new community gym, has opened at 328 Balham High Road, a few doors from Tooting Bec Station!
The space has a main gym for group strength, conditioning and hybrid sessions, alongside a dedicated Pilates and wellbeing studio, with coached training available.
TC Fitness operates as a not-for-profit community gym. Plans are also underway for an on-site café and a dedicated recovery space, including a sauna (with an accessible option) and ice baths.
TC Fitness is running two free Kickstart Weeks, starting on 2nd and 9th February, to meet the coaches, try the sessions, and experience the community first hand. DM them or email hello@tcfitness.uk to secure your spot – just let them know which week you’d like to book in for.
Founder Chris Shaw says, “So many people avoid gyms because they don’t feel confident or welcome in them. We’ve built TC Fitness to be the opposite of that – the highest quality coaching in a space where people feel supported from day one. Our Kickstart Week is an opportunity to come down – try it properly and see if it feels right, without any pressure.”
📍 TC Fitness, 328 Balham High Road, SW17 7AA
Find out more via their website.
Congratulations and good luck to Chris and the team!
Gail’s Bakery has opened a branch at 103-111 Mitcham Road (where Morleys was previously located), serving tea, coffee & other hot drinks, fresh, handmade bread, pastries, cakes and more.
Open 7am-7pm Monday to Saturday and 8am-6pm Sunday for eat-in and takeaway.
More info and menu via their website.
Tooting is literally out of this world...because there’s a Tooting crater on Mars!
This is entirely thanks to Dr Peter Mouginis-Mark, who grew up in Tooting in the 50s and 60s before becoming Professor of Geology at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu!
More info on Tooting History Group’s website.
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