Tonight 11 GoodGymers ran to the Ash Road Allotments where OWLS have taken over a new, rather overgrown & neglected allotment.
We made a good start with the weeding & tried to make it as accessible as possible so that the service users can start to use it. This is an ongoing project that we can get stuck into over summer. Moira, an OWLS volunteer gave us all a strawberry plant which were gratefully received.

We then headed back to Heart where Lighthouse Futures was holding an event for local volunteers...perfect for us! We did the quiz, had food & drinks & even won some raffle prizes. It was a great evening & I manifested winning the theatre tickets & it worked! There's a first time for everything!

A big shout out to Helen who ran sessions over the last few weeks...what a great GoodGymer she is. Thank you!

Well done to Rachel who did her 40th mission tonight & to Katie Presley who has done 60! Thanks for all you do :)

These were Adele's words as she let the all female running group into the farm to join Freddie, Adam, and Jubz. The task was to weed the raspberry patch....however the lads were struggling with plant recognition. Luckily Katie had an app on her phone that distinguished bindweed from borage. So the mission was accomplished quite quickly and after an easy 3km run down to Kirkstall Valley Farm we were now facing returning up the hill. We dropped Adam off at his door and took the scenic route via parks and ginnels. On the ginnel beside the rugby ground we met an artist called Griff who was painting murals on behalf of a local dementia support group. We barely noticed the hills!

Seven GoodGym members met at HEART in Headingley to give the 'stay and play' nursery space (Tiny Boo) a spring clean. Much wet wiping, spraying and vacc-ing resulted in a more sanitary condition and once we sorted and put away the toys, it looked a very inviting space to 'stay and play'. We managed to tear ourselves away and had a very spring-like 4km run around the green spaces of Beckett's Park. We returned to HEART for some stretches and a cool down. Looking forward to having a social drink here again soon. A very good start to May

8 GoodGym members met at the storage unit used by Homeless Hampers. We were greeted by Aky who told us the inspirational story of his and Tina's project to support homeless people in Leeds and Bradford and also help newly homed people to furnish their accommodation. We then pulled out the bags of donations; sorted and boxed up clothing; and filled the storage unit in a more organised fashion. Nothing goes to waste....smart work-type clothes go to community hubs for jobseekers to wear to interviews; unsuitable clothes are sold by weight to another organisation giving funds for the street feeding sessions. A big welcome to Lisa who came for her first session with GoodGym. We hope to see you again soon. Homeless Hampers have loads of individual and corporate volunteering opportunities and their contact details can be found on social media. We will return!