Red and yellow and Pinkneys Green...the 2021 edition!

Well done to everyone one who ran this morning in support of Pride charities and LGBT+ communities!

Juli, Sophie, Nick, Jo, Sara and Amy ran a 5km loop of Pinkney's Green and Thicket Meadow together. It was a grey and muggy morning, but it still felt good to be out running and chatting in green, open space, and we brought a splash of colour with our rainbow socks, headbands, t-shirts and ribbons. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow were Matt and Hannah and their family, who came out to do some litter picking and to cheer us on the final stretch.

Juli, Nick and Amy then headed off for a second 5km including a loop of Dungrovehill Woods and an adventure down Michael's Path, which is not really a path at all at this time of year, but more of a sea of nettles and brambles. Never mind Pinkneys, this run left us with pink knees! The pot of gold this time was that this stretch was lovely and quiet and there were some stunning poppies and daisies along the way. We also saw more cheerleaders in the form of Amy's family.

Amy ran home afterwards and was rewarded by yet more gold in the form of a large deer crossing the path in the Thicket. Can you spot it in the photo?

Kudos to Tara and Paul, who ran solo for Pride at other points in the day, covering many of the same paths the group had run. Go team Isherwood!

One of the most special moments of the day was getting back from our runs and seeing a message on the WhatsApp group from Diya and Kanika, thanking us on behalf of the LGBT+ community, and saying 'we feel so accepted in this group'. The GoodGym ethos is all about connecting people, with each other and with their local communities. It is really important that everyone feels welcome and supported and that we can all be proud to 'be ourselves' at GoodGym, and it is so good to hear that this is felt by members.

If you would like to sponsor our runners for their efforts and make a donation to support LGBT+ communities, you can click here and donate to Switchboard via their Just Giving page. Switchboard is the UK's confidential helpline open to LGBTQ+ communities and beyond, for anyone who wants to talk about gender identity, sexuality, sexual health and emotional wellbeing. We felt that with the pandemic putting so much pressure on mental health and cutting so many people off from their usual support networks, this helpline was more critical than ever.