Best thing since sliced bed - trying card to help the homeless

We made sure we got off to a brisk start today so we could squeeze every last fold out of our second card bed workshop with their inspirational designer, Elliot Lord. There was still time though to welcome new members Simon and Mike on their very first Goodgym run - hope you enjoyed yourselves tonight chaps - be great to see you along again soon! Welcome back also to Praminda - lovely to see you on a group run again after all those coach runs.

Our run was a short one, around a mile and a half through Bedminster. We split into two groups so that an advance party could help Elliot get the card ready before the remainder joined us a few minutes later. Special thanks to Charlie for leading the other group, Clo and Richard for backmarking, and Emma for helping out with navigation!

Once the card was unpacked, Elliot explained what we had to do.

Elliot has worked out a way to take discarded cycle boxes and fold them in such a way that they form a stable bed. The card sections can then be disassembled and flattened down into small packs so the beds can be stored away when not in use. The packs are distributed to homeless people at soup kitchens or shelters and allow the sleeper to keep off the ground making for a warmer and more comfortable night. More information can be found on Elliot's site - including a lovely interview with some of their users.

Having benefited from the Island's kind offer of space at last years workshop we were fortunate this time to have a new host in the guise of the United Reformed Church on West Street, Bedminster. Sincere thanks to Stef and Tony for making this lovely big space available to us for the evening, it was very much appreciated and meant that we could get FIVE tables set up for making beds.

Having distributed a few craft knives and pencils it was wonderful to see these little bed-making teams working busily together drawing round templates, cutting slots and folding tight creases using a block of wood. It never ceases to surprise me how effective our runners can be in such a short time working together against the clock. Thanks also to our tidy-uppers for keeping on top of all the card debris.

Sure enough in a little over 30 mins, we had three completed bed kits and Elliot showed how one of these could be put together - thanks very much to Ceri for taking a quick nap to demonstrate the bed in action.

It was then just a matter of clearing away the left over card and tidying up the hall before loading up the kits ready for distribution - all in all a very productive evening.

In fact, we were told that not only were Goodgym Bristol the most efficient card bed workshoppers but also the most accurate; being the first group not to make a single mistake. Go Goodgym Bristol!!

A quick return run and a few stretches later we were done. Thanks everyone for working so hard tonight - you are all amazing!

Thanks also to Vito for the pun.