WHERE THERE’S A WILFRED’S THERE’S A WAY …

On an evening that was starting to feel Autumnal - it won’t be long before we’re all wearing raincoats and head torches! - 24 Good Gymers set off from the Showroom to run to St Wilfred’s Centre who, in their own words, provide a place where homeless, vulnerable and socially excluded adults can find understanding, practical assistance, a sense of belonging and the support to regain self-esteem.

The Centre provides basic services including hot meals, showers, laundry, sleeping bags, help with finding accommodation, having a haircut or food and clothes parcels as well as a wide range of daily activities. You can find out more about the good work they do here.

Before we headed off we gave a big round of applause to Chris who was embarking on his 50th GG Sheffield run – a great achievement Chris – which he celebrated in the now time-honoured fashion of donning his GG 50 bow-tie.

We were met by Josie, who manages the Centre, and her partner Jim and given our tasks for the evening which included, pruning a seriously spiky pyracantha bush, clearing rubble, weeding and scraping moss. 45 minutes later the front of the Centre was looking spick and span and we left with a quick tour of the Centre and Josie’s heartfelt thanks ringing in our ears.

Group Leader Sam had taken us on an extended run to the Centre and led us back via a killer, and seemingly never ending, hill which he made us fartlek up - I’m beginning to note a slightly sadistic theme in his runs! Respect to all the GG team for getting to the top - especially Mike who had already run 60 miles, with 10,000 feet of ascent, at the weekend.

Back at the Showroom we sadly said goodbye to Shona who is leaving us to go and work in Hereford. She has been a great addition to GG Sheffield with her always-enthusiastic attitude and her ability to repeatedly win the art prize at the pub quiz! We’ll all miss you Shona – and you know you’re welcome back at any time.