It was a warm and windy evening when 31 Goodgymmers assembled at York CVS for their weekly evening of doing good. It was great to welcome back some of our newer faces again, as well as those we hadn't see for a while - Hi Jamie! We also celebrated the York Acorn Runners who had taken part in the Cleveland Way relay over the weekend, as well as Max and Paul Kelly having a very impressive "short jog" in the Hebden hills. (Either 38 or 39k, depending on the watch. Perhaps they could pop back to measure it again to be sure...?) Next up, Leanne treated us to another rendition of "The Cha Cha Slide", this time with more instructions. Formed up in rows, we wiggled our way through the moves, getting nice and warm and potentially bemusing the neighbours in the process.

All set, we split into groups with a choice of steady run, run-walk, or walk-walk. Nick led our flock of red shirted runners through the streets, whilst Vicky had a strong team of run-walkers, and Debs assembled the walkers, with Jenna navigating and Amy setting a good pace. Our destination; Acomb Primary School, and their lovely forest school, with a host of tasks to keep many hands busy.

Once briefed by task owner Amanda, everyone got to work, clearing the two different areas of woodland that are used by the school children for outdoor education. It was great to see progress since our previous visits, with numerous log circles installed for groups to use. There was a lot of undergrowth to be cleared by hand, sticks to be moved, troublesome shoots to be tackled with tools, as well as piles of logs and branches to be relocated. The wood movers seemed particularly keen to show off their strength, posing for many a photo in the process. (Any claims that the logs were in fact rotten and surprisingly light are unfounded, and will be refuted.) Given our bumper group size we rather outnumbered the tools available, so much bartering and trading occurred. It's very Goodgym to use one tool in place of another, and Pete was doing a sterling job of trying to dig a fire pit with a fork, but fortunately a spade came to the rescue in the hands of Paul Kelly. Thankfully our glorious leaders Ed and Vicky were on hand in all the busy-ness attempting to keep everyone focused, and redirecting folks as tasks were completed. Time was soon up, and we admired our handiwork from the main log circle; conveniently just large enough to hold all Goodgymmers. We had a group photo, and assembled for our very special fitness session.

With Captain Pete in charge, we were treated to a competitive winner-takes-all battle of rock paper scissors. With losers cheering on the winners it was a buoyant affair, and soon only two contenders remained. Nicky vs Laura for the crown.. Once, twice... Laura reigned supreme! Our two finalists became our team leaders for the next (actually) fitness component. A multi-challenge race with sub-groups of 4 having to transport specially chosen branches through hoops, up a hill and back, with some press ups thrown in, before tagging in the next crew. It was a close run thing, with our more recent joiners throwing themselves into standard wacky GG fitness with great gusto. Team Nicky edged it, and it was a draw on points between the two teams, with only a tie breaker question to go. Alas Ed showed a spectacular failure at maths, forgetting that your height is three times the circumference of your head, (something he had only educated us about at the previous task,) and Team Laura were crowned overall champions.

Excitement over, it was time to run, run-walk or walk-walk back to base, a little more gently this time. With knowledge of a job well done, many folks headed off to the pub for a cool drink and a piece of excellent home baking. Thanks to the chefs, as well as everyone who contributed in some way to the excellent evening, whether by leading a group or activity, backmarking, motivating or simply turning up and getting stuck in. Goodgym is a team, and wouldn't work without any one of us. Same time next week?

**Huge thanks to Debs for the fab run report

Tonight we started by welcoming new comers Sophia, Joss and Rebecca then we applauded Paul Kelly's parkrun pb and Steve's epic lakeland marathon.

To name and number off we all pledged to do something to show we care in honour of Carers' Week, Men's mental health wed and loneliness awareness month. Lots of people said they would be making contact with someone or doing an act of kindness.

The walking (and a bit of running) group set off leaving the rest to warm up and follow shortly afterwards.

Christina was waiting for us at West Bank Park with a selection of tools and barrows. Before we could move the compost to the skip we needed to remove the rather unpleasant smelling stuff which had been fly tipped there. This didn't phase Pete, Vicky and Sam who made quick work of it, ready to welcome the continuous relay of wheel barrows.

After a good workout we then tidied up and had a game of fitness dice. Rich was particularly good at sit ups (or rather sit downs!) .

We then headed back to base for done well earned cake and promised to return on 30th for part 4!

Tonight's Monday Night Group run saw 22 GG Yorkies tackle an overgrown patch of land in Clifton. But before setting off we welcomed the return of Amy practically fresh off the plane from New Zealand. We also celebrated Pete's 200th Good Deed and gave a big cheer to those who had completed the Yorkshire 3 peaks at the weekend. Give them all a big cheer 💪

The run out tonight was just over 5km out and back so we kept the warm up short and headed straight out with Ed leading the group and Abigail and Laura backmarking. Jenna was our sole cyclist whilst Jane, Michal and Martin met us at the task.

Kristina from the council's eco team gave us the lowdown on tonight's task. The area used to be a play park but had since been left to grow over, to the point that it had started to cover the paths that run through it. Our job was to cut back anything that was growing over the paths and generally make it feel a bit tidier and safe for those that use it as a cut through to the hospital.

Emma armed herself with a pretty mean looking strimmer whilst the rest of the group picked up wire brushes, loppers and shears and soon got to work tackling the overgrown foliage. Although it wasn't always easy going, with Amy struggling to get to grips with her wire brush and later not being able to open a pair of secateurs!

But it wasn't just Amy who was struggling. Emma was keen to get going with the strimmer, but wasn't too sure about where to put the rather large battery pack that came with it. Fortunately help was on hand in the form of Abigail who was looking for a mote gentle job to keep her busy, and was more than happy to act as the battery pack carrier, sort of like the GG version of a flower girl at a wedding carrying the brides dress

Before too long the task was completed and we had a quick thank you from local resident Rebecca who was delighted with the progress that we'd made. It was then off to Clarence Gardens, scene of many previous GG tasks, for tonight's fitness session

Since Amy T had been away for 2 and a half years the fitness was all about getting to know each other a bit better. The group ran around in a circle and then came into the middle if they had done the thing that Ed shouted out. We then chose someone to tell us a bit more about that thing. In true GG York fashion, we had more people who had a piece of work published than those that had tattoos but we still heard about the meaning behind a couple of Issy's tattoos as well as learning a bit of Urdu from Pete and being suitably impressed by the various celebrities that our crew had met. Although it's possible Jane's UFO sighting during a Radiohead concert may have been more to do with the light show than flying saucers!

It was then back to base but not before wishing Pete, Laura and Cara a happy birthday with some traditional birthday squats.

We've also had a special thank you from the council for our help across the city. GoodGym has been a huge contributor across multiple projects, so it was fab to do our fitness sesh right in front of a flourishing wildflower garden that wouldn't be the there without us.

See you all next week when we'll be back to West Bank Park