Edwin Hood of Holgate left the Forest of Sherwood to help the sylvan Shangri-La of Stinky Foot Ryer (AKA York Tiny Forest). Our local legend Becca Maude Marion was awarded the black cape of 50 good deeds - a double award ceremony that deserved chocolate. Friar Tuck and Aidan arrived and the foraging of mulch from Holgate Allotment began. Soon Tristan-a-Dale's trusty truck was filled with bags of wood chip, 2 wheelbarrows and 4 strong GoodGymers as Alastair joined us. Sadly there was no room for Aidan's bike, so he swiftly cycled across town, very nearly beating the wood chip. Once at the Forest we met Hollie who was warmly welcomed and introduced to the fun that is GoodGym. She quickly locked up her bike, donned gloves and headtorch, grabbed a wheelbarrow and got stuck in. Swiftly the heavy bags of chippings were taken from the truck, carried across the wobbly road, loaded into barrows to be pushed through the swamp and up the steep muddy hill to the dark forest. We had a quick look around and were pleased to see tree buds, catkins and signs of life in the oxygenating plants in Lucy's pond. Looking forward to going back very soon to spread the mulch, plant some of the donated dormant trees and enjoy a picnic in good company.

Our second group run of 2026 saw a whopping 33 people turn up and do some good in their local community. Tonight we welcomed Carys and Rohail who were joining us for the first time. Give them both a big cheer 🎉.

There was plenty more to celebrate as we cheered all those that took part in the Round Sheffield Run, and the crazy folk that ticked off another square on the january bingo card by running/walking or cycling their age at the weekend. We were also able to award the December GGer of the month to Matt who has been pretty much an ever-present at group runs since joining us last year as well as putting in some ridiculous mileage and some very impressive running achievements recently. Well done Matt 💪

Finally we presented Michael with the cape of good deeds for completing his 200th task with GoodGym. What an absolute legend 🏆

It was then off to Millennium Fields with a quick pause for a round of tricep dips and press-ups before arriving at the task. We were greeted by Maeve who got a round of applause for her excellent demonstration of how to invert the soil, before letting us loose with spades. With tools somewhat limited due to the excellent numbers, the GGers doubled up on spades with Martin and Stef on tarp duties (which seemed like a very relaxed job 😎)

Meanwhile a smaller group of 6 headed over to the compost bays to turn them over. I'm fairly sure we've turned over the same compost many times before, but it kept them busy at least!

With the soil inversion in full flow, some GGers were keen to know the What3Words location of the area they were working on so that they could see the progress of the wildflowers later in the year. Nick's slap/epic/deeply being the most memorable location!

There were the usual burying Mitch shenanigans, and we also had some very impressive dance moves from Steve and Leanne to help trample down the wildflower seeds. Then it was time for a group photo before our fitness session

Tonight featured a variation of wink murder with exercises instead of dying! The person in the middle had the task of working out which person in the circle was in charge of the exercises that everyone else was copying. Turns out it was harder than it looked, with Paul Kelly taking several attempts to work out that Ruth was the culprit!

It was then back to the Ackhorne via a quick sprint along one of our strava segments. Fortunately there was the reward of some well deserved cake at the end!

The cold weather has arrived in earnest but it didn't stop a hardy team of goodgymers rock up ready to go off to the trenches for their weekly workout.

We started the session by celebrating Barbarapassing her 700th good deed and Laura her 50th, and welcoming new comer Alex to the group.

Vicky set off first with the party pace group and were met at Glen Allotments by an enthusiastic team. Ed's group arrived very soon after and we were all armed with spades and set to work.

The task was to dig one trench of 30 metres and another 20 metres, in preparation for a water pipe. There was some discussion about how deep 18 inches is - quite deep it turns out! No problem for our crew, who rose to the challenge! Within our alloted time we'd completed the task and were rewarded with home made flapjack.

Vicky set of back with the party gang whilst Ed's group did a spot of fun fitness.

Back at base we were rewarded by more delicious homemade biscuits courtesy of Laura!

A very enjoyable task!

Tonight was our #letsliftthecurfew run in partnership with This Girl Can, and we started the session by reflecting on the number of women and girls who feel like they have to change their exercise routines in the winter by talking about where we would run if we had complete freedom to do so. We had everything from Area 51 to the moon but it felt like most people just wanted to feel free to run along a beach if they could, possibly more due to this being our first group run since the clocks went back and it being a bit chilly ❄️

Pete set off first with a walking group before Rich and Max led out the runners with Vicky and Babs backmarking. There was enough time for a quick blast of tricep dips, press-ups and squats whilst we regrouped, before we arrived at task. We were greeted by taskowner Maeve who was on brand for the theme of the evening with her purple hair and jacket, which guaranteed her a slot in the group photo later on! 🟣

Tonight's task was to either turn over squares of soil or scarrify (no idea how to spell that) the ground ready for some wildflower seeds to be sown. With tools at a premium Vicky and Ed made a start encouraging people to sign the Lets Lift The Curfew banner with their thoughts on how running at night makes them feel. Thank you to everyone who shared their feelings

With enough ground ready for some seeds (or porridge oats) to be sown, Erin and Jenny took on chief spreading duties, with Erin displaying her remarkably impressive highland jig to help stamp the seeds down into the ground.

Once all the seeds had been scattered it was time for a group photo before Vicky led a fantastic Mexican wave fitness session 👋 with Rich's team claiming victory over Max's despite some very questionable interpretations of some of the exercises

It was then back to Priory Street but not before a 1km sprint down one of our new strava segments. Well done to Matt for laying down a considerable marker for everyone else to aspire to!

Remember, if anyone does ever feel nervous or unsafe running in the dark then just pop a message into our group WhatsApp chat. One thing we're not short of is people who are happy to head out for a run!