Andrew Skelton

It is our LAST group activity of the month, for some the end of the January Challenge but not the end of the Llion. No, it was the 100th deed for Llion and time to enjoy the celebration

We met as usual outside the Sport Wales National Centre in Sophia Gardens at 18:30, we were going in two groups - the walk / joggers and the runners. However, as a one off and to keep everyone active we warmed up with a 1-mile jog for all.

After this we split into our two groups and made our ways up different sides of the road of Western Avenue, plogging as we went. It was a busy road and there was plenty to pick up as we proudly displayed our goodgym colours.

After a couple of km of plogging we popped our bags at a bin and took a quick photo, and then we were led of a magic mystery run. We were certainly getting in the run tonight in our group, as the walkers continued to plog their side of the road. We don't usually get to run on this side of Cardiff, so Michael was determined to make the most of it and get goodgym seen as much as possible.

We got together again, bags a ready......and PLOG on.

A lap of a park, the gabalfa interchange and we crossed sides over to the run back down the walkers side of the road. We dropped our bags, one last time, a total of 10 bags of rubbish from the surrounding areas of North (ish) Cardiff.

A good run back for our final group photo and a stretch out after a nice run tonight - 7.5 km for the runners.

Join us on Sunday for our final Junior Parkrun or at Oasis for the Big Birdwatch before we take a break (from junior parkrun) for a couple of weeks after the manic January Challenge.

We've past the halfway mark in the January Challenge, and we're still raring to go. So, tonight, 14 goodgymers got together to finish off a task that had been niggling (mostly me) since last year. The buddleia at St. Andrews Forget-me-not Cafe had become so large during the lockdowns, that during our first mission to tackle it we had to stop due to the thickness of its branches.

Not Tonight

We were determined to finish the job, 8 runners met in the City Centre, warmed up and then ran 1.5 miles to our second meeting point for the walkers. This was the first time that we had split like this, but it seemed to work for us on a bit of a longer run that may have been too far to walk in the allotted time. From here, we made our way together - it wasn't far until we were at the Church grounds.

The wonderful Kathie was waiting for us, all wrapped up for a warm welcome. We had a quick chat as we tried to figure out the split of groups for the tasks to be done.

1. Sweep the pathways of leaves to make it safer,
2. Clear the leaves from the back of the Church,
3. Move the potted Christmas tree around the back,
4. Cut down the buddleia (of course),
5. Cut the holly growing over the fence,
6. Trim any overgrown plants in the alleyway.

A lot of work, just the way we like it.

Whilst we pondered the split, Alice got straight to work with the brush and was making her way over the path. Nathan joined to clear the leaves, so the rest of us made our way to the side garden to begin the pruning.

We made our Best Bud (leia) team of four, first to take down the main branches and then to cut smaller for the green waste. Hard at work ........ we put all our effort in and ......... "saw it" off.

Hayley and Estelle got to work on some Holly Modification.

Whilst Llion and the Shauny Seans, hit the alley with a flood light, which brought dog walkers over with many a question of who we were and why we were there.

30 minutes went by in the blink of an eye and many a camera flash, it was time to down tools and decide where we were going to have our final picture. Energised and celebrating a completion of the task, the runners and three of the original walking group decided it was time to complete a quick lap of the local 'Rec'. It was a lovely added mile to the exercise tonight, every little counts......(other supermarkets are available).

After our final farewells, the walkers and the runners went their separate ways - with so many challenges a good stretch was needed at the end of the run tonight, followed by a small social and chat about a proper social in February to celebrate our January Challenge.

On a full packed Saturday, we made our way to the Community Hall in Canton. The side of the building had become full of fallen leaves that were now a bad slip hazard due to the recent down pours.

With shovels, brushes and large bags, we began the clean up. Keeping an eye out for any rubbish, which we separated into rubbish bags, we split into teams and got to work. In a good 15 minutes the pathway was clear and looking grand, now it was just the task of dragging the full bags out of the way.

Clean and tidy and time for a posing picture.

This was our first time helping out with the new community space at Riverside Health Centre, another wonderful project from Grow Cardiff for more social prescribing. We met up at the Church of Saint John the Evangelist in Canton as they were donating some old turf to help fill the raised planters.

We met up with Chris from Grow Cardiff who had the vehicle all ready to load up, there were already boxes and bags of twigs on there, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work, squatting and lifting the rolled up turf. It was a great workout for the morning but we weren't finished yet, just as the turf was all loaded it was time to take a quick jog over to Riverside to unload it.

The planter had already had some larger twigs and old greenery put into them, so we used the smaller twigs, greenery, even an old wreath to fill nay gaps. We packed everything tightly, layered with some leaves and compacted a bit more with feet - like squeezing grapes. Now came to turf, this we off loaded it and unrolled it into the planter until it was all off the vehicle and the planters were a good 3/4 full. Just the compost to go when that arrives for them later on in the week and the planting can begin.

A successful morning well worth a quick break with a coffee and some biscuits.