It turned out to be a surprisingly lovely evening for Hazel and Ben as they took on the festive mission of flyering for Together Trust’s Christmas appeal. Armed with three different sets of flyers and questionable enthusiasm 😄, they made their way from house to house like two very cold, very determined Christmas elves.🥶👻

The adventure began with a gentle jog—more of a shuffle, really—from Life Leisure Cheadle toward the nearest residential area. The pavements were icy, the air was nippy, and the running pace could best be described as “heroically slow,” but the reward was worth it. The neighbourhood was lit up so brightly it felt like passing through mini Blackpool Illuminations—every house competing for the “Most Likely to Blind Your Neighbours” award.🎇🪅🎊

And now… the saga continues!

Join them for Round Two of Together Trust flyering quest on December 2nd, where they’ll bravely conquer the remaining half of the flyers. Bring your festive spirit—and maybe some thermal socks.

After a soggy run to Trafford, it was another garden clearing task for Mrs L. Given the weather, she was a little surprised to see me but was very pleased to get some work done.

This time, I was in the back yard, removing self seeded trees 🌳 (6 or 7 in total) and clearing some of the pathways for accessibility. In about 70 minutes, I managed to clear a lot of leaves, weeds, bit of rubbish, and cleared a lot of mud from the paving slabs so Mrs L could get around a bit easier.

With loppers, patio knife, hoe, and broom, I made a good dent in the yard and Mrs L seemed happy with the result.

We had a chinwag about her son, Christmas coming up, the weather of course, and the dogs 🐕 likely be back again in the new year.

Congrats to Peter on leading his first GoodGym Manchester session!

Despite a very wet forecast 🌧 we were in Gorse Hill to help prepare the allotment for Gorse Hill Studios as part of their Green Rooms project for the winter.

We met in Gorse Hill park to collect loose leaves 🍂 plus a litterpick with a couple of rubbish 🗑 sacks and 10 bags full of leaves.

We used the leaves as mulch on the allotment to help the future beds and dampen any weed growth. Peter also brought some strawberry 🍓 runners to be planted and we took out any tomato plants 🍅 from inside the polytunnel.

With heavy rain and dark clouds gathering, we called it a day. We'll likely be back in the new year for spring prep and perhaps at the studios to help there too.

Ben was the sole ranger going along for a few tasks today.

Initially covering a 16 km route to do the pre-event course check at Fletcher Moss parkrun event number 272, where 283 runners and walkers completed the 5 km route.

After dropping off Juno, it was up to Brunswick Parish Church to help out Ardwick Climate Action. We loaded the car with manure and the bigger tools before wheeling the hand tools and other items to the scout allotment site near Gartside Gardens.

We were met with a gazebo for serving hot drinks and snacks. Several scouts weeded the beds and litterpicked, while I was tasked with pruning the fruit trees 🌳. It was no small task, with several never having been pruned. With loppers and secateurs, I made good progress and the longer branches will be used for a dead hedges nearby.

After clearing up and wheeling items back to base, I ran along to work.

Not likely to be another task until the new year. Good session with a good group.

Sam and Ben met up for another foodbank run to donate much needed items for MCR South-Central foodbank.

After a weekend of high winds and heavy rain, we were thankful for a relatively peaceful, albeit cold, Monday evening jog down to Hulme Asda, leaving behind a giant Santa in St Peter's Square.

Sam made the smart choice to run unladen and buy a basket load of tea/coffee and other goods for the donation point. Ben was less smart, lugging a heavy bag of tins and UHT milk from home to the drop-off...

In all, we filled the bottom of the trolley donation point, before heading back via Man Met University buildings and getting a picture with the Christmas Bee 🐝

Following Storm Claudia, a group of us joined the Friends of Peel Park for their monthly Sunday tidy.

Ben joined David plus 2 other local volunteers to clear leaves 🍃 from a drainage ditch near a mural in the park, clear any paths of storm and river Irwell debris, and tidy up the beds to remove any dead or dying plants.

In about 75 minutes, we filled up 5 or 6 sacks of rubbish 🗑, cleared most of a tree from a path, and filled up 6 or 7 wheelbarrows-full of dead plants, leaving the park more accessible for users and just generally much tidier.

Hope to be back in the new year, for Peel Park's 180th birthday year.

Managed to get a full roster of volunteers for the Saturday morning. Storm Claudia on Friday night and Saturday morning brought lots of wind and rain with it. Early course check at 7am and met with the Environmental agency who had closed the park due to partial flooding, so cancelled the parkrun. Storm debris on the course but park reopened at about 10am.

I'll be back next week.