Six GoodGymers brightened Princes Park on Saturday morning, joining the parkrun community for a dose of fresh air, friendly faces, and plenty of positive energy.

While some were running, others were cheering, chatting, and helping create the welcoming atmosphere that makes parkrun such a special event. Our red shirts were once again highly visible around the park, demonstrating that GoodGym is not just about getting active but also about building connections and spreading positivity wherever we go. The visibility certainly seemed to pay off. Two women approached us during the morning to find out more about GoodGym. It was wonderful to share what we do and how running can be a force for good. Hopefully, we've helped a few new friendships get off to a running start.

With parkrun complete and appetites gathering pace, we split into two groups and made our way towards Squash. After all, while we may enjoy chasing personal bests, there comes a point when breakfast becomes the real finish line. At Squash, we quickly got down to the important business of collecting stickers and, perhaps even more importantly, squashing our hunger. Hot drinks appeared, breakfasts arrived, and conversations flowed as freely as the coffee.

As always, the real magic of these mornings wasn't measured in kilometres or finish times. It was found in the laughter around the table, the stories shared between friends, and the simple pleasure of spending time together. Because, as we were gently reminded, community is built not only through organised activities but also through moments of connection.

From Princes Park to Squash, the morning was packed with smiles, community spirit, and plenty of food for thought. It was a reminder that every time GoodGym turns up, we don't just make tracks around the park, we leave a positive footprint in the community too. Here's to many more mornings of running, chatting, sticker collecting, and proving that the shortest distance between strangers is often a friendly conversation.

It's Your World Liverpool are a group of very dedicated neighbours, who clean up the streets and public spaces of L8. We received a request from good friend of Goodgym, Kirsty, to help It's Your World Liverpool to clear all the weeds from a pathway used by a local school. 3 Goodgymers answered the call and each made their own way to the task. We were well-equipped with a range of gardening tools, green bins, litter pickers and a very large bin bag for any rubbish. We had been told to expect rain but it was actually a dry, slightly humid evening so the coats we'd all brought were not actually needed (thankfully!). Weeds lined the whole wall of the pathway. Some were easier to pull up, but others required some significant effort and a mix of chopping and pruning. However, as Kirsty noted, there was a brilliant system in place to remove these swiftly. There were also several overhanging branches starting to affect the walk down the pathway - Naser made light work of these. All in all, lots of trips to the green bins were made. As the weeds started to clear, it became evident that the leaves were literally littered with litter so a thorough litter pick was also needed. With a litter pick and the biggest bin bag I think I've ever seen in hand, a thorough litter pick began down the pathway and along the wall. At first, I caught glimpses of blue but I just thought they were probably part of a plastic bag that had ripped so carried on and got distracted by the other items along the way including an umbrella. However, small blue pieces kept appearing and seemed to multiply and then we suddenly realised they were actually confetti. Now there were lots of hypotheses for why this was there but the most likely seemed to be a baby shower from one of the neighbouring houses. Needless to say, clearing up confetti with a litter pick proved an interesting challenge. Well done to everyone involved. The pathway was de-weeded throughly and the confetti cleared - Kirsty was made up with the results!

On Tuesday, 3 goodgymers headed out to Miss J’s home for a mission that had us working hard from the very first moment. Miss J had been expecting us and the excitement was clear — the tools were handed over and we got started immediately, with not a second wasted.Craig acted as the master trimmer, working the lawn mower and clippers with amazing precision. On the other hand, me and Clara kept things organised , gathering diligently every little bit of waste into bin bags. We also put to use, the spade , clippers and small secatuers, as we worked through the weeds and snipping the overgrown Ivy.Between the three of us, we worked like a well-oiled machine. By the end, we had a grand total of ten bags of garden waste to show for it!We gave Miss J's garden everything we had right through to the final minute.Miss J’s warmth and gratitude made every snip of the trimmer, every pulled weed, and every filled bag completely worth it.Her contagious smile told of all the joy she could not hide.

It was a breezy day, with a brilliant team,and a job well done to put a smile on someone's face. Thanks to GoodGym ! Until the next mission-👋