Its not just any Goodgym night - But Goodgym's 2nd Birthday!

A great chance to celebrate and reflect on what is so great about Goodgym Poole - Is it just a running group?

Many of you maybe aware of the 5 steps to mental wellbeing, supported by the NHS Self Help and Mind Charity. But did you know that each time we meet, we are actually achieving most of these on each task alone?

Here is a reminder of the 5 steps: (A great tool to think about where you maybe lacking as well!)

1. Connect with other people - Have a sense of belonging, provide emotional support and allow you to support others
2. Be physically active - Set goals and challenges
3. Learn new skills - Helping you connect with others, build a sense of purpose
4. Give to others - The act of giving and kindness
5. Pay attention to the present moment - Mindfulness.

So, when we meet as a group, we are being active, we complete a community task and we are giving to others, comnecting with people and belonging to the group we are in, We are sometimes learning a new skill or new information from the task or the people around us. If you come along to Goodgym, you will see most of the members are chatting away to each other, talking of races, runs, work, life, good and bad times. Some people will just like a grab a gardening tool and feel the satisfaction of a weeded garden, swept carpark or clean window, finding a bit of mindfulness in the task in front of them.

Tonight most of us met at the local park, an open space allowing a run and chatter into the task in smaller groups.

As you approach the park, there could be seen in the distance, a bunch of red T-shirts, the great sign of who we are! As you get closer, there were big smiles and friendly chatter.

The first task was a warm up loop around the lake, the aim being a consistent pace by pairing off, meeting in the middle and turning.In all honesty, the group all arrived back still talking and laughing and we have no idea if the pace was kept, pictures were taken, or how much running was actually included! Tracy and David ran in a few minutes after the others set off, straight into the 1 mile run. Great to have you both back with us as we have not seen your faces since pre covid! Aaron joined us tonight, having been running endless miles in lockdown and only spotted at start lines of trail races around the county, so great you could join us for our celebrations and task tonight Aaron.

Within the group tonight we had Ultra runners, long covid fighters, those in categories of 70+, those that saw the sunrise on Solstice, exhausted teachers and hash runners to name a few. But we all had a reason to run together - a sense of community, a sense of friendship and eagerness (sometimes!) to run!

An unlikely group perhaps, we all headed off to Salvation Army, around the back of the bus station. The steps up and across the railway providing a great opportunity for a few loop sprints up the steps and back again to regroup!

At the Salvation Army, we met Nigel. This is a new task location for us, the volunteers at Salvation Army are getting ready to open its doors to visitors again. They offer so many vital services to the local community, from popular baby groups, to work with the homeless, to Christmas boxes and donations. It was a simple task, well suited to Goodgym. Clear away leaves and moss from car park, clean the inside window and hunt down any weeds to pull out. As usual the Goodgym team grabbed the tools and took to the task, before you could even say Sally Army! Nigel was really impressed by the teams efforts and we hope we can support them again in the future with tasks.

Tonight being our second birthday, it was a great opportunity to have a social. We headed from Salvation Army down to local chip shops and onto the Quay front. There was even a bottle of fizz and a bottle of fake fizz. There was fish, chips, ketchup, a lovely thoughtful card signed by everyone to pass to me (Thank you so much - Loved reading the messages!), and some words to remind us all why Goodgym and its members are so important to us all.

We have a great group of members that we are all so proud join us at Goodgym. Robert, our superstar sprinter has nearly 50 good deeds under his belt! We have the fabulous smile of Ali, the wisdom and wit of Elizabeth, the forever colourful with a big heart Shelley, our goal setter and all round lovely person Nicola. We have our super fit nanas, who never say no to a challenge, Patricia and Jane, our most recent members Becky and Hannah who have only ever known lockdown Goodgym but somehow feel like they have been coming for ever with their calm manner and thoughtfulness to others.

To end the fun and chatter,it was cake time! You cannot have a birthday without a cake of course! But it was not just any cake - but a Colin Catepillar Cake!

So, what is next for Goodgym Poole? Group runs will be back in the coming weeks - But with more variety of locations to cover a broader area. We will be looking to have more 'missions' for individuals to take on to support local - These are one off practical tasks. You can find out more here But more importantly, we hope to continue to have a great bunch of people who are part of Goodgym, spending time together and welcoming more members!

Happy Second Birthday Goodgym Poole!

It all started when buches of runners (33 in total!) starting gathering in the lovely warm courtyard of Daveena's cafe.

We were then joined by some official looking types with a little less lycra from the council including the Council Chairman, David Flagg! One of the councillors Mark Howell was however willing to join us for a run and his first for goodgym along with 22 other first time Goodgym runners! 9 runners who had previously completed a Goodgym task joined us from as far as Bristol and Swanage so showing fantastic committment to Goodgym!

After the pics and speeches, we headed over to the park for a quick warm up where most of us runners demonstrated our lack of balance with the flamingo stand and hopskotch as well as usual warm up drills!

Kirty Weston from Upton parkrun core team led the way through the park and whitecliff to cover 2.1 miles including the gradual incline up Evening Hill. We were met at Lewis-Manning by Sandra and Mark who had even had cold drinks and biscuits ready for us as a welcome treat!

We soon cracked on in 4 groups and everyone was super organised in their groups to get the tasks done. Painting crew included first timers Shelley and Kirsty (whose ankle is fine by the way after a huge branch came at her on the way back!) painted on with Ann, Aaron and Catherine amongst others to complete a rail within 15 minutes! Hedge cutters included Karina, Kristy and Mark who made some clearance for cars to park against the bushes Around the back, the team with a view had rakes and gloves to clear some woodland, leaving James to keep his mileage up by running back and forth with the bin. Gemma, Lisa and Rob amongst others cleared leaves and all sorts! Finally we had a bunch of sweepers who worked to the end getting moss off the car park area.

Amazing what was achieved in 25 mins and we hope to go back for a second coat of paint and a bit more garden clearance.

We took the opportunity to take a photo at the top of Evening Hill, after moving along Oakdale runners who photo bombed!

Finally we ran back down to the park and 3 runners took up the offer to finish up around the park with a short interval circuit as clearly they had not worked hard enough already!

It was hot, sweaty work in the muggy air but the chat was continuous and great to hear the chatter amongst many previous strangers.

We had also been joined by Ed and Nikki from the central Goodgym team who quickly scooted off for their train after, albeit a bit smelly!

Super atmosphere on the runs and all during the task so we can honestly say Goodgym Poole you rocked it tonight!

Next week we are over in Poole park but don't worry - we will still get a good run in before we crack on with the task in hand - It was truly a pleasure to be part of Goodgym Poole launch - I know we are going to be fantastic!