The surprisingly cold evening didn't stop David and Martin from optimistically turning up in shorts, whilst the rest of us sensibly covered our legs for an hour of litter picking.

We were pleased to see Nisar back after a break, talk about parkrun, and hear all about his other great volunteering work recently! Russell also returned after a short break and of course he and Andy talked at length, with Disneyland on this week's agenda for them. Martin casually slipped into conversation that he'd run a marathon in Colchester at the weekend, and spotted an unknown Goodgymer.

We tried out a different litter picking location down by the river, and whilst being stared down by an understandably angry swan, filled up two very heavy bags. Andy ventured into the bushes and produced an almost unbelievable amount of Tesco cider cans, followed by posing for a photo with a gleeful wine glass holding Sallyann.

Our task this evening couldn't go past without mention of some of the group's previous love, Beat the Street, or without a photo of a once frequented lamppost on Waterloo Lane.

With it being Fay's birthday tomorrow, she very kindly brought us delicious homemade lemon drizzle cake, thanks Fay! It's also Sallyann's birthday on Saturday, David's birthday on Monday, and it's just been Nisar's birthday. We funnily enough didn't discuss gifts, but plans for birthday food, including Moto, homemade pizza, fish and chips, and Chinese takeaway. Hope everyone enjoys!

Thanks for a great litter pick, and see you all soon.

Laurie

This week's task was something a bit different for us - we gathered donations from Chelmsford Foodbank's wanted list, and made our way there to deliver the donations.

We met at Lidl, and started to get a bit concerned about our final attempt at Beat the Street as the minutes ticked by without Fay and Sallyann. We couldn't take it any longer, so Rich waited behind with some of the goods we didn't fancy carrying, and the rest of us set off at speed to get six beat boxes in less than 30 minutes.

The route out was slightly more uphill than anticipated, possibly the hardest work Martin has ever done at GoodGym.

Rich caught us up pretty quickly, and he and Andy expertly guided us through the streets of Moulsham, reminiscing about their childhoods. Andy also pointed out the first house he bought, for not much more than the current average UK salary.

We made it to our last Beat Box in Chelmer Park with about 2 minutes to spare, and whilst constantly refreshing the leaderboard we realised that we'd just been overtaken on total points. It didn't stop Martin from giving that last beat box a kiss though. Despite coming first on average points and second on total points for our category, we miserably walked to the foodbank, with David blaming anyone and everyone for only being in second place; only Sallyann's name was left untarnished.

We dropped off our donations, apart from Joel, spotted Sallyann's fizz treat for the Lidl car park, did some more blaming, and then made our way back. Most of us went to Rok Kitchen afterwards for some well deserved fried chicken, and I think we'll be back there soon enough.

Well done everyone for a tough run, and for getting us two prizes!

Extra well done to Jenny for coming with us on a winding Beat the Street run, and without the Rok Kitchen at the end!

See you all soon,

Laurie

Phay, Dick and DJ turned out on a sunny Sunday morning to help tidy up the sensory garden ready for an event next week. We set about weeding the flower beds while chatting about jobs, weekends away and nicknames. DJ got so carried away he started pulling up the plants as well as the weeds. Luckily he replanted the plant and no-one was any the wiser! In between coffee breaks we did a great job helping dig over the flower beds. We also spotted some faint previous GoodGym graffiti in the garden, courtesy of Joe (allegedly). The details of next week's event are in the poster (see pictures), all are welcome to come along.

Our Wednesday task is a Foodbank run. You can sign up here

Despite the much improved lighting situation, we still met just inside the door, with Bianca wearing three layers and two pairs of socks!

We set off after a hyped up run briefing from leading light Laurie where no one seemed to have any energy. Beatboxing on the way we met leading light leaflet legend Fay who had prepared a great haul including a youth disco which got Joe reminiscing. We split off into two groups and got to work. Doug raised the union flag with Brexit pride and Sallyann even managed to find a brand new beatbox!

We delivered all the leaflets, and even the extra ones that Chris seemed to find, and headed back to base. Angela swung off early to prepare for bicycle shopping and Andy couldn't be bothered to do the last beatbox. For shame! If we miss out by 20 points we know who to blame.

It is also the quiz this weekend on Sunday, and if anyone wants a lift to Barrow farm on Sunday morning for the task there do let me know.

Make sure you read the email from Laurie (cough Martin cough) about the run next week. We will be setting off from Lidl to the foodbank. It is a longer run and there is a list of stuff they need to bring. We may also head to the pub after. Beat the street ends next week during the run so we can all celebrate! Especially if we can catch the girl guides!

God it was cold tonight! That didn't stop 12 of us eager to get litter picking though. We met at ARU and I bragged about winning a prize through beat the street and meeting the mayor before being knocked down a couple of pegs when I realised I forgot my beat card. No points for me today! Something also looked a little off, Russell trying out a new fashion strategy by wearing his t-shirt backwards.

We ran a route out to get to Odeon to meet Ben (excellent star wars hoody and all), Jess and Angela. We dived into the litter we could find. It was when we hit the B&M car park we hit the motherload. Andy found a mystery key for locker 96, Jess thought Angela had left a bottle from work..., Sallyann has a worrying tendency for finding the booze bottles, and a huge amount of the usual snack packaging. Bianca won the prize for most full bag. We posed for a photo by the green wall, Laurie questioned Martin's face which she declared confused.

We braced the cold weather to run back to base and hitting some more boxes on the way. But just when we thought the fun was over, Fay whipped it out! That's right, her bag of treats to celebrate her 100th good deed last week! Amazing work Fay! and thank you for the goodies, even brought some dairy free ones for Jenny. Joel also did 250 good deeds last week but he didn't even show let alone bring me anything...Can't wait to see the new t-shirt!

See you all soon.