JC

Running late from a team building day with work, Sam arrived just 2-3 minutes late after a mob of GoodGymers were ascending on Old Spike Roastery.

Sam knew half of the team were going to meet at Thorlands whilst the other half were up for a 3k run via Grove Hill.

Sam brushed through the announcements before getting on with the warm-up. Yet, Jc opted out as he literally ran and came to Old Spike Roastery as we were closing up. After everyone warmed up, our ice-breaker question for tonight was: Which villain (real or fictional / dead or alive) would you go out on a dinner date with?

Everyone was playing the cautious card by saying Disney villains such as Cruella and Ursula, but we did have Darth Vader and Lex Luther. Only Sam chose a real dead villain - Hitler.

Stay Trenched

The 3k run took us just over 15 minutes and when we arrived, we were greeted by the sights of Mikhail, who hadn't been on a group run for at least two years as well as our regulars: Paulin, Lindy, Ed and Rebecca who opted to run, walk or cycle to the task.

After collecting the tools, we continued with where we left off on Saturday. There was more digging trenches to plant tree saplings that needed to be grounded before all the saplings dried up. The digging of the trench was left to the boys - Joao, Jc, Mikhail and Ed. However, there were other tasks at hand.

Lindy and Gemma cleared the terrace area of Buddleia. Whilst Daryl, Emma and Nathan had the task of shifting the compost heap from the Forest Garden to the Kitchen Garden as on Saturday we will be mulching that area. Paulin and Rebecca got the watering cans as the soil needed to be watered before we could plant the saplings.

Luckily, everyone had something to do and there was hardly any waiting around. The minutes flashed by with some banging tunes from Sam.

All in all, it was a successful evening and after we put back the tools and took our group photo, we headed off back home/to Old Spike Roastery.

Thank You to all the GG-ers

A personal thanks from me to all those who came out tonight! Being tipsy after a few drinks at the team building afternoon added an extra level of concentration and added professionalism. I appreciate that this was our largest group run of the year! Simon appreciated what we could do in 30 minutes and really showing the power of GoodGym when we are in numbers (and when there's enough tools and tasks to do). Thank you again!

Thank You Simon

GoodGym is all about getting fit and doing good! We praise the runners/cyclists/walkers who come to get fit and help out, but we often forget about our task owner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Simon for the monthly group run session. It was great that we could finish off tasks mid-week rather than wait a whole week!

11 awesome Goodgymmers descended upon the Westbury Banks Nature Reserve to lend a hand in prepping the site for the rehabilitation of a tree avenue.

Can I get a Woop Woop?

Big noise for Diego who travelled all the way from New Zealand to join us for his maiden run - talk about Goodgym tourism. Boom.

And thanks to everyone last night who celebrated good ol' Gramps as I burst my way through the big door marked '150 Good Deed Club'. You all rock. (And special mention to Alex for today's Gramps-centric pun).

Rollin' In The Deep

Never doubt our Goodgymmers to turn up with their sleeves rolled up when it comes to helping out at the Westbury Banks Nature Reserve: Goodgymmers Gonna Goodgym after all. Give them a call asking for help, and they'll never let You down. They'll turn Up with a smile on their lips and ready for action. Sometimes, they might even turn up in ways that might surprise you!

Anyway, last night was no exception. We all came ready for some hard graft. We removed an old plastic liner from the tree avenue as well as some loose stakes and logs, leaving the pathway ready for the Friends of Westbury Banks Nature Reserve to now come and make a decision on how to rehabilitate the tree avenue.

It looked like a very big job but you should've seen our Goodgymmers - they wasted no time and within 20 minutes, they has sorted it all out.

We even had time to fix a couple of fallen bug hotels and cleared a bunch of fallen tree debris from the newly-laid accesible path.

Having finished our task for the eve, Gramps was surprised with bubbles, cards, and goodies as we tried to take some group shots. Cheeky bunch!

We ate our biscuits and had a good ol' natter late into the evening.

A lovely eve.

Join us next week for more shenanigans.