As the nights begin to draw in, our leafleting sessions on behalf of Cambridge City Foodbank are a fantastic way to get some fresh air and your step count up - all while doing some good!

For the first in this year's winter series, Kate and I layered up and met to distribute the revamped leaflets, which Kate carried in a well-stocked backpack. With me recovering from a bug, we took a gentle stroll from our meeting point rather than a run, heading down Mill Road to the other side of the railway tracks and our designated area. With it being just the two of us, we made the decision to stick together to maximise the social aspect, helped by most of the doors being arranged in closely grouped pairs. 👭

With all of the "no junk mail please" doors uncannily being the ones I went to (not taking it personally!), we admired the various stained glass windows and autumn wreaths. We were even treated to a couple of cats and some small but mighty tiny guard dogs! 🐈‍⬛️🐶

Catching up on everything we'd been up to since we'd last seen each other, the main topic of conversation soon became running. It turns out we've both signed up to our first marathons next year! Sharing training plans and ideas and agreeing to do some long runs together, we committed to motivating and supporting each other. 💪

With each of us having a less-than-ideal afternoon beforehand, this task was the perfect antidote and we were both so pleased we were able to make it. Time flies when you're having fun and doing good, and it was the pep both our steps needed! ☺️

We had a mighty cru for our visit to SIN Cru's Definately Real Build site for this week's group session, and Lucy had a plethora of tasks ready for us.

After some great relief all round at slightly delayed meeting time Alice, Beth, Chris, Kate and Scott were on route to Arbury. I was held up, and had to run double speed to arrive on time, only to bump into the group (quite literally) round a corner on route. Soon after, we were passed by Becky and Caroline whizzing past on bikes 🚴‍♀️🚴‍♀️

We were serenaded by the beautiful huskies as we arrived, which is always a treat 🎶

With a good group and many tasks, we divided and conquered:

🪏 Kate, Chris and Beth got straight to weeding, finding the marrow particularly stubborn. It called for spades, loppers and a hoe.

🪻Becky was weeding the wildflower patch and sowing new seeds, delicately trampling the soil to embed them.

🌱 Caroline was put in charge of heavy machinery and set about mowing the lawn. She then had fun aerating it - there's something very satisfying about stabbing the ground repeatedly with sturdy garden tools.

🍂 Alice and I were turning the compost and disposing of green waste. Thankfully we had proper spades rather than the kitchen forks we nearly ended up with after a little misinterpretation.

🪚 Scott was in his happy place with a saw in hand. In the space of 45 minutes he'd turned discarded pallet planks into planters. They were a sight to behold!

The site was a hive of activity and the time flew! We just had time before heading back to capture some excellent group shots featuring Scott's planters and a very photogenic dog 📸

Movement, good deeds, dog fussing and plenty of laughter, all in all a great evening. Well done team 🙌