Tonight, two Goodgymmers braved the cold to help as hosts for the guests at FoodCycle. This is a brilliant charity which uses surplus food to feed anyone who is struggling in food poverty or who wants to come along for somewhere warm and a friendly face. A smaller turnout than usual tonight, probably down to the frosty weather and the fact that last weeks session was sadly cancelled due to a lack of volunteers. However, a great evening was had by all and the guests had an inventive 3 course meal with plenty left for second portions, and even some to take back home with them!

Next week is the last session before Christmas so the group leaders are planning to go all out, if you’re thinking about signing up I would strongly encourage you to do so!

Tuesday evening saw another friendly gathering at FoodCycle Luton, a charity which provides free hot meals to anyone who needs it. Guests can just arrive on the evening- there's no need to book and they don't need to do anything to qualify for it. On the menu was a delicious meal of spicy tomato soup, flavourful egg fried rice with vegetables and a lovely pudding of homemade sponge cake- with plenty of piping hot (definitely not shark infested) custard which is a sure favourite among the group! Nice and warming for a chilly autumn evening, the guests left fed and content.

Anyone who is thinking about volunteering, I would encourage you to definitely give it a go! There are a range of roles available to suit different times and it's such a friendly and welcoming group. You won't regret it!

We teamed up with ABCD Luton and the kids at the youth club to tackle the nettles and overgrown weeds where the playground structures used to be.

Amazing effort from our GoodGym trio of Kelvin, Karen and Rebecca who made quick work of what was a large task, together with Kevin and Phyl from ABCD Luton and the local kids who also got stuck in and attacked the weeds!

The site is now clear for potential funders to see and hopefully they'll get the funding needed to build a new playground. 🤞

It was great to be back at Transitions UK again this evening. Even after a 2 week break many of the young people remembered those of us who had been before and it was lovely to see how relaxed they were with us. Divided into two groups, Jack and Gill did not go up the hill, but took the first group on a route march to the park - encouraging those who walked on the previous visit to recall the directions. And we were then challenged by some of the swifter young ones to go for it to see who could complete a lap of the park the fastest. The other group worked on their task with Kelvin's help and prepared dinner.

How lovely to be able to share a meal with both groups, before taking the 2nd group out on an even faster route march and run and to see them starting to recognise the streets and describe the directions as they develop their bearings.