GoodGym Bath ran to Oldfield Baptist church to give their toys a thorough steamin' and cleanin'! The toys are used by the weekly toddler group and they are all well used and well loved. We had a lot of fun making a noticable difference to this community group and ran 4km in total.

GG Social

Next Tuesday after the run we are going to The Stables for some food. Please sign up so we have an idea of numbers to book a table.

Running to Oldfield Park

Emily led the run from the leisure centre out to Oldfield Park and we met our host Paul. Lots of us have been to this task before, but for those who hadn't been before Paul explained that they get around 40 families (over 100 people) at each of the toddler group sessions. There are lots of different toys that can always do with a cleaning.

Steamin' and Cleanin'

Some of us were on the kitchen crew and we put lots of smaller plastic toys through the dishwasher and wiped them dry. We got through a big box of Duplo and a huge box of plastic food items that the toddlers use in their mini kitchen. We were amazed to find individual plastic pringle crisps!

Another group of runners were spraying and wiping down the larger toys. There was a big elephant slide and lots of musical instruments that were quite sticky and benefited from our cleaning!

Finally, another group of GoodGymmers used the steam cleaner on the fabric toys. The rocking horse looked a lot happier after we had steamed her!

At the end we lined all of the toys back up and we were pleased how much cleaner they looked and smelled! It was a really rewarding and fun evening!

Thanks!

Thanks to Paul for setting up for us and for hosting us. We really appreciate it, Paul. Thanks to Rachel and Phoebe for backmarking for us and thanks to Emily for leading the run.

GoodGym Bath braved the dreaded Bloomfield Drive and ran a hilly route to St Phillip and St James' Church in Odd Down. We helper prepare activities for a half-term club and did a deep clean of their community kitchen. We ran 7.15km in total - good February training!

Welcome to GoodGym, Chris and Josh!

At the leisure centre we welcomed two new runners, Chris and Josh. Thanks for coming along to help us out - we hope to see you again soon!

The run was tough but when we got to the church our host, Andy, offered us juice and biscuits which helped revive our spirits! Each year the church runs a holiday club for 40 young people ranging from 5-9 years during half term. The theme is all about exploring the bible story at different points in history and teaching this through games and activities. One of the rules of the club is whenever a leader says "Chattabox!" the young people have to shout back "Chattabox" in return, hence the pun for the run!

We helped prepare the hall for the activities that are going ahead this week. We had a varied mixture of tasks to complete.

The tasks:

We boarded up the areas around the stage to make sure any curious youngsters couldn't get lost/stuck underneath. After rearranging the tables in the room, some of the runners spent the evening making 'heavy duty name tags' which are like signposts so that the young people know which team they are in.

Another group of runners made cardboard boxes and stuck letters on (as you can see in the pictures in front of the Tardis!). Another job we got done was to make large A3 envelopes out of card so that the young people could take home their puzzles and drawings to show their parents.

Finally, a dedicated group of GoodGymmers put on their rubber gloves and cleaned the kitchen. This area is used throughout the day most days of the week by members of the church and a variety of community groups so it always benefits from a thorough clean.

We did an eclectic mixture of tasks last night but it was a really fun to spend an evening doing something completely different and out of the norm. We were also really pleased with how much of a impact we made in such a short space of time.

Thanks!

Thanks to our task hosts for Andy and Graham for hosting us last night. Thanks to Emily for leading the run and thanks for Phoebe for backmarking.

We ran to paint the communal spaces at a hostel for people facing homelessness in Oldfield Park in Bath. Our work brought some new life to the space and made it an even more inviting and comfortable room. As well as painting we even managed to find time to clean some children's toys and we ran 6km in total.

Welcome, Seb!

We welcomed Seb to his first run with GoodGym. Thanks for helping us out last night, Seb, and we hope to see you again soon!

GG News

Before we got going I shared some GG news with the group:

• At the weekend several of our runners completed the Dark Horse race. Despite the awful wind and the darkness they all made it round (mainly!) unscathed. Look out for more runs organised by Relish Running - they are always really fun!
• We have another social coming up on 3rd March after the run. It was really good fun last time, so please sign up and join us!
• The GoodGym 'Big 6' races have been announced. These are pre-organised events where GoodGym groups from across the counry get together to support each other during the race and there is often a GG task/social involved too. A great way to meet like-minded people and travel the country! See the listings here.

On with the task!

Curo provides emergency temporary accommodation to homeless single people and families. They offer supported accommodation and assist people with a very wide range of issues to access and maintain a permanent tenancy in the future with the aim of avoiding the system again. At the project on Dartmouth Avenue they have places for 23 households.

Our task was to paint the walls in their communal space. We worked as a team to make sure we covered all of the areas we needed to. We were so efficient that we managed to paint an extra wall that we hadn't planned on doing. A group of runners who had completed their painting mission spent some time cleaning boxes of plastic road and cars with disinfectant to keep them clean and safe to enjoy.

The hard work we put in made a really visible difference and we were pleased with what we achieved.

Thanks!

Thanks to Emily and her team at Curo for hosting us for a fun task. Thanks to Mark for backmarking for us and thanks to Rebecca for an awesome first GG 'pun for the run'!

19 GoodGym runners went to The Nest project in Lower Weston to sort a small mountain of toddler clothes and accessories. We sorted the items and boxed them up. This means it will be a lot easier when families come to take the clothes at their weekly collection meetings. We ran 7.7km in total.

Welcome Sarah, Tara and Rebecca!

We welcomed three new runners to our group: Sarah, Tara and Rebecca. I hope you had fun last night and thanks for your help. I hope to see you again soon!

News

Before we left for our run I shared some upcoming GG events and news:

• We have a GG social at the beginning of March after the group run. Please sign up so we can book tables etc!
• At the weekend is the Dark Horse 5km/10km event that is being run by Relish Running. Several GG runners have signed up so there will be some friendly faces to enjoy a drink and hog roast with afterwards!
• We have a GG WhatsApp group which you are welcome to join

On with the task!

The Nest Project provides good quality, new and second-hand children’s clothes and equipment (age 0-5) completely free of charge. This service is available to anyone in BANES who needs it regardless of income, faith or background. They get lots of donations and it takes their staff and volunteers a long time to sort it all. Last night we organised the clothes into different categories based on age and gender. There was a huge assortment of items in there, most notably a batman outfit and a robin bib which we all thought were adorable!

It was a night that involved a great deal of team work and coordination to make sure we got everything done effectively in a small space! I was really happy how everyone clubbed together to get the job done. In just 35 minutes we filled up 18 boxes of categorised clothes!

After the task we headed to The Stable in Kingsmeade Square for a cider and pizza. Thanks to Rachel for organising - it was a great reward after a long run!

Thanks

Thanks to Rachel for backmarking and thanks to Beth and her team for hosting us. We will return again in March!