I love marshalling at Junior Parkrun. It’s simple. Don hi viz vest, a whistle in case of emergency and a giant foam hand and I’m on it - ready to cheer the runners on. The hardest thing being to come up with something new to say to the parkrunners as they pass you.

This Sunday was different. I had a new job - barcode scanner. I stayed up late the night before to make sure the technology (Parkrun app) worked. It didn’t but some intense googling fixed the problem.

I turned up at Odd Down cycle circuit with the responsibility of my new job weighing me down. But it was okay - there were two other barcode scanners there to help and we made a formidable team encouraging the children as they ran and then photographing their barcodes and finish tokens and then popping the tokens in the little pot you see in the photo. It was an eye opener to see how the magic worked.

We clocked up 77 finishers and got to see the pride on their faces as they celebrated their achievement - 2km at speed around the track. My achievement - surviving my first barcode scanning task - was small in comparison.

It’s not every GoodGym mission that turns into an educational experience but Cleveland Pools is rather special. Opening in 1817 it is the UK’s oldest public open-air swimming pool. I knew this - I even swam there as a teenager with its big pool, children’s pool and fountain.

What I didn’t know until this visit is that there is a third pool tucked behind the crescent-like architecture. A ladies pool cut off from the main pool where, in its early days, men used to swim in the nude, and allowing women to gather and relax. It now serves as a place to display the history of the site but in my head I could hear the gossip and chatter of a bygone age and see the women bathing and showering and giggling about the boys the other side of the wall.

It was a lovely insight into the history of a lido which may be closed at the moment but has a trust that is striving to revive it.

But enough about history and bringing us up to date - GoodGym were called in to help keep the site neat and tidy, ready for the moment it reopens and - more immediately - spick and span for the World Heritage open day in September.

Five of us dug in - mainly weeding the slopes. Paul had already done his bit by mowing the grass during the week but that didn’t stop him wielding the secateurs. Max and Cosmo went the extra mile, helping a neighbour with some rubbish clearance - and, on her first mission, Laetitia showed the weeds she meant business. Hurrah!

Special mention must be given to the fig and banana cake made by trustee Sally Helvey to sustain the volunteers. Yum!

Three GoodGymmers joined Grow for Life to spruce up their tool shed with a lovely lick of black paint. We always enjoy coming to their wonderful walled garden where they provide social and therapeutic gardening sessions for those living with low confidence, anxiety, depression or isolation. With lots of fun chat including the origins of phrases such as 'cutting the mustard' we can confirm that Bennath, Ruth and Tanya definitely cut the mustard today! With the repainted shed looking very smart we were well rewarded by our hosts with cool melon and iced drinks which were so welcome on a hot day. Great job all and looking forward to the next session in August, sign up to really make a difference to this small Bath charity.

One of GoodGym Bath’s regular missions is helping a local church support some vulnerable members of its community. It lays on a monthly meal - ‘One-to-One’ - at the church for people who would otherwise be eating on their own and also provides a takeaway version for those who can’t make it. Mary and I put the “do good get fit” mantra into practice by hand-delivering them across Odd Down.

The fact that the lunches were roast turkey (and trifle!) may seem surprising for a hot summer’s day but the guests simply love their roasts. As Mrs C said as I handed her a lunch, “I really look forward to these every month, they are wonderful”. When you’re on your own it’s a lot of effort to cook a full-on roast.

We are not just delivering lunches, we are also possibly the only person these people may see during the day. We provide a friendly face and check up on them too.

Indeed, one householder I visited who was struggling in the heatwave welcomed my advice to keep hydrated.

I hope they enjoyed their trifles too!