When GoodGym joined The Great Get Together
A weekend filled with events to celebrate all the things that unite us
June 26, 2018
At the weekend, thousands of people across the country joined their neighbors to celebrate all the things that unite us as part of The Great Get Together – an event inspired by Jo Cox, the late MP.
Bringing different people together, supporting each other, and having loads of fun is something that we’re lucky to experience pretty often on a GoodGym run. So last weekend we spread the love a little further and helped host a couple of The Great Get Together events in Newcastle and Bristol.
The Great Get Together in Elswick Park, Newcastle
On Friday, Carol Anne ran with the Newcastle gang to help the West End Woman’s and Girl’s Centre in Newcastle to host their get together.
On Saturday, we ran a lovely 5k (there and back) in the glorious Newcastle sunshine. Although we did get chased by a dog and took a wrong turn which meant we had to tackle a few unintended hills too!
Once we arrived at the site it was time to get cracking - introductions first, bunting up, tables out and a quick spot of gardening to cut back some nasty nettles. We were tasked with registration and greeting visitors as they arrived to take part in an afternoon of togetherness and activities.
I met some fantastic people from all different backgrounds and plenty of families all eager and excited to be part of a very special day.
The event went extremely well - families from all over the West End came together to build their own streets and houses out of cardboard. It was great to see Elswick Park filled with laughter, chatter and teamwork, helped along by games and competitions to get people talking.
Watching everyone come together - young and old - was amazing. The atmosphere was electric with people posing for photographs together and just appreciating being in each other’s company. The afternoon was brought to an end with a good old fashioned sing-a-long, food and cake.
It was a great way to spend a summer's afternoon, learning about and getting to know your neighbor and appreciating that we have ‘more in common’ than we might think.
People from the West End say it’s the ‘Best End’ and on Friday afternoon they weren’t wrong!
The Great Dog Walk Together in Bristol
Charlie and Laura are members of the Task Force in Bristol. On Saturday they ran with a bunch of us to help host the Great Dog Walk Together.
A few words from Charlie
What more could you want.... a load of cute dogs and a GoodGym task to kick off a beautiful sunny Saturday on the Downs for The Great Dog Walk Together.
Laura and Zdeni arrived early to help set up and handout neckerchiefs to all dogs and owners taking part. With Charlie and Julie avec Fergus her dog joined in time for the walk at 10am.
The walk itself was dogtastic – there were plenty of dogs running around and there was lots of chatter as we strolled around the Downs. As ever, some of the GoodGym gang adopted the very important role of back marker to ensure everyone successfully made it around the Downs! Trying to keep track of all the dogs made this interesting!
It was a fun event in the sunshine and did a great job at showing that we all have #moreincommon
A few words from Laura
I really enjoyed volunteering at the Great Dog Get Together not least because I love dogs and I can’t have one myself, but because I was impressed by just how easy and relaxing it was to strike up a conversation with someone who has a dog.
We often meet inspiring people on our GoodGym tasks and this was another occasion.
It was interesting to learn more about The Great Get Together and how the organiser, Elaine, made the event happen.
Trying to keep people moving was a challenge - the very nature of the walk meant people found it easy to stop, relax and chat so they were less focused on keeping up! Plus there were some well needed pauses for dog rehydration and dog rescue!
It felt great to be part of a large group, walking for the same shared reason of 'getting together', and knowing that as a GoodGym runner, I was able to support what we do there too, made it even more rewarding.
Want to get to know more people in your community?
- Meet new people in your area and make your community an even better place to live. Try a GoodGym group run near you. Every week we work out by helping local community projects, and run back all within 90 minutes.
- Give Carol Anne, Charlie and Laura a cheer for helping out at The Big Get Together last weekend.