We were out pounding the streets again this weekend in support of Cambridge City Foodbank, delivering letters to raise awareness of their work.

Meeting to run to the task, Catherine welcomed Dani, who joined (definitely not defected) all the way from Luton, and Debbie who came for her first GoodGym session. Delighted to have you both join us 🙌

Taking a scenic route along the river and through the graveyard (only the best for new GoodGymers), we met Daiana, Scott, Michele, and Beth on Mill Road. An altogether jolly group of posties 📨

In pairs, each taking a main road, we split off to get delivering. Although the main focus was posting, there was time to admire some beautiful flowers (particularly the wisteria and roses) and stained glass, providing lots of inspiration. In just 30 minutes we'd delivered 250 letters. Swift work, and not at all motivated by the thought of coffee and pastries...

We reconvened and relocated to Mill Mediterranean Coffee Spot and enjoyed mammoth drinks and a variety of sweet treats while we chatted about the joys of storage units, garden centres, and bowling. Rumour has it that someone once got married in a bowling alley but we're unclear if they actually walked down the lane 🎳

Summoning pastry-based energy, Debbie and I ran back to our meet point through Midsummer common, enjoying the trees and activity on the river.

A social was the perfect opportunity to mark good deed milestones for Scott and Michele who are both celebrating reaching 10 Good Deeds 🎉 Absolutely brilliant and a solid commitment to making a difference in our community 🫶

Today was fun. As well as good deeds, we had good movement, good laughs and good pastries - all the best bits of GoodGym 💛

A beautiful morning spent marshaling at Milton Country parkrun. Basking in the sunshine and to the backdrop of birdsong, I cheered 368 people round the course. At both ends of the spectrum, I congratulated someone on their first ever parkrun and there was a 500th parkrun celebration (with cake)! Well done to everyone who took part 🙌

Not strictly parkrun tourism, but definitely worth noting, on the other side of the world Caroline has been taking on a new challenge, hiking in Peru. The highest a GoodGym Cambridge T-shirt has travelled (4215m)! An amazing achievement, well done 💪

It was a hot one this morning at Coldham's Common parkrun.

My first time doing post-event close down at Coldham's, which allowed me to enjoy the run first. Shout out to the marshals who were giving so much positive energy, and one even had a dinosaur puppet cheering us on (very motivational) 🦖

I was fortunate to be volunteering with Tina, who had definitely closed down a few parkruns, packing the trolley perfectly and successfully wrangling the name sign (if you've tried to do this you'll know what a skill it is!). Wheeling the trolley was the 'fun' part with all wheels wanting to go in different directions. It certainly needed some strength to manoeuvre, and I suggested it we give it some whoomph 💪 (welly x oomph, I think?? It was early.) It worked, and within half an hour the trolley was stored away in the smartest parkrun container I've ever seen!

Well done to all 407 finishers 🙌

Another sunny evening spent improving green spaces in Cambridge 🌿

We were back at The Fields Child and Family Centre working in the children's garden, which had been taken over by weeds. In need of some help to finish the work started by the Centre team, Sal called in the big guns. Known around the city for our elite weed-fighting skills, of course Goodgymers accepted the (community) mission.

Ilse, Beth and I jumped on bikes to make the dash to the Centre and Scott ran across town double-quick time (not at all because he was running late). We were delighted to welcome new recruit, Rowan, who joined us for her first task 🫡

Met by Sal, we got straight to work. Rowan, Scott and Beth were on weeding duty, Sal was sweeping, and Ilse and I cleared the raised beds (leaving grass in one for the dinosaurs, obviously).

It was T-shirt and shorts weather at last, and as some GoodGymers were wrangling copious amounts of mint, it was feeling fresh and summery. With many hands, we had the area cleared within the hour, leaving it ready for playing and planting over the coming weeks. We had chance to hear about the positive work Sal and her teams are doing in their Centres across Cambridge, both to improve the environment directly and providing learning opportunities for the community. 💚

Before we left we had time for a quick team photo, which would not have been out of place on an album cover from the early 2000s. Less squadron and more Blazin' Squad.

We did good, got fit, and stayed connected. GoodGym mission complete 🙌

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Pun credit: Scott

I spent a fantastic couple of hours at Cambridge Volunteer Fair talking with over 30 interested people about the wonderful world of GoodGym. There were also great opportunities to connect with local organisations that we can support in Cambridge.

Speaking with new people about GoodGym is always very special (as they love it so much) and I love getting passionate about our brilliant GoodGymers and what we do. I felt proud being part of a community doing so much for people that need it most in our city, and left feeling inspired and motivated.

I look forward to meeting new GoodGymers soon!

The sunny evenings have arrived and we made the most of it this week supporting Cambridge City Foodbank with an awareness raising campaign.

Ilse and I met at Parkside Pools for a warm up and the all important pre-run picture (with very good light!). We enjoyed a social run along Mill Road before setting off down residential streets to get busy letter posting. It turns out Ilse is quite the leafleting pro, having helped local councillors with their campaigns in the past. This was my 5th leafleting task and the letterboxes were still getting the better of me.

We covered 2 miles in 40 minutes, helping the foodbank reach houses they have not had contact with previously.

We both agreed that it was a really lovely way to spend an evening - keeping active, staying connected and enjoying the sunshine all while doing good for the community 💛