(with thanks to Bekah and Claire for pun inspiration)

It was a classic GoodGym Liverpool winter session, cold, dark and raining, but a determined group of us were not going to be put off just by weather when we had pruning to do and milestones to hit - tonight we celebrated Amina's 20th task, Leo's 10th task, and welcomed Colin back for his second session - a huge well done to all three. Amina, Sallyann, Colin and Bekah met at the suitcases and ran through the rain to meet the rest of the group (Sian, Leo, Lucien and Jess) and Adam from Friends of Everton Park at the gorgeous Prince Edwin Street community gardens to receive our briefing and tools. We carefully counted out all our loppers and saws so that we could be sure to count them in again and not leave any unattended blades behind! Our mission today was to cut down the poplar saplings that had sprung up on the grassy banks of Everton Park. For many GoodGymmers it feels really wrong at first to be cutting trees down in the name of environmentalism, but as you visit Everton Park over a longer span of time it becomes apparent that it's important to prune back some growth to allow others to flourish, and also that the saplings pop back up again whenever you turn around!! The rain had made the bank muddy and slippy so we had to move very cautiously especially carrying our tools and cuttings.

A passerby stopped to talk to us who was learning English and natively spoke Brazilian Portuguese - well in a beautiful moment of serendipity, Leo who shares the same mother tongue was at the task tonight and able to lead the conversation and help interpret. The man was really keen to join in with us on the spot and in the GoodGym ethos of nobody being left behind we really wanted him to be able to, but after some consideration and discussion Bekah made the excellent call that it wasn't a good idea on this particular task as it would mean handing a saw to a passerby and sending them up a slippery bank in the dark! We did encourage him to come along in the future so hopefully we will see him again.

The poplars were all cut down with such speed and efficiency we still had plenty of time to start on the brambles in front of the wall with LOVE painted on it. This had at one time been completely covered up but a previous GoodGym session had, aptly enough, revealed the LOVE, meaning that it was a much more manageable task today to prune back the new growth and we just reached the end of the sign at the end of the session. In homage to Dan's penchant for creating a playlist for each task, my suggestion for this one is Dance (Prune) Me to the End of (the) Love (Sign at Everton Park) by the Civil Wars! We returned our tools and said goodbye to Everton Park for the rest of the year. We will look forward to returning next spring, hopefully to meet a fit and healthy John. We send John our love and best wishes for a full recovery.

I began today feeling a deep sense of connection with the world, inspired by Goodgym's woodland adventures of yesternight. Then, I reflected again.

Our clearance of clumps of young trees was requested, as necessary to open up the space for park users and the nearby Shrewsbury House Youth Club. But tis sometimes a struggle, being cruel, sustained only by the hope that our actions are understood as simple kindness. Thus, for this Goodgym mission of sensible park management, we kept our hearts somewhat hidden, satisfying the remit of the task, however slightly ruthless it might have felt.

As the sun sank, we switched on the stark glare of our night lights, illuminating the forest staring back at us, with its meek foliage fluttering in the evening breeze. We proceeded with the merciless grinding of our saws against hard wood, backed with the sharp bite of our loppers severing through sapling branches. We then neatly piled up the spoils of our lumberjacking, anticipating the season of crackling bonfires ahead.

Nearby skateboarders were said to have heard the occasional roar of destructive pleasure sounding from amongst the falling trees.

To express this conflicted medley of emotion, in a neat, comic pun, I searched and found the title of a dreamy, sentimental love song, so it, too, could be crushed, by simply remembering the brutal efficiency of our seemingly innocent, rustic garden implements. Delivering tough love, for the greater good(gym).

Pun (drawing on the lyrics of a song by Briony Greenhill):

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PeonN3AeWNE&si=LPpFIY0EQY0Qm94B

This session we were back at the Bombed Out Church, completing our excellent work painting the final tables, stools and benches, taking on the Host Stand, and litter picking.

We welcomed new Goodgymmer Colin who joined us for his first task - welcome Colin! It was great to meet you.

Task owner Kate gave us a thorough briefing, and we split into groups, some taking on the painting, and some on litter-picking duty. The site initially looked fairly clear, though with some rummaging the team were able to fill several litter bags, including a pair of shoes (yes, the full pair), socks, and a rather lovely bowl. The painting team took it in turns swapping the large and small brushes, and efficiently finished painting the benches, tables and stools, before turning their attention to the larger Host Stand. Everyone got stuck in, whilst I was on the important tasks of project management, team co-ordination, quality control and torch holding.

The BOC team were again delighted with how much we achieved in such a short space of time, and booked another session there and then. Next time we'll be planting bulbs to prepare for a dazzling daffodil display in the spring!

Alas, every silver lining has a cloud, and the cloud hanging over this session was that our beloved Dan is moving on to pastures new, and this was his last session with Goodgym Liverpool - for now. Dan joined Goodgym Liverpool six months ago, and quickly became an integral member of the group. His love of litter picking, skills with the puns, way with wordsmithery and all-round fabulous company endeared him to all he met, and we're very sorry to see him go. But Dan won't be giving up on Goodgym, he'll be moving to Goodgym Hackney, who don't know how lucky they are to have him - yet. Dan leaves us as a taskforce member with a very respectable 26 good deeds under his belt. He's assured us he'll be back to visit, and the door is always open for him to (litter) pick up where he left off. Dan - it's been an absolute pleasure getting to know you, we hope to see you again very soon.

The team presented Dan with a card and a farewell gift of some thorn proof gardening gloves and his very own litter picking hoop (he already owns his own litter picker!), and he very kindly opened his home to us for some post-task refreshments for a proper farewell.

Goodgym is a fantastic way to get to know some very lovely people, the other side of that coin is it's always difficult when people move on. But you know what they say: 'tis better to have loved litter-picked, than never to have volunteered at all...

This mid-October task began with four Goodgym runners assembling at the Hope Street Suitcases. Run leader Sophie led the group through a sequence of stretches, warming us up ready for a steady run over to the evening's task destination: Mulgrave Street Action Group (MSAG), where another five members joined up to make an overall team of nine. [If you want the extra exercise, the pre-task jog remains a strong (optional) feature of Monday evening activity.]

For the uninitiated, MSAG is the L8 oasis, headed up by local resident, Khan Odita. The stuff of local legend, Khan's efforts brought about the transformation of a small patch of roadside waste land into a vibrant community garden, and Goodgym have regularly supported its maintenance over the years since.

The MSAG task ahead: planting out seventeen small shrub plants to introduce a new lease of green leaved life to the garden's flower beds.

Before devoting ourselves to shrubs, another special arrival merited priority attention, that of a truly extraordinary member of Goodgym Liverpool Taskforce... Bekah, whose attendance this evening saw her reach the awesome milestone achievement of 100 tasks completed! A(nother) centurion in our midst at Goodgym Liverpool 😀

Bekah, ever slick, casually trotted up to task, in the flow of volunteer business as usual. But such an ordinary and low-key arrival would not do. Siân stepped in with polite firmness, requesting that Bekah might leave and arrive again, allowing time for final touches to the intended honorary reception.

And so it was that Bekah re-arrived, breaking through the streams of blue ribbon strung up between two gateposts, further decorated in balloons and pompoms. Cue whoops of applause from smiling friends, blowing bubbles of Goodgym cheer all around (thank you to Lucien's ever-ready supply of bubbles!). Dan presented Bekah with a shiny golden rosette medal, adding a touch of red-carpet glitz and glamour, with paparazzi snaps and clips from Clara, on camera.

All this highly dramatic and low budget fanfare was, or course, in recognition of Bekah's century of dedication, kindness and supremely thorough organisation, supporting 100 good deeds of community action across Liverpool. Congratulations and thank you, Bekah West.

Floating on the high of celebration it was, predictably, err, Bekah, who got us back on task, facilitating our opening circle time for Goodgym introductions, before handing over to the task owner, Khan, conductor of much MSAG magic.

Khan talked us through his grand garden design plans: to bed in new shrub life amongst the garden's flower bedful of existing surprises. Then, before letting loose our untamed horticultural enthusiasm, Khan helpfully shared a few basic and vital planting-out tips: (i) locate the potted shrubs he had already laid out in their intended positions, (ii) prepare the earth by making a hole big enough to contain them i.e. dig deep, then dig deeper and then dig deeper still, (iii) apply tender pressure all around the outside of the pot to help gently loosen the shrub, and then, finally, (iv) lift and place the shrub into the hole, filling in the sides and pressing it firmly down into the crumbly soil foundations of its new home.

We all set about the task with a degree of relaxed confidence. We'd been (sh)rubbing shoulders with a centurion after all (or two or three, with Sophie in the mix and a special guest VIP on the way). Selecting from the digging tools provided, wiser gardeners of the group ploughed forth with the heave-ho might of a trusty spade, whilst the less experienced picked up trowels and proceeded to scrape away tirelessly at the ground, to little or no effect.

Success stories included Claire, who had arrived early and begun gardening ahead of time, clearly well in the groove of shrub re-housing work. Naser procured a pair of protective gloves to enable him to get stuck in, and some, combining his characteristic strength and speed. Leonardo's technical nous and eye for illumination saw him transform more shadowy spots of the garden, by activating the long beam feature on the portable night lights, with a couple of simple clicks. A well-earned cheer here, please, for each volunteer.

By the end of an hour, each shrub had vacated its pot to find a new permanent home sunk into Mulgrave Steet's own Mother Earth. The stand-out beauty amongst the new set was a blooming, white-flowered hydrangea. In case unaware or unclear of hydrangea colour magic, some hydrangeas produce different coloured flowers, depending on the soil: blue flowers in acid soils and pink flowers in alkaline soils. White hydrangeas, however, mostly remain white whatever the soil type, though may turn pinkish in maturity. Watch. This. Hydrangea.

Congregating back together with the task completed, Khan treated us to thank you refreshments sourced from the mosque restaurant diagonally opposite the garden. Eleanor was thrilled to receive an unexpected chai tea latte, all the better to toast the arrival of, as described in recent media coverage, Goodgym Liverpool legend, Pauline. Did you know that Pauline achieved the spectacular record of 1000 Goodgym tasks, no less!

And so, members past and present basked in the beaming satisfaction of time and effort spent together, sharing around celebratory small oranges and individually wrapped chocolates. The group then gently dispersed from Mulgrave Street, with runners crackling through fallen leaves along the pavement. I (Dan) felt a refreshed spring in my running step, stirred by admiration for Bekah and pride in Goodgym, in all its glory! Yes, I had (sh)rubbed soldiers with a new centurion joining the Goodgym Liverpool Great Hall of Kindness, prompting my shoulders, I divulge, to shimmy, just a little, with more than just a little joy!

It was a cool morning of good running weather, damp but with no rain, as Sophie, Dike, Amina, Dan, Leo and I joined the crowd gathered at the start line of Prince's parkrun. We all made good time on our two and a half loops around the park, waving at Lucien on our way past as he fed the ducks and cheered us on. At the beginning of the year Sallyann had the brilliant idea to encourage people to join for our monthly social by giving us all special custom loyalty cards and bribing us to turn up to parkrun and/or breakfast with the promise of adding a star sticker each time. Part of the grand vision of her plan was that each month we would also choose a new cafe to try that we hadn't been to before, and so get to decide the best local breakfast. At September's session, Sallyann upped the stakes even further by handing out GOLD star stickers instead of the already very exciting silver we were used to. This month she was away, thinking that she was safe to pass sticker duty into Lucien's trustworthy hands, but without her we descended into sticker chaos! We are already into month ten of the year in parkrun, and running out of ideas for new cafes. We decided it would be acceptable to return to our previous regular The Third Cafe, since we hadn't been there this year. Sophie and Amina headed home while the rest of us went for breakfast, hoping that this would not jeopardise our star! Luckily Sallyann confirmed that she only needed the group photo as proof of who had made up the group that morning... but this led to subterfuge and deception as a certain member made such a convincing fake version of the group photo including her that we were suddenly certain we remembered a strange stick figure with a big smile jogging in our midst! Given that she missed parkrun because she was doing a different and longer run, I think at least half a star is owed to Bekah for that, and at least another half for creativity and nerve! This is why I'm not allowed to make the rules....

I have been wanting to do this mission for a while, I signed up for it twice before but both times had to cancel on the day due to bad weather (second time was storm Amy weekend). Finally the stars aligned and I was able to attend this mission today. Mr K was really welcoming. He showed me a photo of what the front garden had looked like before when he could get out and it was immaculate, he was clearly very proud and it was very sad. He showed me the back garden and I decided that was where I should make a start today while it was dry. I’d need to use the strimmer and the lawn mower so if I can get that bit done in the good weather I can come back and do the weeding in the front another day, even if the weather is bad. Mr K had the most impressive array of garden tools I have ever seen. There was everything I needed and all batteries were fully charged. I hacked away at the tall grass and then used the hover flymo to cut it down. It wasn’t as neat as I would have liked so on my next visit I promised neat stripes! Mr K was really pleased and I felt so happy to help him out. I could really see how important it was to him. Looking forward to returning and finishing the job!