Last night was our 10th anniversary/birthday!

WOW! Time flies!

It was great to see some past GG regulars come out last night! Great to see Stephen, Dana and Sergiu! Hope to see you all back again soon!

Celine set off a bit earlier walking and timed it to perfection with the running group meeting her at the task location just as task owner Karen was heading back to her car to get more equipment as she wasn't expecting so many runners!

We got straight to it, getting tooled up with pickers, bags and rings, gloves on and head torches on now that the clocks have changed.

Generally it wasn't too bad compared to how we have seen this area. The strong winds may have had something to do with it, moving the litter around. One thing was very clear was that there was a distinct lack of bins in the area!

Find of the night has to go to Katy who found a large teddy bear, who looked like they had seen better days!

Once we were back to base most of us headed to The Rutland Arms for some food and drink and to share stories of past favourite tasks. We even had cake!

Here's to another 10yrs of GG SHF!

Mrs J is preparing to move into sheltered accommodation in a few weeks time. She wanted help to carefully pack up some of her fragile pots and decorations ahead of the move. We carefully packaged them up with bubble wrap and newspaper into boxes that I carried into the bedroom and stacked as they were too heavy for Mrs J. Along the way, she told me the stories behind them, showed me photos of family and her own amazing artwork. She is a goth at heart, so had some really cool skull paintings - I wish I'd thought to take photos!

We ran a nice distance (about 2k each way) to Heeley Green Community Garden, with some great city views along the way. We met up with Fran, who offered us a nice choice of tasks including weeding, litter picking, and replanting. Our "out with the old, in with the new" approach took hold quickly - Tomremoved an entire TV (which he said was a first!). Lots of weeds were removed to make the path accessible, and we used teamwork to dig holes, plant bulbs and compact the soil around them. A big welcome to Oliver , who was super helpful and got stuck straight in to the task ☺ Welcome back to Ellie! It's great to have you back in the team ☺

6 of us braved the Autumn weather to run ever so slightly uphill to Union Street, where we met Fran and other Common Thread volunteers. We were briefed on which charities had requested parcels, and given lists of specific things to look our for when sorting including smart interview clothing, baby items, and warm winter-wear. The parcels soon began to fill up and the seemingly endless piles of generous donations grew more organised. By the end, lots of parcels had been created and donations had been sorted into categories for next time. It was really great to see progress and have a sense of where our hard work would end up. Thanks everyone!

We met at the Showroom Cinema, welcomed everyone, and set off on our run towards the River Don. There, we met Andy from the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust. He gave us the equipment and described the task. We started litter picking along the routes. Although it was dark, we tried our best — everyone was so supportive and nice! We ran about 3km and came back to the Showroom Cinema, and before leaving, we did some cool-down stretches. Thank you Michelle and everyone for your support!

After a very professional warm-up (the Macarena), we headed to meet Karen from Pitsmoor Pickers. It was about 2k each way, and on the way there we took the scenic route by the River Don (thanks Michelle for the navigation help! We had about 45 minutes to clear up the area around Andover Street, and we all covered as much ground as possible. We got a good few big bags of rubbish and passersby/local residents often stopped to say thanks, which shows what an impact GoodGym has in the community ☺ Litter picking is often very addictive and the time speeds by, not only is it good exercise but its really satisfying to see a measurable difference with each object picked up (and often we conjure stories as to how bizarre objects could've ended up there in the first place!)

The nights are getting darker but GoodGym Sheffield is priveleged to be made up of some shining stars, no matter what the season 🌟

This was my 25th good deed with GoodGym, and I've loved every one! Thank you to every one who has supported me, mentored me, and been a great friend :)