The Santa Dash has been a regular fixture in the Goodgym Liverpool Christmas calendar, and this time we were participants and fundraisers. This event grows and grows - we heard over the tannoy that with over 11,000 Santas, this is the largest Dash in the world!

Steph, Clara, Miriam, Dike, Rachel and Bekah donned the red suits to run, and Pauline and Steph showed their colours with blue suits to walk the route with friends and family. Leonardo was intrigued by the idea of thousands of Santas running around the city centre, and came out to support the runners and see it for himself - yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. We passed pubs already full of Santas, and Leo was surprised at how early the Santas had started on the beer. Those of us more familiar with the dash - less so.

We were fundraising for The Choir With No Name, a choir for those impacted by homelessness or otherwise marginalised by society. Each week the choir meet for a cuppa and a catch up, choir practice, then sit down to share a hot meal. With a budget of less than £40 to feed up to 55 people (!) this type of fundraising makes a real difference. At the time of writing, the Goodgym Liverpool team have collectively raised over £775, a fantastic amount which will go directly to the Liverpool chapter we've volunteered with before.

It was a pleasure to meet Rachel for the first time, who was instrumental in the fundraising and contributed some very generous donations. Lovely to meet you Rachel - we hope to see you at a Goodgym task soon.

The Santas worked their way around the route through the city centre, and even the rain couldn't dampen the festive spirit and the streets were lined with people cheering us on. We were serenaded by a choir, treated to live music, joined by stilt walkers and the running Santas even struck up their own songs as they ran (no mean feat). Due to terrible planning, this was Bekah's third 5k in 26 hours (with Sally Ann partly to blame for making those stickers so damn appealing at yesterday's Goodgym monthly parkrun), but this was the big one, and with the thought of all those generous donations pushing her on, she was able to dash the dash and finish the third and final run of the weekend. Several of our runners were either new to 5ks or getting back into it gradually, and everyone put in a fantastic effort and exceeded their own expectations - we came away with some well deserved medals!

It's a lovely event, super fun to see the Santas all over the city and such wonderful community spirit. See you next year!

P.S. many thanks to Clara for the winning pun!

Goodgym Liverpool are frequent supporters of The Choir with No Name, mainly due to the support given to both by our fabulous area activator Ema.

Today was the CWNN fundraising Abseil at Liverpool Cathedral. Around 17 brave souls took the plunge - so to speak - including two Goodgymmers Steph and Steph! The event is so lovely that two bystanders were inspired to join, and took on the abseil there and then for a donation to the charity (shout out to Charlie & Terri!)

The choir serenaded the 'danglers' with themed classics such as Rod Stewart's "We're Abseiling" and Enya's "Abseil Away (abseil away abseil away)", and were supported by the Bebbington Bitterman who kindly took over during the choir's well earned break.

It was positively blustery, but that didn't stop our abseilers, nor the crowd from forming to watch and admire. We saved several critical pieces of paperwork from blowing into the ether, and frankly I doubted the MC's claims that due to a micro-climate, it was completely calm and still at the top of the drop. Lucien was proactive in abseil registration, gift giving and furniture moving, and I was on photographer duty making sure I captured the moment the abseilers gratefully reached dry land.

Well done to everyone who took part in this fabulous event and raised money for such a great cause, and huge round of applause and respect to the abseilers who braved the drop, it really is no mean feat.

Same time next year!

On a rainy Friday evening, the Everyman Theatre on Hope Street was filled with warmth and good vibes for The Spring Big Gig with the Choir with No Name and Friends! It was a fantastic night, and the GoodGym Liverpool crew were right there in the thick of it, helping to make it all happen.

Huge thanks to Liam, Bekah, Lucien & Siân for their awesome work setting up and running the T-shirt and bags stall, as well as collecting donations. They were busy bees before the gig and during the interval, helping to raise some much-needed funds for the Choir with No Name. It was brilliant to see such a great turnout for the event, and everyone's efforts certainly paid off!

The Choir with No Name were, as always, absolutely incredible and had everyone buzzing. They were joined in the first half by the wonderful Rek41 Choir from the Wirral, and then by the super talented artist Zoe West from Newcastle in the second half. What a line-up! Everyone had an amazing time, and there was a real buzz in the air. We also heard lots of people giving special thanks to Ema and saying how much they missed her – clearly, she's still very much in everyone's hearts!

It was a truly memorable evening filled with fantastic music and community spirit. Events like these really highlight the power of coming together, and GoodGym was proud to be a part of it. Well done to everyone involved!

Goodgym Liverpool have several times now helped out at events with charity The Choir With No Name, a national charity which provides music, food, and community to people who are unhoused or otherwise in need of a bit of extra support. We're well acquainted with the Liverpool branch, and this Wednesday we made a long awaited visit to a classic weekly CwNN rehearsal session, where we were enlisted to lend a hand, and get involved with the amazing work they do. After some miscellaneous setting up of tables and chairs, Bekah split off to brave the kitchen, where she helped Choir volunteers to cook up a hearty meal of spaghetti for the whole group. Meanwhile, the rest of us kept busy reorganising the storage cupboard, finishing up just in time to join in with some (quite challenging..!) singing alongside the Choir. After the practice, we joined the group for a lovely communal meal, and helped out with the washing and clearing up.

It was amazing and inspiring to finally get to experience the work that CwNN does on a weekly basis, and massive thanks to the indefatigable Ema, who has brought the Choir together with Goodgym through her work for both charities. We're always keen to attend CWNN events, and hope to lend support at plenty more sessions like this in the future..!

It was a real team-effort on Saturday 14th Sept when Goodgym Liverpool and others joined forces to support The Choir With No Name.

Those familiar with Goodgym Liverpool may know our fantastic Area Activator Ema is also the Choir Manager for the Liverpool branch of The Choir With No Name. For the past several months she'd arranged a fundraising abseil, and an amazing 30 people had signed up to descend 150ft - free hang! - over the beautiful Anglican Cathedral West Door. Those 30 included 3 Liverpool Goodgymmers - Ellie, Heetu & Lucian, who very bravely took the plunge to raise money for the CWNN, a choir which helps those impacted by homelessness and marginalisation.

5 other goodgymmers - Liam, Sian, Pauline, Sally Ann & Bekah - also came along to volunteer on the day, helping with everything from registration, giving out goody bags, taking photos and corralling the abseilers to keep things running to schedule.

It was a fantastic event, with the choir performing live as the abseilers - or danglers, as the MC called them - descended, and the 30 brave danglers raised a phenomenal over £13,000 between them!

It was a real team effort with another Wirral based choir and a local ukulele band stopping by so the CWNN could take a quick break from entertaining the masses, and all abseilers were greeted with a little cake when their feet touched down, presented to them by a choir member.

Massive well done to Ellie, Heetu & Lucian, and shout out to Ema for organising the Goodgym volunteers whilst managing the choir AND the abseilers AND keeping the event running smoothly! The whole event had a fantastic atmosphere and raised a huge amount for an amazing cause. A round of applause to everyone involved.