Handsworth children’s triathlon holiday camp volunteer

Keeping children fit and fed this Christmas holidays

A fun, free, inclusive 4-day holiday camp for children in Handsworth. Children will enjoy swim, bike and run activities, alongside a healthy breakfast and lunch, and learn about making healthy food choices.

The aim of this free holiday camp is to tackle holiday hunger this Christmas by reaching children, of all backgrounds, whose families may struggle to meet the extra pressure of missing free school meals during the school holidays.

It is being delivered by British Triathlon, in partnership with the Triathlon Trust, Central England Co-Operative and Sport Birmingham.

4 GoodGymers have supported Handsworth children’s triathlon holiday camp volunteer with 6 tasks.


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Previous sessions
BirminghamCommunity mission
John HayesRauul The Owl

A puzzling task - must Tri harder

Thursday 2nd January 2020

Written by John Hayes

Thursday unfurled a new task at the Handsworth Triathlon camp. I met with Rauul this time and we were diverted from the kitchen to help with the activities in the morning. First off we let the kids drift in and get their breakfast. As they were finishing, to avoid boredom we got around to putting jigsaw puzzles on the tables (apart from the older ones, who were happier sitting together with their mobile phones).

After their introduction, everyone went into the sports hall (without mobile phones to the chagrin of the older ones) to do some warm up drills. We got to see a very active True or False game, as they had to run across to the red sign for false, or blue for true.

Once they were suitably warmed up, I supported the group with the youngest children and Rauul supported the older kids. They were doing some circuits (reminding us of the group run activities), playing an active game of dominoes and teaming up to try to get across the room on mats without touching the floor.

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BirminghamCommunity mission
John HayesRajSlin Bangar

GoodGym’s Kitchen Nightmares

Monday 30th December 2019

Written by John Hayes

It was a very interesting morning to welcome Slin to GoodGym for her first community mission. I arrived early to meet all of the people running the holiday camp. At this point I met Verona, who was busy assessing her kitchen, finding that it needed a good clean and was a bit sparse of equipment for preparing food.

Thankfully, soon after Slin arrived, so did the food. We were able to help arranging the it to know what we could prepare and serve the breakfast cereal for children as they arrived. Soon enough we had made a good team together and had fed all the kids ready for a day of triathlon based activity. It turns out that we were just a toaster away from a satisfying breakfast for everyone. Well done Slin for being ready for anything, and getting your good deeds started in style.

We left just as Verona had returned with some decent equipment to get snacks and lunch sorted, while the children went off for a swimming session.

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BirminghamCommunity mission
Lisa Jayne Henry-ArscottJohn Hayes

Yes Chef...

Monday 30th December 2019

Written by John Hayes

On to the second shift of GoodGym in Handsworth, and this time it was Lisa's turn to get fit by doing good, doing her first good deed with GG.

Verona had got equipment and everything in the kitchen organised, so we really hit the ground running. The kitchen nightmares of the morning had moved firmly onto “Yes Chef” being called back to instructions. We set about buttering bread for the sandwiches, while all the fillings were being prepared by Verona and Chef (well that was on her name tag so who are we to argue). The time passed by quickly thanks to the healthy eating quiz we could overhear in the main room. I have found out and forgotten already the name for Burger King in Australia.

Everything seemed to come together quickly and we soon had a buffet of sandwiches and salad for the active kids’ lunch. While the food was served up, Lisa and I teamed up to pour out all the juices and help to clear up the busy kitchen.

The children all went out to burn off some energy in the playground, while Lisa showed me a video of her sister running with Eliud Kipchoge (AKA Orange Shoe Man) in Kenya! Well done Lisa, what a great way to get GoodGym started for you.

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