A team of hardy GoodGymers defied Storm Isha to head out for another night of digging and weeding. We started the night by celebrating not one but two people hitting milestones, with Lyndseycompleting her 50th good deed and Martin doing his 100th. Great work guys 💪. There was also a round of applause for Max becoming the first person to complete the January challenge bingo (who'd have thought it!?!?) and for all those who completed the Brass Monkey half at the weekend including a big PB for Paul Kelly

We then split into two groups with Ed leading the run out to Heslington Lane for another night of soil inversion for the long stretch of soon-to-be wildflower verge. I have a feeling we're going to be back to this task quite a bit! Jamie, Anna and Stef started where we'd left off last Monday, whilst Jenna, Mitch Max and Lucy got to work slightly further down. The soil was a lot claggier (is that a word?) than our last outing in sub-zero conditions, so the going was somewhat slower and shoes a fair bit muddier. But we preserved and made good progress regardless.

Michal led the rest of the group out to another session at Holgate Community Garden. Here's what he had to say...

10Goodgymers departed from our meeting location, 12 were at the task and 6 came back. We never leave anyone behind…. I promise. On the way to the task we ran through some back alleys to Laura’s house where husband David was waiting for us with a selection of hoes, forks big and small, brooms and other gardening tools ready for the task in a wheelbarrow. From there it was a short walk to the play area/community garden where the task was to dig out weeds around the wooden play equipment frame in preparation for a layer of bark chippings - our next task.

After about 20min of light weeding and chatting we moved to the swing basked and raised bed for an inpromptu fitness circuit featuring swinging in the basket, pushing the basket swing, broom handling, log lifting, lunges, wide squats, star jumps, triceps dips, bench jump overs and incline push-ups. “Accurately” measured 40sec repetition of each exercise before moving to another was perfectly done by each and every one of the 12 goodgymers present. My watch said 9min50sec when I pressed the stop button making our maths spot on. Right?

After that dose of exercise we made our way back to CVS, had time to stretch, chat about GG badges and if you would re-mary your ex to get a GG badge - that is if there was such a badge, stretch more, more chat before the second group arrived. Apparently they were running late, but what do I know?

On a super chilly January evening, a team of dedicated GG Yorkies braved the sun-zero conditions, and Blue Monday to get that warm and fuzzy feeling you can only get from getting fit whilst doing good.

Tonight we were joined by newcomer Edd who was already very well known to a couple of GGers! We also congratuled Max for his 250th Good Deed, whilst Amy doffed a cape for her 200th. We then named and numbered off by listing our favourite blue things 💙 (a lot of love for blue whales 🐳) with some quiet warm up movements so that we could hear everyone's answers!

Ed led the longer run out to Fulford where the team were met by Nicola from St Nicks and some lovely folk from Greener Cleaner Fulford. After some very clear instructions about ensuring we kept straight lines with our soil inversion, the guys got to work.

Everything seemed to be going well until Max and Nikki realised their digging had gone astray and two lines merged into one. At the other end of the scale Michael, Rich and Jamie managed a circle so perfect that it could have been drawn with a compass.

After some posing next to their beautiful circle, we had our group photo and then headed back via Millennium Bridge for a needlessly complex fitness session. Lesson well and truly learnt by Ed for daring to introduce an element of counting into the fitness.

Mitch led the other team out to Holgate Community Garden and had this to say..

On a chilly winters day, 16 of us went to Holgate Community Garden to help remove areas of heavy grass and weeds, with a view of laying barkchip later. We were also tasked with finding some missing posts surrounding some trees that GG tamped in...unfortunately none were found 🙁

Unfortunately for us, despite all the tools and willingness of GG, the ground was frozen solid, which hampered our progress. However we pressed on and were able to remove a massive load of grass. The temperature was freezing, so for the first time, we had mid task fitness! Half way through we did some hill reps, and after some more task we did some circuits. We made much progress, however the cold and frozen ground did hamper us slightly. However we will be back very soon!

After a short notice change to the the time table, 7 keen January beans arrived to continue on with weeding around the barkchip play areas at holgate community garden to get it ready for the new layer to be put on at a later date. With the inclusion of some old but familiar faces returning a pleasant hour of weeding and chatting quickly whizzed by, and in true January generosity we left a bit for a return task.

😳 Well, this week’s group run started with a bit of drama as our task cancelled 20 minutes before the session!

🦸‍♀️ Never fear though, a trio of terrific Taskforce members organised a task each, providing a triplet of terrifically taxing tasks for our gang of 24.

🔨 Laura led a group to Holgate Community Garden for the infamous “post-whacking”. Here’s what she had to say:

🍐 6 of us carried the posts and equipment to the garden and bashed in posts around the young fruit trees to stop council mowers from damaging them.

🌱 Meanwhile, Abi, Dom and Martin C kept it local, cracking on with some weeding at Prospect House. Apparently they made a “good ol’ dent”, which is excellent news. They also “apparently” did 500 press ups each. I think I’m tempted to believe the former more than the latter!

🚸 The rest of us headed to Park Grove to continue shovelling the big pile of (now sodden) soil, clear more of the ground for it to be laid and cut the under-layer into just the right shapes.

✂️ With the three wheelbarrowers working incredibly hard (despite wonky wheels and uneven ground), we made good progress with the soil pile. Meanwhile, the weed-clearers dug and extracted to their hearts’ content, under a variable level of shelter from the rain. The cutters had fun tessellating various shapes of underlay to be covered with soil.

🌧️ Progress was swift, undeterred by said rain and Vicky was “delighted” that we were able to come tonight. It was soon time for a group photo and fitness.

🪜 Fitness took place under the shelter, with steps handily provided to offer us our theme. Step-based fitness it was then, and a co-operative affair, with everyone offering suggestions of their favoured step-based activity. Step ups, heel raisers, press ups and tricep dips all made the cut, and were then repeated.

🍋 Nicely warmed, it was time to head back to base for a cool-down and stretch. We were treated to some delicious lemon bar bites (thanks Barbara!) before parting ways to head to the pub/home.

🙌 Thank you everyone, for your patience in the initial chaos and particularly for the sourcing of the triumphant task trio. See you next time!

• I’m aware this isn’t actually a pun but the opportunity to use the word triumvirate was too good to miss 👌

❄️ 16 excellently hardy GoodGymmers met on a chilly Monday evening for another two-task session.

🦸‍♀️ We were thrilled to congratulate Abi on her incredible 500th good deed (501st tonight, technically) and hope that the cape managed to keep her warm!

🚲 Ed led a group punctually for a longer run, 4k each way to help York Greenways near Knavesmire Wood. Here’s what he had to say about it:

🏃‍♀️🏃5 of us headed out from Priory Street and were joined by Carl en route before being greeted by Peter from York Greenways at the task.

🌳 We each decided upon our tool of choice and got to work on sweeping or shovelling back the greenery that had grown over the top of the cycle path. Carl and Bec zoomed down the track focusing on quantity, whilst the rest of the guys with shovels were able to hang back removing the tougher clumps of grass that had broken through the path.

💪 In fact Carl and Bec put in such a sterling effort that they thought the task was done when we still actually had about 10mins left, so swiftly got back to work!

🦷 Meanwhile, the rest of us named, numbered and warmed up whilst discussing our childhood dream jobs (in honour of National Dentist Day, apparently). From Blue Peter presenter to archaeologist to fighter pilot, we discovered the ambitions that most of us had failed to meet, or have replaced with alternative achievements!

🧭 Leanne and Laura led the run to Holgate Community Garden, navigating the ginnels to go via the Barrett house to collect the tools needed.

🧹 We’d been promised stiff brushes and these were supplied, along with rakes, to tackle the leaves stubbornly stuck to the basketball court and paths. Teams assembled around lights to get stuck in and clear different parts of the court. Alternative tools had to be sourced to address the broken glass that appeared but Laura was on it and dealt with it quickly and efficiently.

🌱Once the basketball court was done, smaller tools were provided to start to tackle the grass growing around the play equipment. Leanne did a great job of demonstrating her climbing skills and flexibility on said play equipment whilst Steve spread his clumps everywhere. The remaining grass clumps were gathered and distributed and it was time for the group photo.

📸 The play equipment seemed a natural structure to pose with before some people snuck off pre-fitness to help take the tools back to the house of Barrett.

🌛 Those who stayed for fitness were treated to a paired (and triangular) hill sprint joy, on the slopes around the garden. Oh, and it was a full moon, so that was a nice backdrop.

🍻 It was soon time to head back to base for stretches before pub/home. And we could all breathe a sigh of relief that the rain/snow had held off for the evening.

🏁 Thanks everyone, hope you warmed up quickly and hopefully see you soon. You can see what we’ve got coming up here, including shed demolition on Saturday morning and race marshalling/social walk on Sunday.

Five chilly Goodgymers braved the freezing foggy weather to help Holgate Community Garden to sweep and rake leaves around the basketball court. Sadly the ground was too frozen to plant a fruit tree as part of our task. Nicky was already on her 4th good deed of the day, Leanne on her 3rd and David on his 2nd. We were expecting the leaves to be frozen solid to the court like last time but luckily they were easier to shift this time. We found some at the sides of the court were mixed with earth that may well have been previously composted leaves. A fox wandered past the top of the garden while we were working. After an hour we had made a big impact.