Six Leeds Good Gym friends ran to our fantastic neighbourhood community/arts centre, Left Bank, this week. We took to the dark streets for a short run making good use of our headtorches across the park. Once at Left Bank we were issued with two sacks of crocus and daffodil bulbs and a bunch of repurposed wooden spoons. Torches on again and into the garden we went. A good hour of planting these bulbs was rewarded with a free drink and a chin wag. We particularly enjoyed Paul's tale of his student toga party and the inevitable consequences of Scouse mischief!

9 goodgymers made their way to Left Bank to help repaint some storage cabinets.

We welcomed back Katie on her first group run post-covid.

We ran the long way to Left Bank. Going up towards Headingley and back down Cardigan Lane. We made a slight error in navigation - which I'm blaming on the GPS - but Helen quickly helped us find our way back on track.

The Task

We had 4 cabinets to paint, and so we split into pairs and worked together to get the task done. We must be experts at painting, because we had painted all of the surfaces within record time. Therefore we had time at the end for a bit of friendly competition of table tennis. Winner stays on. Elspeth wins the award for most competitive!

After refreshments courtesy of Left Bank, we headed back to HPBC via Woodhouse Moor. Another task successfully completed and another 2km run done!

Well done everyone, see you next week.

We banked another good deed this week - at the wonderful Left Bank Leeds. A creative space for the community, Left Bank hosts lots of events, workshops and activities, all set within a converted church. It's well worth another visit.

A warm welcome to Zainab , who joined us for her first goodgym task. Let's give her a cheer!

The run

9 goodgymers were treated to a hot and sweaty 2km run. We tried staying in the shade for as long as possible by running around Woodhouse Moor. Inevitably we had to leave the shade behind us for the last part of the run, but thankfully it was all down hill!

The Task

We were welcomed in to Left Bank with open arms, offered some light refreshments, and then got to work varnishing the picnic benches (not in use!)

Katie, Josie and Helen were the most diligent out of the group since they were finishing their bench, just as everyone else was starting.

Everyone else eventually caught up, and we found we had actually got through the task in record time (we'd run out of benches)! It was therefore time to switch to an impromptu litter pick. It was suggested to do a tag-team litter pick / relay, which was quickly dismissed as being a rather silly idea...

Nevertheless, we had an ace team of litter pickers who quickly gathered up lots of the litter around the perimeter of Left Bank. At one point, Sarah and Josie were even taking the time to pick up tiny pieces of confetti. That's dedication!

The Run Back

Great work everyone we managed to get a lot done in a short space of time. All that was left was a jog back to Hyde Park Book Club. We ran back via Burley Park (as it's always nicer to run through parks!)

After finishing our hilly run around the little libraries we settled down for the most important task of the day - food.

Well fed and watered, we began where we left off the week before; pulling up weeds and other unwanted greenery. A Goodgym specialty.

With the beds and hedges looking good we began to mulch and tidy. As always, left bank were fantastic hosts, providing half time drinks and working along side us. We left with the garden looking much more tidy and presentable.

Hopefully we'll be back soon!

After a short wait for Ellie and Jenny to finish running back down the big hill they had just run up (there are rumours they were delayed by a pit stop for cake), 6 of us met outside Left Bank.

It was quickly established that there wasn't a lot of gardening expertise within the group, so we had a whistlestop tour of the flower beds outside the building. Our instructor pointed out which plants were weeds, and which were not, with a reminder that not-weeds cost a lot of money.

Still slightly uncertain of the definition of a weed, we quickly started pulling up the definite weeds. Spreading ourselves out between the beds. Helen made quick work of the Rosemary (definitely not a weed) bed, and joined the rest of us on the slightly more overgrown patches. Tom also proved to be an expert weed identifier (or maybe just a more confident one), and moved on to clearing some Ivy on the other side of the lawn after swiftly clearing his bed. Liam and I tackled a particularly wild patch, with Liam picking fights with some nasty tendrils of bramble.

A mid-way break, with tea, coffee and shortbread (!!!) kindly provided by the Left Bank cafe, helped us to power through the rest of the task. Mulch was spread on the weeded patches, and Ellie expertly rearranged the cones to provide the finishing touches to a job well done.

Despite our best efforts, we didn't manage to clear everything or plant any bulbs. So we're looking forward to going back next week to finish up and prepare Left Bank to look even more beautiful in the spring.