With just a mighty trio of GoodGymers out this Tuesday, we were looking forward to our first collab with Edinburgh Trash Club for a community litter pick. Due to some crossed-wires in communication this has now been moved back to next Tuesday though.

Instead we pivoted to what is quickly becoming a favourite task. A big thanks again to Ali at Leith Community Croft for welcoming us back at short notice to get stuck into some more weeding. There is never any shortage of work needing done and it was a lovely evening to spend chatting, cutting back and weeding away at the planters.

It was a great 5km run and a great weeding shift from our dedicated team of three. Next week we'll be joining Edinburgh Trash Club as originally intended, hopefully see you there!

GoodGym done, weeds gone! 🌿💪

Our group was celebrating being a whole month old and this Tuesday evening saw us return to Leith Community Croft, our first ever Group Run task. This is a fantastic community croft run by Earth in Common.

Ali was on hand to welcome us, dish out the tools, and point us towards an overgrown herb garden and surrounding growing spaces that were in need of some TLC. Armed with trowels, forks, spades, and plenty of determination, we got to work straight away.

An hour of solid effort later, there was a significant transformation. We tackled weeds, cleared beds, and helped bring some order back to the growing areas. There's always plenty to do at the Croft, but it's amazing what a motivated team can achieve in a short space of time.

We have been talking with Ali about the possibility of GoodGym taking on a dedicated corner of the market garden to maintain on a longer-term basis. Ali is really keen on this idea so it looks like we will be returning to the community croft on a regular basis. Watch this space for what could become our very own GoodGym Growing Project! 🌿

A special shout-out goes to Luke, who joined us from GoodGym Kingston for the second consecutive week while enjoying his holidays in Edinburgh. We hope you've enjoyed seeing a bit of the Scottish capital and thanks for being part of the team.

Also a big welcome to Imogen, Michael, Ian and Suilven. Great to have you onboard!

With the tools packed away and some energy to spare we squeezed in a quick workout before running back up Leith Walk and a nice wee crew stuck around at Edinburgh Street Food for some well-earned food and drinks, taking advantage of that 15% discount.

Five weeks in and we're already building partnerships, improving local spaces, and perhaps even planting the seeds for a project of our own. Here's to month two! 💚🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🌱

We have recently set up a Whatsapp community - link to join is here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LWdv5YU8SJ7LYNARbKFj6f

And don't forget to follow us on Instagram (any help with photos/videos and getting posts out is greatly appreciated) https://www.instagram.com/goodgymedinburgh/

Wow, what a great first session launching GoodGym Edinburgh with a bang!

Big shout out to all the runners and walkers who turned up for the debut Tuesday Group Run. We were joined by GoodGym CEO Hannah Crane who made the trip up from London to celebrate Scotland's first GoodGym community getting started.

We set off from Edinburgh Street Food with our running and walking groups and made good time down to Leith Community Croft where the incredible Ali from Earth In Common was on hand to share out tools, tell us about the work they do and talk us through what needed done.

I was blown away by how much weeding, wheelbarrowing, clearing and tidying up we were able to get through in a short space of time. The raised beds were looking in good shape once we were done, we had managed to clear a good chunk of material off site into a skip and made a good start on the market garden (potential for a follow up task here I think).

Finishing off with a 'Bring Sally Up' squat challenge before tucking into some discounted grub and drinks at Edinburgh Street Food was a real highlight for me. Looking forward to seeing what other kinds of short workouts we can squeeze into future runs!

A huge thank you to Places for People for their support in helping bring GoodGym Edinburgh to life. Their partnership has been key to getting this new community off the ground.

For the next sessions I'll be looking for helpers in run leading and photography. There are also opportunities to get involved in setting up tasks as a member of Taskforce. if you'd like to help out with GoodGym Edinburgh just drop me an email.

big love,

Dave