We're not "Blockheads" but we're certainly "Clever bst*rds"

There are plenty of "Reasons to be cheerful".

1. clothes donated to The Lifehouse
2. a wardrobe clear-out
3. it isn't "What a waste!"

And if you get all the references, you're a "Clever Trevor"!

A host of bags were donated, including a massive haul from Wilson and their schoolmates!

No puns.

Just plain and simple (and mainly monochrome!) undies and socks to donate to the LifeHouse charity, who provide the homeless in Portsmouth with meals and essential items.

Well done generous GoodGymers. Especially those who were bamboozled by the choices in men's underpants. Who knew?!

10 wonderful Goodgymers added a little weight to their group run this week by bringing along an can and a carrier bag to give to the lifehouse. As always goodgymers go above and beyond and we had cases of coffee, bags of bags and loads of cans! All dropped off to the Lifehouse to make up their care parcels for those in need. Makes me feel very proud to be a goodgymer!

This morning Bethany and Mel were at The Lifehouse, a food kitchen and support centre. Arriving just before 9am there was already a queue waiting for the Wednesday breakfast which was beginning to smell very good. Inside, we met up with Mike who set us to filling bags ready for delivery. We were adding fresh produce donated from Marks & Spencers and Sainsbury's - each bag carrying fresh bread, nuts, pasta or rice, baby sweetcorn, broccoli, two pieces each of two other fruit or veg and a chocolate bar. Once completed we were tasked to pack up the car and off we went to deliver the 19 bags. We also took with us a breakfast roll for each of the people we were delivering to lovely and warm wrapped in foil and all packed in a container to keep warm. Using our satnav, we navigated the rabbit warren streets, work traffic and what seemed to be every red traffic light in what was now heavy rain. We'd mapped the most straightforward route to cover all addresses and quickly got into a good routine. Mel driving, Bethany doing a great job delivering all the bags safely, looking for entrances, and doing a lot of walking and stair climbing. Whilst we were gone, more bags were being put together, but this time to order for those who'd had their breakfast and ready to go home. We returned to find breakfast over and the washing up nearly done! Looking forward to going back to help out again in the future, we both went in search of a nice hot coffee. Thanks to Olly who took our photo at the start.

News round up

No newcomers to welcome tonight so instead we celebrate this week's achievements by GG members:

• Jen ran her longest ever run
• Angela managed to run weekly mileage equal to before her injury
• Tracey has entered the Portsmouth duathlon and broke lots of her Strava segment records in a training cycle ride

Nice work all!

Breakaway task

Tonight, Judy and Tony opted to form a small and exclusive good deed duo to do a much needed litter pick outside the community centre. Tony's job was also to cheer up Judy after a bad day. He told me it worked, I haven't heard anything from Judy! The grounds looked great when we arrived back from the task though.

Lifehouse

Val was the nominated walk leader tonight and the walking group did an excellent power walk and managed to beat the runners to the task! Laura was carrying kitchen equipment at the same time, Vicki had already got rid of her big bag of donated running kit*. Louisa was the final member of the walking party, still recovering from the lurgy and Stubbington 10km! * donated kit is going to Africa and ReRun - if you would like to bring any donations I will take them next week as well. I'm also collecting random small gifts that you no longer need to save them from landfill!

The runners arrived a bit later and there was already a queue forming outside with people waiting for their meal. Good job Storm Brendan had passed. It was cold but there was always the community coat closet available on the corner to grab an extra layer.

The team was split into more or less half with some people upstairs sorting out the clothing donations and tidying up the shelves so it's easier to find what's needed. Val kept everyone entertained with the "name a band beginning with..." game, Katie was busy finding ladies' clothing including some very sparkly leggings and a sequinned dress. Angela had the most unfortunate find of the evening becoming a biohazard for 5 minutes. Sam was getting her steps in for the evening running up and down the stairs hunting out specific sized shoes, clothes and toiletries.

Downstairs it was a hive of activity with teas and coffees being made, soup & curry being served and a small flurry of activity to find something for the man who was allergic to mushrooms. One the main course had gone out, been devoured and cleared away, it was time for pudding - cake and custard. Everyone who was downstairs was thinking about adding that to their shopping list - Rosie was even talking about going home via the shop to pick up cake. And by the look of Kat's Strava map she went home via pizza, the deli and a supermarket! Abby & Lynn kept themselves out of trouble with plenty of washing up.

All round, another good task with all our extra hands appreciated by the Lifehouse team. This one is definitely not one to do if you're feeling hungry though - all those lovely food smells!

Great work team. Here's the link to all the other good deeds you can get involved with. We're still holding our own in the Gold League for the January challenge too so keep on doing the good deeds and logging the kms!