January was a great success for Goodgym Colchester. We battled the elements at times but ended victorious in the January Challenge - meeting our targets and contributing to an incredible national achievement! The totals as they stand are 4230 Good Deeds beating our January 2021 total of 4168 and covering 69,4443 Km in distance. Woah!!

So February is here with a pinch and a punch! Tonight we welcomed Grace and then off we strode. We pinched litter from the ground and then did a nice punchy warm up and training session.

We started by descending Balkerne Hill and made our way along the River Colne to the outside gym at Leisure World. A decent four big bags of litter collected! Bravo!

We then got warm and did some interval training and they may have been a hill involved!

Super job everyone! What a brilliant way to spend a Wednesday evening...

See you Sunday at Junior Parkrun?

Our first trip to the foodbank of the year meant a dry task sandwiched between some wet running and walking! I suppose it sums up Goodgym: determination, dedication and durability A big welcome to Emily and thank you for a Wednesday night spent cleaning and chatting!

We headed home in the plothering rain (thanks Vanessa!) having completed the task in style!!

Goodgym day complete!

Goodgym Colchester is back! During a short break for the winter festivities some of us sported our Goodgym colours at Parkrun but now we are back in the zone. And it was great to meet Sophie as it was to catch up with everyone else.

Our last task of 2022 was singing with residents of Walnut Tree House and our first this year was at Plum hall where a leafy clear up was needed. After we spoke about the January Challenge we warmed up to make our way to Plum Hall - chatting as we got caught up with other activity groups.

Susan met us and Bob was already cracking on with the sweeping and bagging up of leaves! Did we get eight or nine bags full? Either way the paths were clear and we treated ourselves to some interval training around Abbey Fields.

Looking forward to next week already (WEDNESDAY) and I hope you have a good end to the week and weekend.

Remember Goodgym leaf no-one behind and well done on a treemendous effort. You all swept to victory. (Feel free to add your own leafy related comments below!)

A few words of thanks is all that is needed. You give your time to help out. You are ace.

Have a great festive few weeks!

We met at the Mercury and after a quick briefing from Helen, headed across town to Level Best to take part in an epic Christmas Wrap Battle. Tav was away this evening, picking up an award for GoodGym's work in strengthening communities in Essex. Thank you Tav! Congratulations to everyone involved. On arrival at the café, Emma gave us a warm welcome and explained the task. She'd laid out several gift wrapping stations, each beautifully appointed with paper, scissors and tape, a big pile of named presents, and hot and cold drinks. As winter goodgym tasks go, this was pretty much heaven!! At the top of the tree in the wrapping stakes was Crazee Fraze, motoring through his present pile with glee - Sleigh Bob and Tinsel Stu were right behind. DJ Dizzee-Ness made steady progress with the sellotape, and Team Santa, consisting of Ace Alex, Mighty Molly and Lil Charlie completely smashed their goal by running out of gifts to wrap. Last but by no means least was Phil, who managed to wrap several items despite an injured thumb. After jogging back to the theatre, we did a few more laps round the block as it was so cold, then headed home.