😁 19 epic GoodGymmers met for our group run this evening - our last in the dark for a while 🥳

🦸‍♀️In addition to that joyous news, we also had two heroes to celebrate - tonight was Abigail's 50th good deed, and Vicky recently did her 300th! Huge congratulations guys 💪

🍝 In honour of National Ravioli Day, we named and numbered off whilst declaring our favourite pasta dish. There was a lot of love for lasagne along with the classic spag bol, macaroni cheese and spaghetti hoops on toast 🍞

🚸We were returning to Park Grove Primary School this evening, to continue helping them with their wildlife area. Superhero Vicky met us there and gave us instructions. There was sawing, lopping, digging and transporting of various branches etc, alongside the careful vetting process of whether or not they were suitable den-building material 🌳

🫢 At one point, Vicky was heard to say:

I’ve got a slimy wet stick between my legs

🐸 A certain crew were based around the pond, on frog/newt-watch. Neville and (Sidney?) newts were identified, along with their froggy pals, which was lovely. On our way out, a hedgehog was also spotted, which topped off our evening and gave us a feel-good boost for the work we’ve been doing there 🦔

🏃‍♀️🏃It was soon time for some meet and retreat-based fitness before heading back to base (or mostly the pub).

🙌 Thank you everyone, brilliant work this evening.

❄️ 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.