This week, we were back at St James Garden with Friends of St James' Garden to finish what we started last week.

4 runners met on hope street where we were thrilled to welcome two newbies: Mel and Mel. Hope to have you join us again soon!

As St James garden is so close to our meeting point we treated ourselves to a few hill reps before heading on over. Very impressed with all the runners for persevering!

Once there we met 7 more goodgymmers and were tasked with weeding all the pavements around the Husskinson Memoral. I think you can tell from the before an after pictures what a huge impact we had!

Thankfully the weeds and grass came up surprisingly easily - the turf almost came up like a carpet and we were able to clear a huge area. Well done to everyone!

On a warm sunny evening in Liverpool 15 GoodGymmers could be found in St James Gardens. Invited to join Friends of St James Garden's Michael and Vikky (who is also a Goodgymmer) and Lucy and Will from Shiverpool we could be found weeding the paved area around the Huskinsson memorial.

One of the great things about a session like this is it offers you an opportunity to take this time out of your day to suit what you need whilst helping out a local group. With clear directions to follow you are all in the same area but with the space to either focus on the task enjoy the fresh air and reflect on the day or to work by someone and chat whilst you weed. And that is how an hour flies by whilst the space turns from looking a little neglected and overlooked to being cared for once more and plans for a Goodgym trip to Isle of Man start to take shape (keep watching for more on this).

It was an evening of welcomes and farewells. We are so pleased to welcome Nina to Liverpool Goodgym. Nina originally with Haringey Goodgym has relocated and we look forward to seeing her more. A sad farewell to Renata as she moves away and on to the next era of her life. Please come back and see us when you visit and it was lovely to meet you.

It was also an evening of newness. Heetu led the runners through their paces on her first full session leading (Heetu is preparing for her run leader course which basically formalises what she excels in anyway). He5rtu had us running up and down the Metropolitan cathedral flight of steps making it fun and despite the steepness of the steps and the heat of the day laughter and encouragement could be heard as we all got into the swing of it step session finished we ran the length of Hope Street to the Anglican cathedral with bounds of energy and enthusiasm to start the task Well done Heetu.

This evening, as all our sessions do, showed the difference we can all make by joining together with kind intention in unity and understanding

Many thanks to Friends of St James Gardens for inviting us. We are back with them again next week.... why not join us.

Today saw us at a completely new venue. We had been invited to Grant Gardens by John at Friends of Everton Park to help out with Scouse Flowerhouse. The site is on the intersection of a busy road - at the top of a hill might I add (big thanks to Heetu and Amina for dragging me up there). We were greeted by Ema who we are fortunate to have as our Area Activator the energy that she puts into Goodgym is keenly felt by us all.

Stone posts mark the entry of a large piece of land awash with colour and buzzing bees. Grant Gardens, we learnt , had been a cemetery in particular for the time of cholera. It was called The Liverpool Necropolis and was a significant place in times gone by. The buildings long gone - aside from one partial column - the still consecrated land had been left - a green space waiting for just the right love and attention to shine. That love and attention comes in the amazing shape of Scouse Flowerhouse who have created a beautiful space full of wild flowers fit for a queen...bee and her masses. Polly explained that it is a popular place for people to walk and walk their dogs and you can see why - it is a haven.

We were to help with pulling up sow thistles which were hiding and shadowing all the differing flowers. Taking the sow thistles out of the edges uncovered yet more flowers - very satisfying. We always like clear instructions ( or maybe that's just me) and Polly and Richard showed us exactly what they needed us to do and Theo and John helped us to keep on task (Ok I still got some chatting in). There were an array of tool to use including one grim reaper type scythe with the most beautiful wooden handle. Pauline and Amina took to this and cut swathes of thistles down using it - whilst striking poses for the camera here and there.

It was a lovely evening dry and just the right temperature - so a perfect welcome to her first task for Maria hope to see you again very soon Maria.
Double cheers forPauline and Bekah who came straight from a mission helping to move a washing machine - they are just formidable.

Our time at the task came to an end and Ema did a good impression of herding kittens trying to get us all back together for a group photograph. We said goodbye to Polly Richard John and Theo and heading back - down the hill. A huge thank you for giving us an opportunity to be part of this gem with so much history that none of us had ever been to before. You can never take for granted what is on the corner of any street. Thank you Scouse Flower House and Friends of Everton Park.

Our booked task had been cancelled however Elaine stepped in and invited us to do some work on the Park Lane site. We havent been here for a while and when we arrived we were met with the sight of a large amount of triffid like plants... ok i exaggerate a little but they were very tall himalayan balsam plants. Elaine who always talks us through what we are going to do and why explained that these are an invasive plant that is just taking over the plot and the other plants are being swamped by them. Go Goodgymmers!

We spent the evening making our way through the forest of balsam often only being able to locate each other by the sound of our sneezes. it was one of those nights that a focused effort and good teamwork meant that by the end we had managed to reduce the triffid like forest significantly. Thank you Elaine for stepping in at the last minute and booking us at short notice.

Despite torrential rain forecast, ten hardy GoodGymers headed to Pagoda Arts, a fantastic organisation who provide opportunities for people to engage with Chinese cultural activities.

There was some drizzle as three GoodGymers met at Hope Street to run to the task, and we welcomed back GoodGymer Jo from GoodGym Exeter, who doesn’t let work trips stop her from joining tasks. We enjoyed the shelter of the trees outside the centre whilst the group gathered, and fortunately the heavy rain predicted held off, not that that would have stopped us! The non-runners kept themselves active too, with Pauline cycling and Lucian and others arriving by foot.

The task was to clear the outside area and we soon set to work. Litter was picked, brambles and thistles were removed, and the team did a fantastic job of scaling the very steep slope outside the centre and getting it looking spick and span. We were all very impressed with the “large leaf grabber” which Jake used to make short work of clearing the fallen leaves.

During our clearing Sian came across a small knife which had been discarded. Safety first, Ema was quick to remind the team of the process for sharps and arranged for it to be safely disposed of with the centre’s sharps kit. We were pleased to make the area much cleaner and safer for the centre’s community.

There was a clear difference made and the Pagoda were so delighted with the work done, they treated us to a round of Chinese tea, which Sallyann correctly identified as jasmine. We enjoyed our cuppa to the relaxing sound of the tai chi class which was going on in the main hall (and which Miriam was tempted to join!).

Pagoda Arts have already booked us in for the next Chinese New Year and there was talk of further sessions to help out in Autumn. It’s a lovely organisation and we’ll be pleased to be back there soon.