Firstly, now I know how to change my profile picture, make sure you check out my new picture.

We met at the gym and lamented the fact some of us had worn undershirts the weather had changed so much. We chatted about JogOn, details below - we can grab the spare shoes from you anytime but 21 June is the date.

GoodGym has paired up with JogOn to help us recycle our old running shoes. We'll be collecting them in Chelmsford at the weekly session on the 21st of June, but if you can't make that and you would like to donate your shoes, let us know when you can drop them off. Find out more about JogOn in your weekly fitness email.

We headed out to the allotments in Baddow at one hell of a pace, Joel almost getting his arm knocked off by a bus, and the rest of us wheezing away.

We saw Fay and Sallyann beavering away and dug right in. They were incredibly impressed with the amount we got done in turning the soil and said it saved them a few days work. I did somehow manage to trap myself in though. That part of the community allotment will be used by the Brownies to plant strawberries and blueberries, and the other part for squash and pumpkins. They can plant this week now thanks to us! Check out those before and after photos.

We meandered the scenic route back to ARU, Erin has agreed to mentor me for an accounting exam, and Joe lamenting that Boris Johnson was no longer mayor of London. Good work guys!

Don't forget this Sunday 4th, we have the pub quiz at the Ale House from 6:45 (you can bring your own food in).

We also have booked in on July 13th the Chelmsford beer festival - you need to book tickets but you get £10 of beer vouchers and a beer glass.

see you there!

12 GoodGymer's ran and walked to deliver leaflets for four local causes

We had a great mix of regulars, returners and a first timer for our second multiple leaflet delivery of the year. In particular, it was great to meet Erin for her first GoodGym session, welcome Doug back after a break, and Joe P for his third GoodGym of 2023.

Apart from Joel's surprisingly voluminous beard, the main news of the evening was Joe M's shock when I announced that it would be his 50th good deed, a brilliant achievement over the past 18-ish months. Excellent work Joe, can't wait to see your shiny black GoodGym t-shirt!

After jogging up to Chelmer Village, we saw the three familiar faces of Fay, Sallyann, and Roxy (in a nice new red GoodGym t shirt) ready with bags of leaflets to hand out.

We got off to a slightly concerning start, losing Martin for around 5 minutes in the first few roads, but he did reappear and confirmed that he had been quite lost. Rich continued to lead us around the maze like side roads whilst simultaneously discussing a fitness custard business venture with Joe M, and Richard kept running out of leaflets.

In total, we delivered leaflets to 400 houses, but no surprise with such a hardworking group, and I think the most people we've had since before 2020!

Well done and see you all soon,

Laurie

Today we had a mission to help Mr P (and his lovely dog, Major) with a tidy up of his garden. Although it's a work in progress he really wanted to be able to hang his washing out. Jenny did some great work with the strimmer, while Fay focussed on cutting back the bushes. Mission accomplished! We had to stop when we'd filled up two brown bins and didn't have any space left for any more. A job well done on a lovely sunny Sunday morning. Major was pleased with having more garden to sniff too!

If you're interested in finding out how to become mission verified so you can help people like Mr P, you can find out more here.

9 GoodGymer's ran and walked to pick litter

We met up without much of a plan for our litter picking, as every path around Chelmsford seemed to be tidy already. Joel had a couple of ideas, so Fay and Sallyann set off walking to our second location, whilst the rest of us took a slightly longer route to Brook St, where we found plenty of litter, mostly trapped behind a wire fence.

Following a fairly successful collection of litter, we carried on to our second location between the station and park, but not before we spotted a familiar face loitering outside his work. We stopped to look at Rich through the fence for a short while, and jogged to the park.

We managed to find Fay and Sallyann eventually, who had already collected so much litter that they had got rid of their bag! Russell spotted multiple cans of one of his favourite drinks, so the report had to be named after the occasion.

We jogged back to our base and after most of the team had left, David arrived, which led to another photo not of the task.

Well done everyone on a successful litter pick, and see you next week for leafletting!

And how could I forget, congratulations to Jenny, one of our longstanding members, for getting married to James (honorary GG social member) at the weekend!

Laurie