On our first warm summer's evening in what feels like forever, a stonking 25 GGers turned out for this week's Group Run to Hull Road Park. Before heading off we awarded the GoodGymer of the month gong for June to the amazing Abigail who not only regularly volunteers her services for back-marking duties but also recently completed her Taskforce training. Give her a big cheer (even if she wasn't on brand) 👏

Vicky then set off with the steady pace crew whilst the rest of the gang celebrated Mark Cavendish's achievements at the Tour de France, numbering off by naming the field in which they could set a record in. Turns out a GG York like food, a lot! Then it was off to the task 💪

At Hull Road Park we were greeted by Kristina from the City of York Council Environment Team who split the group into 3 teams:

Team 1 would be removing Verbena seedlings from the flower beds so they could be replanted elsewhere

Team 2 were getting edgy on the paths, removing overgrown grass and weeds

Team 3 were on bush trimming duties, removing unwanted plants from the hedgerows around the basketball courts

My face is in bush and I'm covered in hairy balls - Michael

Team 3 soon realised the perils of getting stuck into bush task as they came out covered in sticky, hairy ball type things. I'm sure they have a name but we were being too childish to look it up

Team 1 did such a good job removing the verbena seedlings that they soon ran out of plant pots. That didn't deter Sarah though who resorted to keeping the seedlings in the pocket of her leggings (possibly to take home to plant herself 🤫)

Meanwhile team 2 did a superb job on the path edging. Despite starting in the wrong place, they did a great job and uncovered loads of pathway that was previously lost the overgrown grass.

With the task coming to an end, some of the crew made a start on the bark chipping that is set to feature in next week's task. After a quick team photo Vicky led the steady group back to base whilst Ed set up this week's fitness sesh.

is this like the human centipede - Lyndsey

With the cones dumped in the middle of a circle of GGers, there was only one thing for it - a game of human Hungry Hungry Hippos. With people split into pairs and adopting the wheelbarrow position, the aim was to collect as many cones as possible. Turns out then some serious core strength is required, especially when reversing! Martin and Michael were the victors and their prize was to gather in the rest of the cones. Well done guys!

We started tonight's group run by belatedly awarding our GoodGymer of the month accolade for February to the marvelous Nikki , who had continued her January exploits into Feb and been a shining example for other Task Forcers. Well done Nikki 👏

We also welcomed newcomer Sarah who was doing her first ever task tonight. Let's give her a big cheer 👋

A bit of daytime drama meant that our services were required elsewhere, so instead of going to Ashton Park, tonight's group run saw us head to Clarance Gardens for a spot of unsupervised wildflower seed spreading! Ed did his best to explain what was required of us, and with a few suggestions from the rest of the team, we soon decided on a system that saw everyone lining up a meter apart, with a few seed topper-uppers running between them all 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️

Babs seem to focus on quantity rather than quality and raced ahead of the rest of the line of seed spreaders, whereas Graham took a bit more time and care with his seeds and stamping. Let's see when they bloom who had the best technique!

With most people having whizzed through their seed portions in lightning quick time, we needed to fill the rest of the session with something or risk an early pub exodus. So Leanne led a congo/indian file stamping line to make sure that no spot was left un-stomped.

Before too long it was time for the fitness session and an opportunity to get to know each other a little better. The GGers ran in a circle (again led by Leanne) and made thier way into the middle for an exercise every time Ed called out something that they had done before. Unsurprisingly almost all GGers have baked a cake or planted a tree in their lifetime. Unfortunately we didn't uncover too many secret tattoos though!

Huge well done to everyone for a fab session. Next week it's off to St Chad's scout hut for a classic painting task!

The promise of sweeties tempted 27 GGers out on a chilly March evening to lend a hand to the front garden at Fishergate Primary School, which was in need of a bit of a face-lift.

We started proceedings by numbering off whilst listing things to be afraid of. Lyndsey conveniently listed her number (13) as something to fear, but we also Jamie's suggestion of FOMO and Joanna's fear of decision making as some great examples. It was then time for the short dash across to the task with Ed leading a sea of red shirts, and Vicky bringing up the rear.

At the task we were joined by Martin, Jenna, Anna and Charlotte and soon got stuck into the gardening. Rich declared himself the man with the bin and collected the various bits of rubbish dotted around, whilst others got stuck into weeding, pruning and clearing.

With everyone working hard on the ground to get the garden looking 👌, Mitch decided he'd think outside the box and look higher up for his opportunity to make a difference. A rogue black bin bag stuck up a tree was the goal and it was no match for Mitch armed with a spade, who had acted against all advice and climbed the tree to retrieve it.

Opportunities for further weeding and pruning were dwindling as the task wore on, so mind's started think about potential future tasks with Rich spotting a tree guard that looked like it was in need of removal. Obviously GG York are absolute pros at tree guard removal nowadays!

After a few last minute bits of weeding it was time for a team photo before heading off for Vicky's fitness sesh - Head, Shoulders, Knees and Cones! The game involved moving around a circle of cones before dashing into the middle to pick up a sweet reward. The sweets dwindled as the session went on, which led to a bit of pushing and shoving to get the most in demand sweets.

We then headed back to CVS for a photo with the coveted Golden Trowel (the prize for the most good deeds done in the January Challenge) and then sampled some of Nikki's delicious fudge which also turned out to be part of your 5-a-day 😋

Great session everyone 💪

☀️ We had a whopping 30 people at our group run this evening, on a gloriously light (and still sunny!) Monday evening.

👋 We were thrilled to welcome Rose for her first good deed, and Louisa for her first group run. We also had Rachel Maskill (MP for York Inner) along, which was great.

👻 We were heading to York Cemetery so waved off our walking group (led by Debs) then warmed up for running/cycling. We named and numbered off by recalling our favourite dead celebrity (in honour of our cemetery excursion). We discovered a lot of Bowie fans, along with other great and good, including Nelson Mandela and Casper the friendly ghost (hands up who’s ever put those two people in the same sentence before!)

🏃‍♀️🚲🚶‍♂️Ed led the running group to the cemetery while the rest of us cycled. We were met by the lovely Clive who was slightly surprised at our large number and tried to get a few more tools together.

4️⃣ We were given four jobs to tackle:

1) Digging and moving snowdrops to increase their spread around the cemetery for next year 🌼

2) Digging up brambles that we’d successfully cut back in January. (This required hunting down said remaining brambles, which was the first task!) 🪴

3) Lopping bank brambles in a particularly overgrown area 🌱

4) Digging and loading up bags of woodchip before dragging and distributing said bags 🌳

💪 Everyone tackled their jobs with aplomb and got a lot done. It was soon time to down and gather tools, take vegetation to the pile and head to the open area for fitness. In honour of our task location, we did a musical fitness session to the tune of Ghostbusters (thanks to Stef’s speakers). Many lunges and copious burpees later, with the backdrop of a very pretty sunset, we were Ghostbustered out and ready to head back to base.

🥳 We stretched off and said goodbye, lots of us heading to the pub for a drink and catch up.

👍 Thanks everyone, it was great to see you all. We’ve got other sessions coming up this week so you can find out more and sign up here.

🐣 I hope you have a great Easter weekend and see you for more of the same next Monday evening.