Five esteemed GoodGymmers volunteered to help York Museum Trust put on another of their parties in the park.

Rich and Pete, being used to a better class of customer, handled the premium gate, scanning and wrist banding the VIPs. This gave Pete ample opportunity to perfect his two finger technique as no one likes it too tight. We hand to turn away one pair who tried to bring a laptop in but they managed to get someone to look after it for the price if a kebab and were soon back in.

Meanwhile Carys and Mitch handled the masses on the main gate, for some reason depriving many of them of their deodorant - perhaps not the best plan. Jenna was in charge of pointing, but later found her GG spot of the night with Patrick Grant (from the Sewing Bee).

Despite many opportunities for mooning, we mostly managed to keep our clothes on (not wanting to create more washing for Joshua's mum), and finished in time to see Self Esteem, where Rich used the cheap excuse of a conga line to fondle Ed who he found in the crowd.

👕 7 lovely GoodGymmers came to help at the clothes swap this month. Some of us came straight from parkrun, for our second volunteering stint of the day. Some came out of purely altruistic ambitions, answering the pleas that the clothes swap were short of their volunteers today. (Some may have had an additional alterior motive for some this month, in looking for an outfit suitable for a wedding (parkrun), lurking around the sparkly rail.) Success was had in both senses - we did lots of helping and outfits were found.

🍰 Vicky had both her work and GoodGym hats on today, selling some (delicious) cake to raise money for York Carers Trust.

⏰ The hour passed quickly and it was soon time to head off, safe in the knowledge that we've hopefully saved some clothes from landfill.

👏 Thank you everyone!

I reported to HQ to receive my ID badge and T shirt. I was instructed to marshal from Acomb Green. My task was to point people to the different events and art works being created around Acomb. The places was buzzing and everyone was wowed by the UK street artists. I was given some maps and gave all of them out to enquiring folk. Everyone was stunned by the artistry of the murals and intrigued by the layering process building up before them. After 90 minutes, my shift was done and I rewarded myself with lunch and a mooch to puppets in a windmill, an exhibition, a pianist, a trapeze and more stunning murals. Well done Art of Protest!

Tonight’s mission took us to Fulford Ings, where two wheels and two feet united for another round in the fight against Himalayan balsam.

Our group split into two, with Ed leading the runners to the task while Vicky guided the cycling crew. After arriving at the beautiful riverside location, it was straight down to business. Armed with gloves and plenty of enthusiasm, we spread out across the Ings, pulling up as much balsam as we could before it had the chance to spread its seeds.

The distinctive pink flowers may look pretty, but this invasive plant crowds out native species, so every handful removed makes a real difference to the local habitat. Before long, piles of uprooted balsam were growing, and areas that had been thick with the plant were looking much clearer.

As always, the task flew by thanks to great teamwork, plenty of chats, and the satisfaction of seeing immediate results. With another productive evening completed, we headed home knowing we’d helped protect this special green space for wildlife and future visitors, with a few folk putting the ribbons around tansy friendly plants en route so the farmer wouldn't chop them down.

A big well done to everyone who ran, cycled, pulled, and piled. Same time next balsam season? 🌱🙌