On the usual Wednesday night run, it was only Joe signed up for the weekend task at Baddow Farm, who’d be joined by Joanne for her first event with GoodGym Chelmsford.

So he couldn’t be-leaf how poplar he was as a decent turnout of GGers arrived on a cold morning. We all welcomed Leanne back to her first session in over a year with a good chat before the safety briefing. Rich got very excited about “a chainsaw on a pole” but as he and Sallyann had to cycle home afterwards, he decided against using it and everyone kept their limbs. Joe’s approach to clearing thick undergrowth was to clmb inside it and cut himself out. This was the opposite of Joel’s, and the two hacked the thicket apart to meet in the middle and get to the root of just when is the best time to enjoy a pint of stout. By this point a professional chainsaw slinger had arrived and helped fell what Rich couldn’t start with a hacksaw or Andy couldn’t finish by hanging off a branch with a handful of helpers. He was very complimentary about their work though, but Rich won’t be branching out into tree surgery just yet. Drinking tea, eating biscuits – thanks Lions! – and waiting for instructions on what to do with the trees gave us the ideal opportunity for group photos, and for Andy to nail a Parkrun-style jump. Biscuits finished, trees cleared and one garden now much lighter and more open than before, we headed home for baths and a rest. If helping a local charity wasn’t enough, it also meant we were level with Colchester in the tight local derby to be Group B’s top GoodGym team. Thanks everyone!

Joe

Running and punning...something quite unique to Goodgym but I am not sure if it is like running where the more you do it the better you get?!

Last night the sun shone, the birds sang and GG Chelmsford powered their way to Broomfield allotment - an oasis in a suburban desert.

Once again, for me, it was great to meet new people and share some do-gooding as the sunset. The job that Donna entrusted to us was to de-weed and turn over a plot to help out a chap whose hands get swollen these days. It was easily as a good a dynamic strength workout as a gym session but obviously much better!

Thinking about the warming and lighter evenings it is important to stay hydrated but not so much so that you need to take a leek...oh dear David, this report is now a bit cheesy, much like this recipe: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cheese-recipes/cheesy-leeks-la-oliver/

Laurie provided us with a great running route that avoided a lot of the main road and took us along blossom lined roads and clocked up some kilometers for a great midweek feel good fitness session.

I went home smiling about conversations ranging from whether we'd prefer Boris or the Queen in charge (conclusion is that we'd prefer many people ahead of him) and the great cat poo debate which may need to be heard in the house of commons!

Big well done to all and especially Donna for sacrificing her evening for us.

The results are in:

Laurie - 52 minutes Jenny - 1 hour 31 seconds Andy - 56 minutes 51 seconds Russell - 47 minutes 51 seconds Russell - 53 minutes 46 seconds

This week we were leafletting to promote Foodcycle which has recently launched in Chelmsford. Once a week they offer a free sit down meal at Springfield Park Baptist Church using surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.

We started off with a rather brief introduction before a gentle warm up and run to our start point on Byron Road for the leafletting session, with Leanne leading and Laurie backmarking.

We continued leafletting around the Springfield Park area, finishing off the roads that we couldn’t get to last time. Byron Road, the maze of roads around the delightful Essex Police headquarters and back along Sandford Road.

Once we had finished dropping off the last of the leaflets along Sandford Road, we had a surprise visit from David who came back to the university with us.

Whilst having a post run stretch Laurie discussed our plans for a social following last week’s vote, which will be on Thursday 16th September; drinks followed by a meal, hopefully at Moto Pizza… If they can accommodate us all.

Thanks everyone for coming along and promoting this great new initiative in our city!

Next week we are back at the allotment which is need of a bit of care and attention!

This week saw us complete a task for a new task owner; Foodcycle, who have recently started operating in Chelmsford. Foodcycle aim to reduce food waste and help to tackle social isolation and community spirit by providing a free sit down meal, once a week turning surplus food into nutritious meals. In Chelmsford they do this every Thursday at 6:30pm at Springfield Park Baptist Church on Springfield Park Road. Our task was to do some leafletting for them in the surrounding area to help promote the new initiative.

We met up at the University as usual but this week we were joined by GoodGym Chelmsford’s highest good deader… Rachel!!! Who is due to have her first baby in late September with Joel. Lovely to see you Rachel, if only briefly!!

After a quick introduction we set off towards the Springfield Park area, flyers in hand, to spread the news of Foodcycle. As I completely forgot how to get there, Jenny lead whilst Andy backmarked. Once we made it to Trinity street we dropped leaflets off all along Queens Road, Hill Road, Springfield Park Road (stopping for a quick picture outside Foodcycle’s venue), Sprinfield Park Avenue, Shelly Road and half of Byron Road. Some of these roads are pretty long so it was a great effort from everyone to get as much done as we did in the time we had.

As David now lives quite far from our meeting place at the University he said his goodbyes along with Rich as we were a bit closer to their homes. But not before we were told to vote for the eventual upcoming social and heard all about his new Pizza oven. The rest of us made our way back to the University covering 7.5km in total. A special shout out goes to Leanne as this is the furthest she has run in one session for quite a while. Go Leanne!!

Thanks for coming everyone. Hopefully Foodcycle will get a few more people showing up this week as a result of our hard work spreading the word about them and the good work they do!