On a lovely, crisp autumn Monday evening our team donned headtorches and hi viz and gathered for another session in Princes Park. Sallyann, Heetu and Ellie were raring to get stuck in and make a visible difference to one of our favourite local green spaces.

Joining forces with the Friends of Princes Park, our small but mighty team of Sallyann, Heetu, Ellie, and (eventually after being fashionably late) Liam set to work along a key lakeside path. Overgrown branches and heavy layers of accumulated leaves had encroached on the walkway, making passage tricky for park visitors.

Though our numbers were lower than usual, we made light work of the task, cutting back the branches and cleared the path edge to edge, tucking a surprisingly large mound of swept leaves (see pics) neatly out of the way so parkgoers could enjoy a safe, accessible route once again.

To round off the evening, we had a special milestone to mark! At the end of the task, the team presented Liam with gifts to celebrate his 100th GoodGym task. As the moon emerged to light up our final wrap-up, it made for a wonderful finish to a lovely evening.

Extra message from Liam:

When I first signed up to Goodgym, it took me about 6 months to actually sign up for a task and attend. Like a lot of people I'd fallen put of the habit of getting out and seeing people during Covid and wasn't sure what to expect or whether I'd like it.

From my first task (shoutout to Sallyann, Heetu and Laura from GG Liverpool!) I was made to feel really welcome and valued, alleviating the nerves I'd felt and making me want to keep going and helping all of the great causes that we support across the city. Soon, Mondays became something to look forward to, especially after a hard or stressful day.

I would say to anyone thinking of joining Goodgym is that you always feel better after attending a task, spending time with warm and friendly people and making a positive difference to your community.

Chappell Roan might’ve sung about a pink pony club but she’s obviously never been to Park Palace Ponies on the Dingle where the residents are gorgeous and utterly strokeable. We were lucky enough to have this pleasure tonight in our very first task at this special place. It was a night of firsts as Aatefa did her first turn as run leader from the suitcases. She did this adeptly with runners old and new, assisted by experienced run leader Liam. It was a first for Linda who ran from suitcases, it was a first for goodgym tourist, Steph from Ealing who also ran and it was a first for Maryna who cycled. Aatefa, Liam, Linda, Steph, Laura and Sophie joined Myself, Nasser and Bekah outside the venue. Heetu and Maryna followed shortly after. Faye from Park Palace ponies gave us our instructions and directed us to the tools, past the ponies in their sheds who got royally fussed over. They were so beautiful and very friendly. Bekah organised this session and knows all the ponies by name, there were six in total, Malu, Jessie, Moses & Deejay were the ones I remember but I’ll have to namecheck with Bekah for all six. Our task was to level out the indoor riding arena. As Faye explained, usually this would be the job of a tractor but as this is a small city based charity there are no such options so it was down to us with rakes and forks to bring the sand from the sides and level out the area. The building used to be a theatre so has a very ornate ceiling and some of the original features are still visible but now it is a venue where children from the city can learn to ride and trot around this sandpit riding arena. There was some discussion over the difference between a horse and a pony; for clarification, a pony is a small horse but not a baby one. We finished slightly early but made that time up by going for a second fuss of the ponies, we had to get our group shot with a pony and Nasser has the skills to get that shot. Steph also thought of a great pun for the report; ‘Only Fools and Ponies’. And as the lyrics of that title song state - ‘why do only fools and horses work?’ Well in our case it’s because we love it! Can’t wait to go back and support this amazing charity again.

Once again, we were back helping thr lovely people at Friend's of Everton Park, this time in the community gardens.

After some Tromboccino picking (a fitting welcome gift for our two newbies Charlieand Michelle), we were split into two teams. With one team staying to uncover a stream and the other, to clear some saplings and brambles.

The stream team were tasked with removing some foliage and stones so that the leaky lining or the stream can be replaced. It was tough work, but very satisfying and we cant wait to see the stream flowing again.

Meanwhile, the other group made great progress clearing saplings and brambles from around the rather wonderful park sign. Excellent work!

Once everyone had returned to the community gardens, it was time to celebrate as Laura has no completed a whopping 200 goodgym tasks (no mean feat!?). It is incredible to think just how many people you have helped over the years. Huge congratulations!