🎵 "Oh what a beautiful morning..." 🎵

When Goodgymmers John and Jacqueline mentioned they were coming up from London to do a Parkrun in Liverpool, Sallyann quickly mobilised to arrange a warm Liverpool welcome. Despite it not being the usual monthly Goodgym Parkrun date - and therefore no prized stickers on offer to tempt people - she rallied a fabulous turnout.

On a gorgeous crisp bright autumn morning, we welcomed back Laura after her break from maternity leave, it was so lovely to see her again and amazing to see how it felt like she'd never been away. Miriam made great strides in her running, taking place in her second ever parkrun, and after a running break Heetu was back in the game.

Jessica smashed it by running a 5k before she even reached the park, the 9am parkrun was her second that day! Dike casually let slip he accidentally ran an unplanned marathon earlier in the week - he set off to do 15k, but kept going for all 40+! Leonardo did some excellent recruiting and we hope to see some new members soon off the back of his conversations. Lucien remains dedicated to supporting the runners and turned out to cheer everyone on, and Amina & Steph did the hard part and joined us for the run even though they sadly couldn't make it for breakfast. And I frantically tried to keep up with Sally Ann, who - despite having only recently returned to running after injuries - was absolutely smashing the speed and did an amazing job on her return to Princes Park.

After Parkrun and the classic photo, we headed over to new favourite cafe Maw for a well earned breakfast, where John and Jackie were delighted with the vegan cake selection. It turns out they're very well travelled for both Parkrun and Goodgym, and John makes the most of the numerous GG areas in London by attending sessions in several of them. John, next time you're in Hackney, send our love to Dan! We compared area notes and admired the Goodgym sticker adorning John's phone - any chance for a bit of exposure! As we chatted like old friends we were pleased Liam was able to join us for a coffee.

The large group of red t shirts attracted quite a bit of interest and we were approached by several people interested in joining us. And after such a beautiful morning, it's clear to see why. Even the sun shone on us, and with a wide range of running abilities everyone was welcomed and supported, no matter where they were on their running journey. It was a gorgeous start to the weekend and we all left on a high, surrounded by positivity and lovely people doing lovely things.

What a way to make a living…

‘Remember remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot’.

It’s the annual anti-establishment celebration that lights up the sky and at the Carribean centre in Liverpool, Goodgymers went to lend a hand. In the briefing room there were pictures of other anti-establishment heroes like Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali. Maleka briefed us all and designated us spots on the site with various different tasks, queue control, contraband checks, sparkler selling, donation collecting and general high-vis wearing, torch shining approachability. We were so approachable that one punter randomly left his two children with Bekah as he went back to his car to get some cash. A bit put on the spot in a less than desirable situation Bekah improvised with a game of statues… misheard by the kids as a game of musical statues so Bekah had to sing a tune and judge their statue-ness at intervals until their guardian returned.

Leo also excelled in his role. A shout went out on the group Whatsapp that someone had sneaked in some fireworks and was refusing to relinquish them; Leo stepped in and through some diplomacy managed to relieve the punters of their shop bought bangers. Meanwhile Miriam was on car watch and queue management, keeping the pedestrians safe by turning away cars attempting to breach the barrier, and keeping a clear thoroughfare. This week was Gasper's last in Liverpool, and we were privileged he spent two of those nights on tasks with us! You're welcome back anytime Gasper, we hope to see you again.

The firework display was spectacular: a wall to wall twenty minutes of explosive chemistry that impressed everyone. We were told that the display had £3,500 worth of fireworks with some funding from the council but mostly subsidised by the Caribbean Community Centre. Despite the generous donations that we took, the centre says that the event is run at a loss but it is so worth it to see the community coming together for something joyful. The food was incredible. Everyone was in good spirits. Sian was the one who organised this session and we were grateful that she did as we all agreed we would go back again.

It was dark and wet and Mr K thought I was mad to tackle his front garden with my wire brush and head torch but I said that I was looking forward to it! He asked me if I had swum the Channel and I thought he was alluding to the fact that I was dripping wet but he actually thought that I was someone, also called Miriam that had made the swim! Mr K showed me a photograph of how the front garden looked when he first had it done. It looked fantastic and I said I would try my best to get it looking tidy again. I brushed and scraped and I pruned the over grown bush. I got soaked and the brushing was particularly hard work. Mr K took pity on me and invited me in for a cup of tea. We had a lovely chat and Mr K showed me his school photo… in the photo was Paul McCartney and George Harrison!! I couldn’t believe it! I bid farewell to Mr K and said I would be back in the dry weather and in the daylight to get the rest of the moss scraped from the front and mow the grass in the back garden. I waited for the bus and ‘In My Life’, my favourite Beatles song was stuck in my head :)

This session we were back at the Bombed Out Church, completing our excellent work painting the final tables, stools and benches, taking on the Host Stand, and litter picking.

We welcomed new Goodgymmer Colin who joined us for his first task - welcome Colin! It was great to meet you.

Task owner Kate gave us a thorough briefing, and we split into groups, some taking on the painting, and some on litter-picking duty. The site initially looked fairly clear, though with some rummaging the team were able to fill several litter bags, including a pair of shoes (yes, the full pair), socks, and a rather lovely bowl. The painting team took it in turns swapping the large and small brushes, and efficiently finished painting the benches, tables and stools, before turning their attention to the larger Host Stand. Everyone got stuck in, whilst I was on the important tasks of project management, team co-ordination, quality control and torch holding.

The BOC team were again delighted with how much we achieved in such a short space of time, and booked another session there and then. Next time we'll be planting bulbs to prepare for a dazzling daffodil display in the spring!

Alas, every silver lining has a cloud, and the cloud hanging over this session was that our beloved Dan is moving on to pastures new, and this was his last session with Goodgym Liverpool - for now. Dan joined Goodgym Liverpool six months ago, and quickly became an integral member of the group. His love of litter picking, skills with the puns, way with wordsmithery and all-round fabulous company endeared him to all he met, and we're very sorry to see him go. But Dan won't be giving up on Goodgym, he'll be moving to Goodgym Hackney, who don't know how lucky they are to have him - yet. Dan leaves us as a taskforce member with a very respectable 26 good deeds under his belt. He's assured us he'll be back to visit, and the door is always open for him to (litter) pick up where he left off. Dan - it's been an absolute pleasure getting to know you, we hope to see you again very soon.

The team presented Dan with a card and a farewell gift of some thorn proof gardening gloves and his very own litter picking hoop (he already owns his own litter picker!), and he very kindly opened his home to us for some post-task refreshments for a proper farewell.

Goodgym is a fantastic way to get to know some very lovely people, the other side of that coin is it's always difficult when people move on. But you know what they say: 'tis better to have loved litter-picked, than never to have volunteered at all...