We returned to Mrs W’s after a mission a couple of weeks ago to move some furniture so the decorator could get in and paint.

Neil and Michelle met at Mrs W’s ready to move get things back in place. The decorator had done a great job and we were careful not to ruin in by crashing into the walls!

Once we’d got the bed back together and everything in place Mrs W asked if we had time to swap two beds from room to room so we moved on to this. Beds went down and back up again in their new homes and we swiftly completed the extra task.

Mrs W was very grateful and after a little chat we headed off, feeling good we’d made a difference 😊

Neil ran to the mission (while Janet drove) in 23 degrees heat. Mrs W talked us through what needed to go where to allow the decorator to come in next week. Neil got going dismantling the bed with an Allen key but then we realised we needed a screwdriver. Turns out Mrs W had a plentiful supply so Janet returned armed with screwdrivers galore! Meanwhile Neil had shifted a chest of drawers on his own. We took down a curtain pole, dismantled and moved a double bed and finally shifted a heavy wardrobe into the middle of the room. I reckon if we’d climbed in we would probably have emerged in Narnia, which might have been a good idea on such a hot day! On the way out, we met Mrs W’s very fluffy cat and left a very grateful Mrs W safe in the knowledge she can call on Goodgym again to reassemble the furniture after the decorating is done. Despite being potentially the hottest September day on record, Neil ran home, while Janet was grateful for air con in the car!

Ellie, Caprice and Neil ran to the session but due to some leg injuries, Daryl had to cycle to the task (Daryl had been lawnmower racing at the weekend!! ) This week's session was to help our friends at Hope Housing. This time Mark had us sorting donations that had come straight from Boomtown Festival. Tents, sleeping bags, roll mats and pillows galore. The group sorted through the donations, throwing away anything that was damaged or that couldn't be cleaned. This did mean checking multiple pop-up tents. Putting them up wasn't a problem but they're not called pop-down tents for a reason!! Ellie and Daryl got to grips pretty quickly whilst Neil and Caprice wrestled trying to fit a four man pop-up tent into a two man tent bag!! Like true festival style, it started to rain so the team quickly made some trips to the skip before heading home. We will be back at Hope Housing in a few weeks time, next week is a flyer-drop to help our friends at Cherry Tree Nursery. See you there!

What a beautiful evening to celebrate GoodGym Bournemouth's 7th birthday. Our first ever good deed was a beach clean so to celebrate, the GoodGymers performed a litter-pick at gloriously sunny Durley Chine beach. Daryl, Neil, Janet and Caprice met newbies Lucy and Louis for a short Group Run to the Beach. Welcome Lucy and Louis! They certainly looked the part by wearing red T-Shirts (hopefully it won't take long for their shirts to arrive) Once at the beach they met Hannah, Sue, Paul, Katie and Katie's mum Jill. It was Jill's first time at GoodGym, she is smashing her C25K so hopefully next time we will see her at our Group Runs! The beach was still quite busy so the group started their litter pick by whizzing around the car-park and up onto the cliff-top. It was slim pickings to start with but the bags just kept getting heavier. We were soon joined by Lea and Keith who had spent the day volunteering on Brownsea Island. They were both knackered but still managed to join us with their grabbers and bin bags. We love you guys! After a successful session the group then hit the beach for celebratory drinks and snacks. What a great bunch, it was so nice to see so many faces! Here's to another seven years and more!! Cheers! 🥂🎉