Song Time

• From Newport to Cardiff
• And every goodgym I get with
• My heart is pumping with love
• Pumping with love
• 'Cause I volunteer with you
• And all the things we could do
• My heart is pumping with love

That's enough of that.... I can't help myself sometimes.

A change to our usual start location, just the once this year... We don't usually change it but this was a new location that we could only help this way.

So we began tonight at Penylan Library and community centre, we hadn't started here since Covid. A quick catch up chat between Michael (goodgym leader) and Dave (Albany runners leader) before their team joined them for the evening. It's not often we meet together, but we do share members..

We welcomed our newcomer to the group tonight Andre.

CROESO

Tonight we all met at the start location, first for a while. Rosie and Dylan were walking so started early, whilst the joggers waited for the full group.

Michael, Andre, Su and Abdullah were next, jogging the lovely route 2.6 km to the task.

It has to be said that this is a beautiful place to run, and no wonder so many running clubs usually start here. We passed two along the way, with Michael knowing of a third that starts up towards the top.

We chatted along the way, getting to know a bit more about each other. And taking in the sites of the pleasure gardens, then Roath lake. As Andre said, it's a lovely part of Cardiff.

Our task tonight, was helping the 84th scouts hut, clearing a lot of brambles and overgrowth in order to open up the car park.

Lights out of the bag

All Tooled up

We started scraping tarmac to clear soil and weeds, trying our best to find the end of the tarmac. Julian had a hedge trimmer to take out the worst, unfortunately the battery died early on.

But we don't accept defeat, so Loppers choppers and all the oppors to work....

Opportunities that is.....

Brambles we churned to bits and the shovels and forks raked them out, before the leaf grabber, mastered by Su carried the waste to the relevant corner.

It was team work as always that got us through a great workout of a task. Especially the Andre squats with his shovel whilst leaf grabber Su got the bulk loads....

Soon the corner of garden waste was a nice tall pile, proving a good 30 minutes of volunteering.

It was a good energetic task tonight, but the difference from start to finish made the run back glorious.

As Autumn approaches, 10 goodgymers take the opportunity for one last task before the need of running lamps.

Walkers and runners met at the Glassworks and took two different routes to the task. Whilst the cyclists met us directly there.

Tonight was a return to St. Paul's Church and community centre, to help finish the tidy and trim, with a little bit of painting thrown in for good measure.

The runners were the first to arrive, so they had pick of the tasks. Dylan, Darcey and Jonathan were our keen choppers, taking on the tasks of removing all growth from the in front of the railings.

Soon, joined by our cyclists and still 5 minutes early, Dylan and Rosie made their way over to clean up the sides of the building. Although completed 4 weeks previous, by goodgym, the recent rain had brought down a lot of moss and vegetation from the roofs.

Bang on time, the walking group arrived. Emma and Martin joined Michael to help cut down some of the cut bush even smaller to make more room in the green bin. Neda and Su went straight to painting....

Just like the Forth Bridge, the railings here seem to be a never ending painting job...... But we don't mind. Unusually, we managed to find a gate that we have never painted, so this was the focus for the painting team. Emma and Martin joined to increase numbers, and it became a task that we had to complete.

Highlights of the evening, Darcey giving tree vibes with her branches, Dylan and his blooper moment as he became the bush he was cutting (it fell on his head) and of course Jonathan and his pure joy of getting his flag photo that he thought we were only doing when he didn't attend.... As if we'd do that.

Tonight's tasks were all completed to the soundtracks from the new Zumba group in the hall, along with many whoops and yeahs. Who knew Zumba was still going strong?

We went over the allocated time slightly, finishing all tasks at 19:40, with just enough time for a photo (minus Rosie). Jonathan finally got his picture with the flag... Twice.

Our first part of a two part mission, we were called to action for the biggest task at Cwtch Together yet.

But first..... 4 joggers, 2 walking group, 2 cycling and 3 more walking from home. This was our 11 goodgymers for the evening, and you were all welcome and very much needed.

The task at hand, clearing an entire store room.... Sarah (organiser) stop buying things! All items had to be moved out to the main scout hall, where it would sit whilst work was being carried out.

The following task will be moving it to the new store. But back to now. With cans of water (Michael's favourite liquid death) and sweets available, no reason for dips of energy.

But plenty of time to dip and lick.... (see photos for context).

It was a nostalgic trip as we moved things, thinking back to when we were younger and having the fun of playing with toys. There was the need to unscrew fixtures, moving shelving and all of the gardening equipment that we know, oh so well.

Still time to spare....

10 more minutes, Michael called. So outside we went, a bit of quick leaf clearing and bramble / nettle cutting and we were done.

A photo to prove that we were here, and we were off, fueled by the sugar of sweets and pure determination. We will return next week, to move it and ourselves once more.....

A return to St. Paul's Community Hall and Church tonight. But first, time to ask one of the strangest questions at a bar......

did you find my watering cans last week?

Some 13 goodgymers tonight, so plenty to get done. We welcomed to their first task, Bruno

CROESO

And back for their second helping of volunteering, and this week joining the runners Abdullah.

Sneaking in at the last minute, and thinking he'd bypass the tradition by not signing up! Dylan arrived, but unbeknown to him we had already planned for this. Thanks Rosie 😁

And so without further delay.. Congratulations on hitting 100.

Hope you enjoy wearing the wings for the evening.

The walking group made their way on a slightly more direct route, led by Emma.

The runners took a route following the river and getting a wonderful breeze, and arrived to meet our organiser and a couple of goodgymers who had made their own way there.

We had a big task tonight, as so much of the grounds had become overgrown... Even in a drought. We split into groups to get as much completed as possible.

• Group 1 were on fence clearing
• Group 2 were clearing in between the paving slabs
• Group 3 tackling the side
• Group 4 around the back

There was cutting of the ivy around the fences, before the crew got their energy and started ripping it off. The tree saplings that had taken root were also cut back, leaving a nice clear site. The pathway was cleared using some tough wire brushes, before being sprayed to keep those weeds at bay. We may have broken a brush or two, but our organiser had admitted to buying cheap online....

The side had a lot of misplaced plants, so they were removed before the whole area was swept and made all spick and span again.

And then came the back.......Everywhere you looked there were plants to be pulled. Rosebay willowherb and buddleja where just a couple. Due to the drought conditions of late though, they were a little easier to pull up, but the seeds and pollen certainly got up noses. And so, the conversation got onto the conga - Standard.

The original by Miami Sound Machine and Gloria Estefan, and the childhood / wedding party delight from Black Lace.

Distraction out of the way, we downed tools and made our way to the front for our standard group photo. We achieved a lot more than our task organiser expected, meaning our next trip could be something a bit different. Thanks team for a successful evening, see you next time.