Excitement levels were high as we gathered, in the rain again, ready for our third visit to Prince Rupert Court. We love visiting the residents here but tonight we were looking forward to it even more than usual as it was an indoor task – even though most of us prefer running in the rain to hot weather. We might test this again in a few months’ time!

Simon led us off towards West Swindon. With a couple of small detours for dedicated Beat the Street superfan Emma the Trainer, we soon arrived at Prince Rupert Court to be greeted by Dominique and some of our GoodGym gang, Jason, Teresa, Kay and Alethia, who (as usual) was laden down with freshly baked cake! Prince Rupert Court provides housing with support for residents aged 55+ years who may have physical disabilities. We are always made really welcome and enjoy visiting our friends there. But friendship had to be put to one side as tonight it was the big event...

the Clash of The Titans, a battle to rival Rumble in the Jungle!

...as we lined up for GoodGym vs Prince Rupert Court at Just Bowl. Just Bowl is a fun, easy to play (more on that later), form of bowls that has been developed to take bowls into care homes, rehabilitation centres, leisure facilities, educational establishments, and community settings. Playing Just Bowl has been shown to benefit physical and mental health, with participants reporting that they feel less isolated, and have improved mobility and balance. There was a 10 week trial set up in February at Prince Rupert Court, and it’s now a popular weekly event. We heard from Dominque that each Thursday night 15 of the residents gather to play Just Bowl, with some strict rules set down. No talking, no heckling, no mobile phones, no swearing…this is serious stuff!

We divided into two teams, with some of the GoodGym members switching allegiance to Team Prince Rupert Court to even up the numbers. They definitely made a wise choice as some of the early efforts from Team GoodGym lacked a certain amount of finesse – this game was harder than it looked! Having been assured by Dominque that everyone would make a score, we soon proved that wrong! So much for “easy to play”! It was an easy victory for Team Prince Rupert Court – would we fare any better in game two when we would all bowl with our less dominant hand? It turned out that this was slightly better for GoodGym – with a narrow 50 point victory. It could have been a lot more if we’d used Teresa’s scoring system!

After all that exertion, it was time to take a break for a cuppa and cake. Stuart did a fine impression of Mrs Overall, pushing the tea trolley along and we all settled in for a good natter. All too soon, it was time to leave – but not without plans being drawn up for a return visit soon. Simon gathered us all up for the return to the Oasis, to the sound of fireworks being set off all over Swindon. It’s just as well we had the (self-declared) Paul ‘Burly’ Bonner as our bodyguard! Your weekly reminder to be careful what you say in earshot of the run report writer!

There’s lots more GoodGym fun coming up:

Next week, we have a walkable task to paint cycle storage containers – you can sign up here.

If you haven’t got a place in the Swindon 10K on 17 November, why not join the GoodGym cheer squad? Let’s turn Swindon red again!

And sign up for our “it’s not Christmas yet” Christmas party on 23 November – an afternoon of delicious food and good company awaits!