Tuesday 3rd December 2019
Report written by Benjamin Annear
Christmas is often a really difficult time for families who are homeless, so tonight's task was a very sensitive and emotive one. It was a task that we hope brought aspects of joy to the lives of families during a very challenging time
This evening 38 runners showed up to Big Moose to join in this evening's GoodGym run. Yes, 38!!! 38 is the most runners we have EVER had on a GoodGym Cardiff run. There were 3 new runners tonight too- A huge welcome to Sarah, Abby and Lucy! It was absolutely fantastic having you run with us. Jayne brought along Abby to GoodGym that means she earned herself a red lace #LifesGoals! Jayne will now have one faster leg when she runs until she brings another friend and claims another red lace.
The evening started with Ben leading a warm up. He then gathered everyone together to do the usual introduction and acknowledge any achievements over the past week. They included:
Runner of GoodGym Cardiff and Global News room journalist, Peter Gillibrand turned up in his star costume this evening. If you didn't know by now, Pete is attempting to break a Guinness World Record by running the 2020 London Marathon dressed as a star - Well done Pete you looked fab!
Arriving at Nightingale House
We've run to Nightingale House twice before yet we always managed to forget which building it is - Running up and down the street gives us a bit of extra exercise though, something that we shouldn't be averse to as GoodGym is about getting fit after all.
The staff at Nightingale House welcomed us in with the warmest of welcomes. They were very shocked to hear that 38 runners had turned up, a jump from the 20 that were signed up a couple of days ago.
Our tasks this evening were to decorate the communal areas with Christmas themed decorations and wrap presents, in secret, in the building at the rear of the garden. Some of the runners also gave the garden some TLC by picking up leaves and doing some weeding.
What an incredible task
Everyone found a role and got stuck in. At least 3 Christmas trees were put up. One of the children had James playing with an inflatable Santa for most of the time. Imogen was also being chased with tinsel by some of the children. There was a baby who was dressed in a VERY cool Christmas outfit, who was amazed by the Christmas tree and kept gazing at it in amazement.
In the back building aka. Santa's workshop, runners were speedily wrapping presents. After wrapping one present they would quickly be on to the next. Every bit of space was made use of for the task. Chloe and Sue spent 30 minutes in the toilet wrapping presents.
Thank you so much for your help
The staff and the residents at Nightingale House were extremely grateful, and we were grateful that they allowed us to celebrate some of Christmas with them. Everyone wished each other a Merry Christmas and then we disappeared into the night.
Dave led the run back to Cardiff City Centre, although he quickly ran back to Nightingale House as he had forgotten his bag (Some more unexpected exercise!).
A task that will definitely make a difference. Well done all!
Next week's GoodGym run is on Wednesday - Make sure you come along!
Next Tuesday we have the BBC Sports Awards so the group run will take place on Wednesday. The plan is to help Samye Foundation. I will also be looking for an additional Christmassy themed task. I would love to see you next week - I will bring the award to show you too. Click here to sign up to next week's run.
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Gosh that was quick! Megan has claimed another point on the tweet off leaderboard! Well done! ALL points count and there are less and less opportunities to move up the leaderboard as each week goes by.
We provide emergency accommodation to families who are homeless. We also provide 1-2-1 support for the families whilst they are here. Support needs of families vary. Some are homeless because of domestic abuse, bedroom tax, relationship breakdown, tenancy breakdown. It's a very difficult time for families but especially at Christmas. Fortunately, we have a lot of donations of Christmas presents for the families. However we have difficulty keeping up with wrapping the presents. Last year there were loads and loads and we didn't have the capacity to keep up. Could we ask we have runners come in and wrap up all the presents. It would be the week commencing the 17th December.
See moreWed 4th Dec 2019 at 3:41pm
Well done everyone! Great things achieved by all
Cardiff
Encourages a younger generation into running and volunteering