This week’s getting-to-know-you question turned out to be a real conundrum for us all, the “young ones” and the young at heart – what is our favourite Cliff Richard song?! This was harder than it may seem, as most of us had not heard of Cliff Richard or his antics on a big red bus and the connection to tonight’s task was somewhat lost! But we persevered and were soon splitting into Speedies led by Emma and backmarked by Paul, and the Steadies led by run leader Charles and backmarked by Jo.

For this week’s task we were headed to The Big Yellow Bus project. The project was launched by Gerry Watkins in 2017 and is run by volunteers of the community for the community and is aimed at tacking homelessness by converting double decker buses that can accommodate people overnight. This is the second local bus, the first one already up and running in nearby Cirencester. This was a slightly cooler evening and it’s not hard to see why there is such a drive to get the bus up and running for the winter months when it is particularly hard for those without a home.

We were met there by Jason, and Hannah who probably has the most epic story about how she broke her toe that has ever been told… but not for here!

Run leader Charles had visited the bus the day before and we’ll take his word for it that it had been transformed from its previous white to the lovely canary yellow colour that greeted us when we arrived! So we lined up for our group shot in front of one of the best photo backdrops we’ve had so far. We had to try really hard not to lean against it as the paint was still a bit damp! Stuart was particularly worried about getting yellow paint on his shiny new black GoodGym shirt. But not to fear, GoodGym Swindon number one fan Jo’s mum is always on hand for paint removing tips!

Our mission was to clean the inside of the bus which is in the process of being converted into a living and sleeping space. Downstairs there is a seating area, wood burner and cooking facilities and upstairs there are 9 sleeping areas. So we set to work with cloths and brooms and sprays and Henry the Hoover. This was one of the more challenging cleaning tasks we’ve had, not because the bus was particularly dirty, but the stairs and beds and doors all had to be navigated. It was nice to see that we’d left the bus looking a bit more shiny than when we’d arrived.

Oh, we do love a good photo at GoodGym Swindon and a few of us couldn’t resist sitting in the driver’s seat for a pose. Gina looked particularly happy to be at the big wheel of fun!

Gerry had us all captivated with his passion and energy for all things Big Yellow Bus Project. He can certainly draw a crowd and this will surely help him with his dream to get enough support to launch the bus this winter. As the time went on there were less and less people on the bus and more and more people listening to his master plan!! We wish him and his supporters lots of luck with this venture.

Next up in our calendar is Gardening at Ferndale Primary School. We will be walking and running approximately 3km in total to Ferndale Primary School and back, to help with a gardening task. The outdoor area is entirely managed by volunteers and they need some help with an ongoing garden project. We have been here before and a lot has been done so far but there is more to do, so don't delay, sign up here!.