A Choir-t night in

Was there a moose, loose about this hoose tonight? Or was it more a case of GoodGym Cardiff loose to spruce the hoose of our good friends the Big Moose Coffee co.

Instead of a run out to a task this evening, we had the honour of supporting our amazing hosts Big Moose with some painting, shifting and general freshening up of the cafe area. Did you know they’ve been going since March last year, supporting people who are homeless or disadvantaged to get back into work and society.

It’s a testament to their success and the popularity of the place that the walls already need a lick of paint to bring the sparkle back. This is where we come in! But first, once again we were required to put on our game faces and practice our running form for the cameras as our very own Rosie was being filmed as part of a programme about a community choir. While Rosie chatted with presenter Mark and explained how she got involved, the rest of us did our best to not look at the cameras and look as cool as possible dodging the good people of Cardiff heading home or out on the town. And gosh were there plenty of us - maybe it was knowing we’d be filmed that meant we were able to choral 31 people together for tonight’s session, including Ted, Marie and Immy who were attending for the first time and Maya who is back after her placement year in Africa.

With no run needed to get to the task, Ben put his famed planning skills to good use, sending half of us out for a gentle run and walk around Cardiff while the other half got stuck into painting walls and skirting boards, soundtracked by DJ Ben’s Spotify favourites. In no time place was beginning to gleam white, with surprisingly little paint spilt on floors, trainers or brand new GoodGym tops.

Not wishing to hog all the limelight, the first group moved on to clearing the outdoor area and filling the skip outside before welcoming back their running comrades and hitting the streets themselves for a spritely jaunt in the pouring rain, led by Mikey.

By now the painting was in full swing. No patch of wall or cladding was safe from eager GoodGymers wielding loaded paint brushes. By the time the second running group squelched their way back to the coffee house, it felt like the whole place was born anew - we knew it would be all white on the night.

Group photos taken, equipment packed away and new friends made, we said our farewells with the satisfaction of knowing we’d supported a valued partner who has so generously hosted our weekly group runs.

Next week it will be business as usual as we head out to Samye Foundation to do some more decorating, perhaps with a halloween theme? Make sure you sign up and tell all your friends.

The Tweet Off

Marie won the tweet off this evening. We caught Marie for a brief interview afterwards. She said "I'd like to thank my friends and my family."

• LM 11
• MO 7
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• NS 2
• MJ 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1