This week we had a last minute cancellation at Heelis, National Trust… the gardener was ill! Fortunately, Emma the Trainer put in a few calls, and Becky at Swindon Night Shelter whipped the to-do list out for us. It must be Haven! We’ve helped out at the Night Shelter lots. We’ve sorted food, we’ve cleaned, and now we were doing one of our favourite tasks in the warmer months – gardening!

Fourteen of us gathered at the Oasis at the regular Tuesday time. Started by Emma the Trainer, the icebreaker was something extremely cathartic. What has really annoyed us recently? Lots of different things came up – navigating the bureaucracies of work, hospitals or horse purchases; oblivious tourists; questionable TV show endings; or the neighbourhood cat. But the worst? It’s real CARnation, many of us get really annoyed at cars. The top car annoyances are prangs and scratches; insurance idiocy; accidental reversings; slow car sales; and Stuart’s despised smart motorways! We giggled and grr-ed, and it was soon time to set off for the just over 4km run there and back to the Haven Day Centre.

This was one of our shorter runs and so we could hold a walking group too. Graham from the TaskForce, and Sharon set off walking first – great to see you Sharon, who’s halfway through injury rehab and is looking forward to joining us regularly again soon!

The rest of us ran (and never passed Sharon and Graham, how did that happen?!), and we were soon whizzing past the Magic Roundabout and arrived at the Haven.

What route did we take? The shear way to Haven!

We were met by Becky and Ben, the latter of whom had also brought along a handy lawn mower and strimmer. Becky briefed us – we had to weed, mow, strim, sweep, and shift a fence. We also had that gardening task we all face this time of year – getting the ping pong table out and giving it a test! As we worked, we also held out for a phone call any minute from Andrew’s wife, who’s ready to give birth any day now. As well as gardening, we also did a bit of food sorting and met up with our old friend Hetty the Hoover...

Charles does a great Freddie Mercury hoovering impression – it’s a kind of magic!

We soon had everywhere looking spic and span. We said our goodbyes to Ben, Becky, and Becky’s friends – who had joined us after we had held their dinner plans up. We offered to take them for a run next week as a way of apology, but I’m not sure they were convinced!

From here we split up - Kay and Tracy set off home, Graham and Sharon resumed walking, and the rest of us ran to the Oasis. On the way back, we stopped off for a quick photo by one of Swindon’s scariest sights – the road sign for the Magic Roundabout! We also re-hid a painted stone we found tucked away at the Haven. When back at the Oasis, Emma the Trainer led a stretch session, and we were all done for another week, apart from the all-important post-GoodGym coffees.

After more GoodGym greatness? Coming up we’ve got:

• A few of us are attending the Avebury Trust 10k on Sunday 26th May – more information here and via the WhatsApp group. On Sunday 23rd June we will then be going to North Somerset for another Trust 10K for a GG South-West Get Together. Check it out here!

• Tuesday 28th May, Paul’s piloting to Playstep’s Nursery to improve the condition of this popular childcare facility. Don't delay - book on today!

• We’ll soon be uploading our Group Runs and Community Missions right up until the end of July. Check them out here very soon!

• We’re also on the lookout for ways we could celebrate our 1 year anniversary in August. We’re already planning a parkrun takeover, a BBQ, and a special task, but how could we dress up to mark the occasion? Any ideas – stick them in the comments below!