On a humid June evening, 13 GoodGym runners ran along the canal to help at Cleveland Pools. We did lots of weeding, sweeping and cutting to help keep the grounds safe and tidy. We loved being outdoors getting some exercise and helping to develop a historic part of our community at the same time.

Welcome Lucy!

We met at the leisure centre and welcomed a new runner, Lucy, to the group. Thanks for coming along and helping us out! We hope you come back again soon!

Before the warm-up I shared the latest news with the group. On Thursday we are going to St James Wine Vaults for their pub quiz. This is a great way to meet other GoodGymmers and everyone is welcome, even if you haven't been coming for long. We also have an exciting Community Mission at the weekend where we are helping out at a Scout Campsite in Weston.

To get to Cleveland Pools we took the scenic route along the Kennet and Avon canal path. Our host, Sally, gave us a warm welcome and then gave an introduction to the Pools to those of us that haven't been before. Cleveland Pools is the UK's oldest surviving Lido. It hasn't been in operation since 1980's but team of volunteers are working hard to open it up again so the public can come and swim in it. They have just received some lottery funding and are not far away from their final fundraising target. We have been before to help out around the site and there was lots of jobs for us to do again!

Our work tonight was all about tidying and maintenance. Lots of people visit the site for inspections and planning meetings and we worked hard to make sure the grounds are free of weeds and hazards to keep it safe.

Pooling our resources

Max, Libby and Tim used a variety of tools to weed the area near the entrance, including what will soon be the refurbished children's pool. There were lots of weeds growing in the cracks that they pulled up. Good work team!

Mos(s)t of the weeds were hard to get rid of!

Emily and Pascale focused their efforts on removing slippery moss and weeds around the edges of the main pool. A major health and safety point is to prevent people falling into the water and their hard work means that the walkway is safer for people to work on. Great stuff!

A treeific job!

Mark and Rob spent their evening cutting back shoots and growths on one of the larger trees. These trees are starting to get out of hand and are quickly taking over the space at the back of the grounds. It was hard work because the branches were wet and slippery but it was even more satisfying when they were done!

The name's Pond. James Pond. License to volunteer.

To remove the algae and weeds from the pond area (soon to be the centrepiece swimming pool!), Ollie and Alison used long hooks. The weeds were quite long and they found that the best technique was to 'spaghetti' the weeds and wrap them around the hooks as one would with a fork. They filled up several wheelbarrows which left the pond much clearer which Sally was really happy with.

Out of Scythe, out of mind!

To cut back the grassy areas, Lucy, Alison and Allie learned how to use a scythe to deadly effect. We were lucky enough to have one of the volunteering team there to instruct the runners how to use the scythe to rhythmically cut back the grass. Apparently you has to 'let the scythe do the work' and focus on using your core muscles. The runners managed to clear a huge patch of grass in only a short amount of time. Nice work!

'Hi-ho, Hi-ho'!

At the end of the evening Sally got us shoulder our tools and reenact the Seven Dwarves from Sleeping Beauty singing "Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It's off to work we go ...". We were delighted to help produce this for the team's marketing efforts although none of us could sing or whistle very well ... or march in time. But we had smiles on our faces and that's what's important!

Sally was really pleased with how much we managed to get done in such a short space of time. We are really proud to be a part of restoring this fantastic community asset and we can't wait until it is open in a few years time to go for a dip!

Thanks!

Thanks to Sally and her team for hosting us for the task last night and thanks to Ollie for backmarking for us. Also, thanks for Alison for the double pun this week!

Upcoming runs

• On Thursday there is the monthly pub quiz at St James Wine Vaults.
• On Sunday we have organised an exciting Community Mission helping out at a Scout Campsite in Weston.
• Next week we are helping out at St Phillps and St James' Church.