Finally December is here, which means that we can start talking all things festive! These included

• reminding everybody of our Christmas social on the 12th December - no task, no run, just all the festive fun!

• discussing which was our favourite carols during our warm up - all the classics got a mention with some lovely vocals from Isabel

• and our first gift of December was to be able to welcome Ellen to her very first session at GoodGym - great to have you join us!

After a steady run down to the garden for our monthly task at Doddington, we were tasked with clearing all the leaves to create a mulch bed where flowers will be grown. So without waiting to get cold, we grabbed brooms, brushes and trugs and started collecting all the fallen leaves we could lay our bemittened hands on.

There were plenty of other jobs to be done, including compost turning, jasmine taming and cardboard laying. The range of conversations going on round the garden was testament to what an interesting group of people GoodGymers are! There was chat about ancient burial techniques in Greece, how to make Christmas wreathes and we also talked about Dylan's amazing recent achievement of completing the parkrun alphabet!

Before long the garden was looking practically leafless so we moved downstairs to do a leg strength and conditioning workout which saw us challenge those hamstrings, glutes and calves through various exercises. If that wasn't enough we finished with the minute squat challenge - brilliant efforts everyone.

With a quick run to the pub the group saw off the evening with the monthly quiz and a strong result for team GoodGym!

Don't forget there is a lovely mission this Saturday helping to clear paths at a nature reserve - a great way to kick off the weekend!