An after work pick seems to attract the masses rather than a before work pick so 5 of us hit a local streets!!!

Amongst our haul was a double divan bed base and a toilet seat and a lot of cans thrown out of someone's window.

We picked in the dark so no clue what we stood on as we cleared litter from green spaces near the roads and in the estate.

The windy days have definitely given the gift of litter so nice to target a little area as a gang!

Thanks for turning out :)

5 intrepid runners set off into the urban jungle to clear up the leaf litter. We were directed to a spot that needed attention, by the Barnsley Litterpickers Group, which was the footpath around the area of the Keel Inn. There was a substantial amount to be picked here and we were even verbally encouraged by some locals for our efforts; then taking the opportunity to inform them of who we were. Double-digit numbers of bags were collected and disposed of, making the greenspaces targeted more pleasant for all.

What a turn out!

Great to see so many people out at the start of the year.

Big welcome to Rose who came along to her first group run, hope you enjoyed it and will be back for more soon Rose!

Also, big congrats to Curly Cat for reaching her 50th good deed, she had the honor of donning the now customary bow tie that she wore with poise and prestiege.

This weeks task took us through some more urban environments and even past a car crash as we were running (we do like to turn heads). Nice one to Steve and Eugen for being witnesses/peace keepers!

We met with Sustrans Simon at his lock up where the tools we get to use on the regular are stored ready for our and other Sustrans volunteer activities take place. Simon thought it would be a great idea to thank the local community for hosting the tools their by clearing up a bit of the surrounding area. So we got to it, collecting much rubbish and some gems such as a £20 note which will be donated by Simon to Sustrans and also some questionable looking dools - see photos...

We also helped assemble a new bicycle trailer for other Sustrans volunteers to use to help upkeep the network and made a start assembling some storage shelves for the lock up.

After downing tools and thanking Simon we took in Church/Lecture theater to do some paired activity where one person would run around the church whilst the partner got 10 squats in. 2 rounds of this each and we headed home for stretches and drinks at the Showroom.

Until next week, happy running! :)

So great to start to see some of the old GG faces coming back to group runs and numbers becoming more consistent, long may it continue. We gathered outside The Showroom and headed out to meet MARVELLOUS MARIA at Common Lane Community Garden.

On arrival Maria gave us a marvellous brief on the tasks that needing doing on the Community Garden site and around the Community Centre which included:

• Weeding all around the centre and some of the beds
• Repairing the compost heap with new (old) pallets
• Litter picking around the site
  

We got straight to it, quickly splitting into groups and getting straight on task.

Becky & Lan got down to earth, weeding a corner bed.

Ash kept a level headed repairing the compost heap with Racheal and Abi.

Once time was upon us and we’d downed tools, we went from pallets to planks with a good three rounds of ‘plank and go’ where we paired up heel to heel in the plank position and took turns in our pairs to do sprint laps around the 9 ladies style stone circle before swapping with our partner.

We had a steady jog back with a small STARVA sprint section at the end for those that fancied a challenge and then stretched off before heading inside for some refreshments from The Showroom.

This Friday night was a very successful mission with Friends of Crookes Valley Park. Goodgymmers turned up with enthusiasm in spades. James and Abi took the opportunity to run laps of the lake, whilst Michelle and Celine went for a swim before the task.

We welcomed new members David and Emily and were joined by a couple of friends of CVP before getting the task briefing from Simon. We were to prepare an area for perennial meadow flowers.

We headed to a freshly strimmed patch and proceeded to make hay while the sun shined. Then the turf work really began: removing the the top layer of grass and soil with spades. We collected up the sod piles and then worked to dig it over with forks ready to sow seeds.

It was sweaty work and we all got our fitness session for the day! Having made a splash, a few of us jumped back in the lake for another dip and/or headed up to the pub overlooking the lake to toast what we had managed to achieve 🍻