After such a fab session last weekend, we headed back to the Arts Barge to carry on with the spruce up. Most of the activity was focused around removing weeds from the landing.

GoodGymmers were armed with hoes, shovels and brushes as we gathered the unwanted growth and got it bagged up, ready to be taken away

Meanwhile, Michael was busy on fire duty, getting rid of the wooden debris we'd gathered last week and burning it on top of a bonfire worthy of any scout leader

Other notable activity included Nick being well chuffed with his saw, and Fergie falling out with the Art's Barge's dog, Frieda

After the task was completed we sat in front of the bonfire for a few beers as the night drew in

on our first head torchless run of the year, we headed to Holgate Allotments.

We were met by Paul and tasked with breaking up an already flattened shed and carrying it to where it will be collected.

By using a range of techniques, including sawing and jumping, half the group completed the task, whilst the other half cut back brambles.

By the end the plot was in slightly better shape so hopefully it can now be let.

We then finished with a game of peg pinching with the prize of re usable cable ties. The enthusiasm for both the game and the ties varied but overall another good group run out.

Shout out to Jenna for the delicious baking back at base too!

It was all hands on deck as we teamed up with the lovely guys from the Arts Barge for the first time, but certainly not the last.

We arrived to a very comprehensive task list and soon began getting stuck in. The majority of the team began clearing debris from the landing and shifting the gangplank (not entirely sure if these are the correct nautical terms but they sound legit). Meanwhile the rest of the crew got on board with clearing the barge's deck and giving it a good sweep.

The most interesting task was snapped up by first mates Hannah and Leanne who were clearing rubbish (mostly loaves of bread) out of the water around the barge, using a basket attached to a rope and basically playing a life-size game of the claw-grabby things you get in seaside arcades. The basket wasn't going to cut the mustard with the floating sleeper and door which required a more novel approach involving floating it further down to some steps where we could just about reach into the water and rescue them

We managed to get a great deal of work done, much to the delight of the task owners, but there's still plenty more that needs to be done before the barge is ready to figuratively set sail again. So keep an eye on the listings for the arts barge mk.2

5 Goodgymers made their way to Heslington Park Run on a sunny Saturday morning to support the Move Mates takeover. Hayden set everyone after telling them about the amazing work of the charity, Angela cheered people on from her marshaling spot, Vicky and Jenna expertly scanned tokens and I (Abigail) surprised everyone by not completely messing up time keeping!

A lovely way to start a weekend packed with GG tasks.

As run leader for the first time in a while, Leanne finally realised her ambition of getting everyone to name and number off and name their favourite number - tenuously linked to Paul Kelly finally getting to wear the cape for his 400th good deed... (which is a big number). Though initially as chaotic as it was designed to be - the team rose to the challenge and quickly got into the swing of things. Ben's imaginary number and Paul Kelly's π even sparked some maths chat on the run out.

Tonight's Goodgym adventures had the Yorkie crew heading out to Hull Road Park to help out with some (flower) bed shuffling. The route there included multiple traffic light stops which meant that the age old GG York tradition of traffic light selfies could be reinstated (A tradition now so old that barely anyone remembered it!)

Right next to our meeting point, there was an upended bin. Where some of the group saw it as a fun hurdle, others treated it as a bonus task and immediately put it back in its rightful place, clearing the way for those who were less confident on the hurdles.

We had a quick briefing from our task owner, Kristina, who split us into two groups:

💥Team destruction got the more familiar task of completely and indiscriminately clearing one of the overgrown flowerbeds in preparation for some transPLANTing later on in the task.

🌱Team finesse had the more challenging job of being careful about what they dug up from some raised beds, ensuring that specific plants remained in tact so that they could be replanted.

💪 There was some bonus carrying heavy bags of soil, which Vicky allocated to anyone who looked like they were getting a bit cold part way through the task.

At the 5 minute call, it was all hands on deck to get everything that we'd dug up replanted in Team Destruction's freshly cleared beds.

We finished up with a quick musical 'follow the leader' fitness session. About half of the group claimed to have no idea what was going on... Curiously, it did seem to be the same ten people who insisted they were all needed to dig 'one last hole' when the call to join the fitness session was made... make of that what you will. At the very least, it warmed everyone up a bit in preparation for the run back to base where we could all bask in the even warmer glow of another evening of doing good.