It was a big day today, marking both Liam’s birthday and our last session with Aditya before he returns to India. Over the last seven months Aditya has been a committed and enthusiastic member of the GoodGym community, turning up in all weathers to help out at tasks and discovering a newfound love and talent for running. He has become a friend to us all and will be much missed from the team, but will always remain part of the GoodGym Liverpool family. To celebrate Aditya’s time with us and wish him well for the future we organised a group trip to the parkrun at Sutton Manor in his honour, with Liam, Sallyann and Heetu being super helpful by giving lifts. We had been warned that it was a hilly and difficult run but it was also really friendly with lots of other participants giving us a warm welcome, which was good for morale. The route passed the famous Dream sculpture which symbolises hope for the future and honours the mining history of the area, and continued on through woodland. It was picturesque but hard work so it was a relief to see Ema and Sallyann waiting for the runners near the end, their cheers and encouragement giving us a final push to the finish. After the run many of us met up with other friends at our regular favourite post-run spot, The Third Cafe on Lark Lane, where we enjoyed brunch very generously and secretly paid for by Heetu as a leaving gift to Aditya. Subtlety is not a strong point in our group and it wouldn’t have taken a detective to notice all the whispering and passing of parcels around the table, not to mention the long queue for the bathroom where cards were set up to be signed. Despite it all, Liam and Aditya were still surprised as they each assumed the preparations were meant for the other, but of course the celebration was for both of them! We all got to enjoy a slice of Liam’s birthday cake while we watched Aditya open his card, a collage of his achievements at GoodGym, and his present, a model lambanana. It was a bittersweet and emotional moment as Aditya thanked everyone and left the cafe en route to an important final GoodGym mission with Sallyann and Ema - introducing little lambanana to Superlambanana. Happy birthday to Liam, good luck to Aditya, and thanks to everyone for a lovely morning!

The four of us set out for an adventurous night run up Bidston Hill on the Wirral. Equiped with our trusty head torches, Aditya and Steph led the way having scoped out the route a few weeks prior, but in the dark it was still quite tricky to navigate.

A steep incline to start with is rewarded with an amazing view of the Liverpool waterfront across the river, then we soon happened across the lighthouse and observatory at the top of the hill. The aftermath of Storm Jocelyn had left the ground quite muddy and treacherous under foot on the rocks, so we took it slowly and carefully to find the lighthouse. We then continued our run across the bridge and through the woods back around in a loop to get back to our starting point. It's a fascinating spot which we'd all like to return to in the daytime to explore properly and take in the amazing views.

Thanks to all who organised, it was great fun and lovely to go somewhere a little different.

This week 12 goodgymmers ran, walked and cycled to Sunflowers Cancer Care Centre to lend a hand (or 24!) Their team do amazing work providing support to local people following a diagnosis of cancer or other life-changing illness. On our arrival at 7pm, we found virtually all the rooms full with no doubt invaluable counselling and group support sessions taking place. Our tasks for the evening included some coin counting, mould scrubbing (with appropriate safety gear and windows open of course) and wall painting. Delighted with a rare indoor task as the wind howled outside, we quickly spilt into 2 teams and got to work. With face masks and a need to not lose track of counting reducing our ability to chat somewhat, we finished all the tasks surprisingly quickly! All that was left to do was head to Lark Lane for a drink to celebrate Sallyann reaching the big 100 (deeds, not years…) and Aditya’s last group run with goodgym Liverpool. Aditya has been a very valued member of the group since July 2023 and he will be greatly missed. Tonight also marked Chris’s 40th deed and Jake’s 30th - well done everyone!

GoodGym members, Pauline, and Sallyann, braved the cold at Crosby Parkrun, where they were met by Aditya, before heading for a well earned cuppa at a local café, frequented by Park Runners.

Amina, joined the small but determined Community Mission at Sean's Place, where we were met by members of their amazing team.

Sean’s Place aims to improve men’s mental health and well-being across Sefton and Liverpool City Region through support specifically identified to improve confidence and self-esteem for men whilst reducing symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety.

"Now more than ever we need to challenge the stigma around male mental health, we do this by providing a place that encourages positive discussions around mental health, in a non clinical, non judgemental setting through a variety of practical, proactive support and programmes."

The latest initiative at Sean's Place, is the formation of their Community 'Choir of Hope'.

Armed with bundles of leaflets, the awesome foursome set off to spread the word of the new choir.

Two hours, and 5K later, the last leaflets were distributed.

A great morning, helping an amazing charity: https://www.facebook.com/SeansPlaceuk

On a cold but clear days 8 Liverpool Goodgymers headed over to Delamere. Many thanks to Heetu and Liam for organising and providing lifts there and back.

Delamere Forest was hosting the Delamere 10k and half marathon trail run.

It was such a beautiful course through the woods around the lake and an absolutely amazing view in the last mile looking out on the forest we had run through. Yes the view came with a sting in the tail of a hill the length and steepness of which we just don't have in our city - kudos to Vikky, Steph and Chris for running up it.

The atmosphere was amazing - so friendly and sociable which is just like Goodgym Liverpool so we fitted right in. A hilly trail is so different to a flat road run and everyone ran well and strong - for some it was their first (of I'm sure many ) 10k , for others it was a training run for upcoming half marathons and shout out to Chris for completing the trail half in preparation for a marathon.

The support of the whole group was second to none and for anyone wanting to try out a run whether its the local parkrun, one of our social evening runs or a group run to task Id really recommend signing up and being part of the fabulousness. Several of us finished our morning with a well deserved brunch back on home turf at The Third cafe and Roz got us all thinking about future run events

Special thanks to Aditya for choosing this run and encouraging it to be listed.

Our first task of the 2024 on a crisply cold evening with the fabulous Vicky from Litter-Clear Volunteer supporting her Bloomin' Bays project!

12 Goodgymers came together on Tunner Road, with Liam and Heetu running from Lark Lane for some extra miles, picking up Aditya and Jo at the Suitcases on Hope Street to then run onto the task meeting point, the Suitcases on the corner of Tunnel Road / Earle Road, joined by 8 others (including Sallyann who had said she was too tired after doing the Round Sheffield Run on sunday but her FOMO got the best of her and out she came!)

After a little confusion with names (sorry Jo!) we welcomed Jo visiting from GoodGym Exeter (and look forward to some further ad hoc visists!), and welcomed back Matthew after 18 months of not being at a Monday evening session, lovely to have you back Mat!

Setting lights in tree branches and picking our tools, we quickly got going on clearing the first bay of weeds and debris. Some scraping, sweeping and lopping of branches later and the first bay was ready for a few daffodil bulbs to be planted around the tree. We made sure Aditya planted some of these so when they bloom in the spring we can all have a little smile and remember our good friend who is about to go back home to India and will be very much missed!

With 20 minutes to spare we jumped onto the second bay and with some speedy work got that cleaned up too! We'll be back at the Edge Hill Suitcases on Monday 29th to plant some bulbs around the Luggage Trolley and surrounding land