We began tonight's session by numbering off and naming an inspirational woman,in honour of international woman's day last Friday.

We then warmed up and headed out on the short run to Scarcroft Allotments which were just under 1km away.

We were met by Graheme and Claire and armed with heavy duty gloves. We then split into 3 teams and each had piles of brash to move to a location where it will be chipped later in the week. We had some good poses for the potential goodgym calendar of folk carrying logs.

The time quickly passed and a lot of distance covered. We met back at the shed for a group photo then headed round the corner for fitness. This week we got into pairs to do some hill reps on Scarcroft Hill.

Once everyone's heart rate was suitably raised we headed back to base.

Special thank you to the early birds who came along to clear a very littered alleyway before group run.

The promise of sweeties tempted 27 GGers out on a chilly March evening to lend a hand to the front garden at Fishergate Primary School, which was in need of a bit of a face-lift.

We started proceedings by numbering off whilst listing things to be afraid of. Lyndsey conveniently listed her number (13) as something to fear, but we also Jamie's suggestion of FOMO and Joanna's fear of decision making as some great examples. It was then time for the short dash across to the task with Ed leading a sea of red shirts, and Vicky bringing up the rear.

At the task we were joined by Martin, Jenna, Anna and Charlotte and soon got stuck into the gardening. Rich declared himself the man with the bin and collected the various bits of rubbish dotted around, whilst others got stuck into weeding, pruning and clearing.

With everyone working hard on the ground to get the garden looking 👌, Mitch decided he'd think outside the box and look higher up for his opportunity to make a difference. A rogue black bin bag stuck up a tree was the goal and it was no match for Mitch armed with a spade, who had acted against all advice and climbed the tree to retrieve it.

Opportunities for further weeding and pruning were dwindling as the task wore on, so mind's started think about potential future tasks with Rich spotting a tree guard that looked like it was in need of removal. Obviously GG York are absolute pros at tree guard removal nowadays!

After a few last minute bits of weeding it was time for a team photo before heading off for Vicky's fitness sesh - Head, Shoulders, Knees and Cones! The game involved moving around a circle of cones before dashing into the middle to pick up a sweet reward. The sweets dwindled as the session went on, which led to a bit of pushing and shoving to get the most in demand sweets.

We then headed back to CVS for a photo with the coveted Golden Trowel (the prize for the most good deeds done in the January Challenge) and then sampled some of Nikki's delicious fudge which also turned out to be part of your 5-a-day 😋

Great session everyone 💪

On a super chilly January evening, a team of dedicated GG Yorkies braved the sun-zero conditions, and Blue Monday to get that warm and fuzzy feeling you can only get from getting fit whilst doing good.

Tonight we were joined by newcomer Edd who was already very well known to a couple of GGers! We also congratuled Max for his 250th Good Deed, whilst Amy doffed a cape for her 200th. We then named and numbered off by listing our favourite blue things 💙 (a lot of love for blue whales 🐳) with some quiet warm up movements so that we could hear everyone's answers!

Ed led the longer run out to Fulford where the team were met by Nicola from St Nicks and some lovely folk from Greener Cleaner Fulford. After some very clear instructions about ensuring we kept straight lines with our soil inversion, the guys got to work.

Everything seemed to be going well until Max and Nikki realised their digging had gone astray and two lines merged into one. At the other end of the scale Michael, Rich and Jamie managed a circle so perfect that it could have been drawn with a compass.

After some posing next to their beautiful circle, we had our group photo and then headed back via Millennium Bridge for a needlessly complex fitness session. Lesson well and truly learnt by Ed for daring to introduce an element of counting into the fitness.

Mitch led the other team out to Holgate Community Garden and had this to say..

On a chilly winters day, 16 of us went to Holgate Community Garden to help remove areas of heavy grass and weeds, with a view of laying barkchip later. We were also tasked with finding some missing posts surrounding some trees that GG tamped in...unfortunately none were found 🙁

Unfortunately for us, despite all the tools and willingness of GG, the ground was frozen solid, which hampered our progress. However we pressed on and were able to remove a massive load of grass. The temperature was freezing, so for the first time, we had mid task fitness! Half way through we did some hill reps, and after some more task we did some circuits. We made much progress, however the cold and frozen ground did hamper us slightly. However we will be back very soon!

A bumper crew of 29 GGers turned up for the 2nd group run of 2024. This time things got off to a much better start with Ed managing to operate the alarm panel correctly, if not the door.

We also welcomed 2 new people tonight, so give a big cheer to Kathryn and Emma. Radu also made his first appearance at a Monday night Group Run.

Before we headed off to the session, Leanne got everyone warmed up with an epic Cha Cha Slide (see Instagram for the video). Mitch then led the run out with Laura bringing up the rear.

We met Kristina at the task, who gave the team various tools to help remove the old guards from the trees around the outside of Ashton Park. Some tools were more useful than others, with hammers being in particularly short supply 🔨

Whilst most people got to work on the tree guards David, Graham and Tristan picked off a January challenge bingo box by doing a litter pick. David was particularly impressed with his haul, if not the soiled nappy.

The tree guards proved to be more challenging than anticipated, and with time running out, all eyes were on Max's team to finish their tree guard in time for the fitness sesh. Fortunately they were up to the challenge and were able to join in.

After the group photo, the fitness session got underway. Several cones were set out in a grid, with one team responsible for keeping them the right way up and the other for flipping them over. Carnage ensued and all sorts of rule breaking, with our dear AA Vicky being the biggest cheater of all by hiding her cones behind Ed. Either way it worked, and her team were declared the winners, with the losers having to pick up the cones at the end.

Great session everyone!