Block or report Donna Bickerstaff
Tuesday 15th September 2020
Donna Bickerstaff earned their community cape by completing their first community mission.
Donna completed a community mission. Instead of watching TV or lying in bed, Donna was out there making their community a better place to be. For making that choice they have earned the community cape.
Tue 15th Sep 2020 at 6:30pm
Exeter Report written by Klara Kjellgren
11 GoodGymers did an amazing job flyering for Ride On this evening!
What a fantastic evening! Stunning sunset, warm weather, smiley faces all around! All 11 GoodGymers who joined us did a brilliant job delivering flyers for Ride On, a local charity that recycles bikes and offers fantastic cycle services with anything from bike maintenance courses to advice about local cycle routes.
It was great to have Kate and Donna with us for their second GoodGym sessions! Lets give them a big cheer! Also massive thank you to our brilliant taskforce Lisa and Craig who made it possible for us to divide our group into smaller groups and work in even safer ways. We were also very lucky to be delivering in an area of Exeter that has wide streets and wide pavements so that social distancing could be maintained at all times. Extra good with a lovely park around the corner for a little socially distanced photo shot!
I hope you all had good runs and bike rides back home and I look forward to seeing you all soon again! Take a look at the listings here and sign up for a session that suits you!
Tuesday 20th August 2019
Donna Bickerstaff has done their first good deed with GoodGym.
Donna is a now a fully fledged GoodGym runner. They've just run to do good for the first time. They are out there making amazing things happen and getting fit at the same time.
Tue 20th Aug 2019 at 6:45pm
Exeter Report written by Klara Kjellgren
61 runners turned up to the very exciting GoodGym launch in Exeter! We ran 3.5 k to help the Newtown Community Association get their new community building in Belmont park ready for opening in September.
WOW! We had an incredible turn out for our launch run in Exeter! 61 is the highest number of runners ever to come along to a GoodGym launch. Absolutely amazing to see! Most of the runners who came along were totally new to the GoodGym, but we also had some experienced GoodGym runners joining us from Bristol. Great to meet you all!
We started at the Exeter Phoenix Art Centre. This will be our starting point every week which is great as it has toilets, a safe place for us to lock our bags and also a lovely cafe-bar for refreshments and chats for anyone who fancies that before or after our runs.
From the Phoenix we jogged over to the Rougemont Gardens where we were joined by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Exeter, Councillor Mrs Yolonda Henson and Mathew Bryne, the CEO of the Westbank (who we work in partnership with and is funding the GoodGym in our area) who gave some lovely speeches.
We then carried out some dynamic warm-up exercises, getting our bodies ready before we headed over to Belmont Park. During the run we re-grouped at regular intervals, so that we didn’t get too spread out and we managed some press-ups, wall squats and high knees as well on the way. Thank you to Helen Stevens and Ed Field who back marked so that no one got left behind and a big thank you to Dave Guest who led the walking group.
At the task we were welcomed by Rory McNeile, the chair of the Newtown Community Association, who showed us what to do and explained that the community building will be an important place for educational and social events and that it will have a very positive impact on the lives of local residents. The community building will be opening on Saturday the 21st of September, 11 am-3 pm, with fun activities for all age groups and everyone is welcome to join!
We then got stuck in and worked hard for 45 minutes, focusing on the following tasks:
These tasks gave us a full body work-out and it was amazing to see how much we got done!
45 minutes of GoodGym runners getting stuck in made such a difference. Fantastic work everyone!
On our return run we stopped at the Cathedral green where we all enjoyed (I hope!) a fitness session involving 5 types of squats and 4 types of planks. All these exercises strengthen muscle groups that are important to running and by keeping these strong we both improve performance and reduce risk of injury. Hot, sweaty and happy we then returned to the Phoenix where we carried out some stretches. We also took some great photos!
After the group run some runners stayed around for refreshments and chats in the Phoenix which was lovely. Some runners also got their documents checked so that they can start doing coach runs (regularly running to see an isolated elderly person), or so that they can take part in mission runs (running to help isolated elderly people with one-off practical tasks). Fantastic to see that runners are getting involved with the GoodGym in Exeter in this way already and thank you Dom Tooze for helping out with the document checks.
It will be brilliant to see you all again next week when we will run to help the Sylvania Environment and Community project with some gardening tasks along a footpath in the Sylvania Estate. The outward run will take us up a rather steep hill but don’t worry, we will stop to catch our breaths and regroup at regular intervals! Also, what goes up must come down so the return run will be a lot easier! Sign up here to come along.
To finish of with a big shout out to everyone who took part in the launch of the GoodGym in Exeter is very much in order! You all really showed Exeter how to get fit by doing good! It was fantastic to see how everyone chatted to each other and got along during the whole evening as well. Such great GoodGym vibes!
See you next week and happy running until then!
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 6:38am
Excellent report Klara.An amazing turnout for your first group run.Well done.
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 9:02am
Thanks Klara for leading a great session! will definitely join you again when back down in the area.
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 9:04am
Thank you so much! It was great having you there!
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 11:07am
Well done, Klara on your first Exeter group run!
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 11:18am
Absolutely blown away by the success of the launch and the feedback from runners. Well doen Klara and all at Goodgym - it's a pleasure to be working with you.
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 12:55pm
Thank you all so much! Still buzzing from it all! Hope everyone who took part is too 😃
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 5:31pm
61 ! Shut the front door.
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 9:28pm
Wow, that's a lot of GoodGym Good! Congrats on the launch Klara, take a breath and then enjoy it all again next week. Lovely photos too :)
Wed 21st Aug 2019 at 11:12pm
WAHOOOO - Amazing number. Welcome to the family guys!
Thu 22nd Aug 2019 at 3:37pm
Well done Klara and Exeter! What a showstopping launch!
Tue 20th Aug 2019 at 6:45pm
We will help tidy up the outdoor area surrounding the new community building
Read more