Tonight we started our warm up by saying which drink we'd like to get rid of - suggestions included pernod, cider and whiskey! We then celebrated Cara's 200th good deed and welcomed Nick to his first run, before heading off to Park Grove for a final session of fence painting.

Once we arrived we made a prompt start on turning the rainbow fence blue. Within no time one side was done so a few nimble folk jumped the fence to do the other side (Then vicky found the keys to the gate in her pocket!)

The session then finished with a coconut shy relay race! Lots of people knocked one off to take home (whilst others just stole them!)

Once back at base and refuelled by Amy and Cara's biscuits, a bumper group headed to the pub to discuss the use if coconuts in more detail!

🥳 21 excellent GoodGymmers joined our bank holiday group run-social bonanza this evening.

🍹 We named, numbered and warmed up while discussing our favourite soft drinks. Elderflower and Irn-Bru (not together) were our slightly unexpected winners, alongside some classics (water and tea) and other interesting additions (anything with rhubarb in and homemade lemonade). Feeling slightly thirsty thanks to that, we set off on our run to Holgate Community Orchard.

🌺 It’s still incredibly exciting to see the transformation that we’ve been part of there. The plot we worked on originally is no longer mud but a grass and wildflower haven. There’s still plenty of work to do though, and speaking of mud, our talk today was to start digging over another patch of soil, which will also hopefully be transformed soon, this time into a wildflower meadow, with some bee-friendly additions.

💪 Alongside the digging over, we were also digging out brambles and anything else we could find. This required some hard work and a variety of techniques, including the classic jumping on the spade. Some of the brambles had particularly large roots, giving quite the sense of achievement when they finally came out. Alongside this were some other unusual finds, including what looked like a very old steering lock. Pete was also tasked with digging out “random metal items”. Having shown his penchant for it, he was requested by Helen to dig out two large metal poles that may or may not have been used for growing raspberries at some point 🤷‍♀️

🌳 Our diggers were so efficient that we soon had to expand our area, which Helen was delighted about. We also had a small group “branch” off to do some stick-sorting. A big pile needed stripping and sorting by size, the larger ones being put out for reuse, the smaller ones being used for compost.

🧩 With 10 minutes to go, Helen from the allotments suggested we start covering the soil over. We weren’t satisfied to leave a wonky line though, so I attempted to draw a straight-ish line to work towards. This was done with aplomb and efficiency, with the coverings being reapplied effectively. This required a bit of covering Tetris as we attempted to piece together the assortment of coverings of various shapes. There was a tense moment when Michael and Nick thought they’d found the perfect spot for their piece, only to learn it didn’t quite fit with the rest of the puzzle! Fortunately, Michael quickly found a substitute spot for it so all was not lost.

🎭 After all that drama, it was time for a group photo on our slightly less picturesque soil, in front of the beautifully-converted area behind. A short blast of fitness “enjoyed” (endured?) by most, hidden from (in a bush, literally) by others meant we were ready for the next part of the evening.

ℹ️ We also noticed that we got a mention on the new information board about the orchard, which is pretty exciting.

🍻 Steve and Mitch has kindly brought down some alcohol-free beer, courtesy of Athletic Brewing (one of GoodGym’s sponsors), which we enjoyed in the surroundings of the Community Orchard. Others had brought snacks to share, including some homegrown figs and apples, and homemade raspberry cake (and not to forgot the ever-so-important Red Leicester Mini Cheddars for Abigail!) A jolly time was had by all, until we started getting eaten alive slightly by various biting insects. That was our cue to leave so we parted ways and there ended our evening.

👏 Thank you everyone, see you again soon!

☀ 26 excellent GoodGymmers gathered for our third and final bank holiday group run of the month. And a lovely sunny evening it was too.

👋 We were thrilled to welcome Michaela for her first group run, and to see Louise who’s visiting up from London.

🦸‍♂ Sadly, I completely forgot to bring the cape for Ed’s very impressive 300th good deed so that glorious moment/photo op is yet to come. Well done though 👍

🥔 We named, numbered and warmed up with a slightly ad hoc question (which fit with my slightly disorganised mind this evening). In honour of it being whitsun weekend, we offered our favourite comedian and/or potato dishes. There were some very reputable comedians cited but personally, it also just reminded me how many great ways there are you serve potatoes (dauphinois, hash browns, croquettes), which in turn made me pretty hungry.

🍎 Ed led the run to Holgate Community Orchard where we marvelled in the progress that’s been made in the 18-ish months that we’ve been coming here. The first part of the patch is blooming with wildflowers so we got stuck into the second. One job there was to lop nettles, dig brambles and remove bindweed. Meanwhile, another group got stuck in removing stones from a stony patch.

🧲 A third group were on random metal object extraction duties. Door handles/hinges and horseshoes were among their finds, with some impressive digging to get them out. More natural finds were a potato plant by Charlotte (which Helen thinks must have been there for decades) and a frog by Bernie. We can’t wait to see how this part of the orchard turns out and we’re particularly excited to hear more about the bee initiatives there 🐝

🗻 Some excellent work was done during our time there tonight, before we headed to Windmill Rise for some hill reps. We did these in pairs and included a warm up and cool down plus three higher intensity reps in the middle.

🍻 With that, it was time to head back to base and home/on to the pub.

🌺 We’ve got a few sessions coming up this week, including this one at North Street Gardens on Wednesday evening with Barbara so do sign up and join us if you can.

☀️ 23 superb GoodGymmers met for our group run on this beautifully sunny evening. We were thrilled to welcome Simon and Bernie for their first group run sessions, brilliant to have you along. And there was even more to celebrate, including Lucy's wedding last Friday and Vicky and Abigail's excellent Vale of York race performances yesterday 🙌

🌳 We had three groups heading to Acomb Wood (which, very confusingly, isn’t actually in Acomb, sorry Abi!) Amy led the party pace crew while Michal led another running group (who apparently did sprints over Hob Moor - good work guys 👍). We also had an excellent turn out for the cycle crew this evening, with 7 of us hopping on our bikes 🚲

🥾 On arrival, we were greeted by Beki from the council and four bags (two of hardcore, two of hoggin) to be distributed along the footpath. We set to work swiftly and got a good system, with groups of shovellers, barrowers and rakers all working incredibly hard. Jenna rightly pointed out that the hoggin looked like a “buttery biscuit base” from a cheesecake, causing all our mouths to water 🍰

💪 In no time at all, we’d used up all the materials and completed the first bit of path, with two layers! There was some excellent teamwork involved, with various communication methods for signposting the barrowers to the correct shovelling location. There was also some great collective team strength involved in heave-ho-ing the bags onto the wheelbarrows once they were deemed “light” enough 👏

👏 Beki was thrilled with our progress and has invited us back to distribute the final four bags, which we’re looking forward to 👌

📸 After a quick team photo, it was time to pack up the van and for our different groups to head off, meeting back at base for stretches before heading to the pub for more wedding celebrations (including some excellent brownies and cookies, which were swiftly demolished). Whilst there, some of us learned the difference between jealous and envious (and some of us remained confused) - a little English language lesson to top off the evening 🔤

🥳 Good work everyone, and thank you for a lovely evening. We’ve got other sessions happening this week (including planting on an equally sunny evening tomorrow) so do join if you can 😁

☀️ 16 great and good GoodGymmers met for our first group run in the daylight! And what a treat of sunshine we got for it too! Sarah from Move the Masses was there, handing out newsletters for us to deliver (there are still a few areas going for anyone else who fancies it…) We were thrilled to welcome back Kai after a 5-year break from GG (due to living in Manchester) - hopefully we’ll see you again a bit sooner than that!

🦸‍♂️ We cheered Steve Rice and awarded him his 50 good deed cloak, which was pretty exciting! The party pacers set off, along with Steve and his cloak!

🏃🚶‍♀️🚲We also celebrated Michal’s incredible Hardmoors 55 achievement at the weekend and chatted about our favourite run/walk/cycle in his honour as we named and numbered off. Favourite routes included some exciting international holidays and GoodGym trips. Oh, and Mitch was bamboozled by the question, before even being faced with any real-life bamboo!

🚸 Ed led the other running group to St Aelred’s School and then the cycle crew set off. We congregated at the school and were greeted by Briony who was delighted to see us. She set us to work on various different jobs around their new wildlife area.

🌱 We had a team of tree-planters, digging holes to plant some of the 120 trees they’ve had donated from the Woodland Trust to build a hedgerow. The baby trees then needed protecting, from litter (thanks Lyndsay!), animals and children. So the next task was adding bamboo sticks and plastic covers.

🌿 The rest of the group were in the wildlife area, armed with loppers and saws and chopping, hacking and generally demolishing every overgrown/weed-type thing in sight. A huge difference was made in the time we were there and a pond was uncovered by their handiwork (leading to the obligatory frog-hunt!)

😊 With all that productivity, it was soon time to head back. Briony was incredibly grateful and said some lovely words about the impact our little contribution will have to the school and its pupils. We’re heading back in a few weeks to spread woodchip in the wildlife area, which we’re pretty excited about.

📸 After a quick group shot, it was time to head back, taking advantage of the streetlights on the cycle path to do some Fartlek-style sprints.

👍 Thanks for all your hard work tonight, it was great to make such a difference 🙌