A great turnout for the book sale task this month with some who had not been before and a few grizzled veterans of this task.

The library had mercifully cleared out the old stock so some books that had been hanging around for some time had gone to the big library in the sky. Or the one down below. The important thing is we had exciting new books to put out which should mean lots of extra income for the library and lots of happy readers.

Many hands made light work so we finished with time to spare and left everything neat and tidy. And we get to come back in a few weeks and do it all again for half term 😁

With the nights drawing in a whopping 29 GG Yorkies turned out to volunteer in their local community! We started off by welcoming newcomer Erin who was attending her first ever GoodGym session. We also gave a huge round of applause to one of our run leaders, Laura who tonight was completing her 500th(!) Good Deed. What an amazing achievement. Give them both a big cheer!

Tonight we were heading to Abbeyfield Care Home for the first ever time. Vicky set off a steady pace group whilst Ed led out the rest of the gang with Cara backmarking. We arrived at the task at the same time, but alas there was no one there to greet us. After a few laps of the grounds by Ed and Vicky we eventually encountered a member of staff who despite knowing we were coming, didn't seem quite prepared for us. Nevertheless we shared the one broom between us and after a fair bit of a delay got to work picking up weeds and leaves by hand, filling up a load of black sacks as we go.

The darker night had caught a few of us by surprise so the lack of head torches meant that we weren't always entirely sure if we were picking up the right things. But we did as much as we could in the brief amount of time we had and certainly managed to pull out a few weeds and sweep up a lot of leaves in the process.

Before too long it was time for the evening's fitness so we headed around to Little Hob Moor where Ed laid out a ring of cones for a game of tag with a twist. This time you would only be allowed to move using animal-inspired movements, including the taggers, so to start with we hopped around like Kangaroos whilst being chased by Nick, Vicky and Charlotte. After a few minutes of hopping we moved onto our finest crab impressions, with Charlotte once again proving she is the queen of niche exercises! The taggers then 'tagged out' to make way for Max, David and Laura who started as reluctant bear crawlers, before finally hopping around on one leg à la Flamingos. Every time someone was caught by a tagger they would step out of the circle and complete an exercise before being allowed back in, although as time progressed more people seemed happy to complete the exercise then spend anny more time hopping around on one leg!

We then headed back to the Priory Street Centre for some stretches and a wrap of what's happening in the coming weeks. We're still on the lookout for hands at the Yorkshire Marathon water station, so get yourselves signed up if you can!

Apologies for the slow start to tonight's session. We more than made up for it with the enthusiasm during the task and fitness!

When the first donor of clothes arrived Anna, our organiser knew this clothes swap was going to be a success. The lady had bags of quality clothes from some swanky brands. We all ooohed and aah-ed then got on with the job of checking for rips and stains, soring and putting out the items. Every new donor was invited to lay their offering at the alter of swaps - it literally was an alternative use of the Methodist church alter! There was a steady stream of swappers. But the pile of donations grew higher each time, despite everyone going away happy with a new heap of goodies. Many people wanted to know if there will be another one. Anna hopes to run it at the end of every couple of months.We hope so- Goodgym will be there!

Tonight we started by saying something on our bucket list - looks like a trip to the south pole is on the cards!

We then set off to Fulford Cemetery. Vicky led a cycling group and Ed the runners. When we arrived we were met by Mel who gave us a selection of jobs to choose from. One group headed off to the yew trees to remove unwanted plants growing within them. Another team set about sanding the pergola and a bench, and even managed to give the bench a coat of paint. A third group weeded the edges of the path and the final group cut back grass between the graves!

In no time at all it was time for the team photo, put the tools away and head back to base. The light was fading so bike lights and head torches started to make an appearance!

It was a wet and windy one tonight, but that couldn't dampen our spirits because there was just so much to celebrate this week! We kicked off with a shout out to Stef who took on one of the 'Grim Up North' events at the weekend, and despite his lack of training, managed to get round in a very respectable time. We also give a big cheer to the crew who had tackled the Marathon du Medoc featuring 23 glasses of wine over 26.2 in the French sunshine. More importantly, we also had the news this week that GG regular, Abigail, had given birth to baby Dylan. Huge congratulations to her and Martin. We'll forgive her for not being at GG this week but expect normal service to resume next Monday!

After all that celebrating, and with the rain lashing down, Mitch set off with the walking group whilst Ed led a quick warm up before setting off the running group, ably backmarked by Laura and Babs. We then arrived at Park Grove Academy to be greeted by an already soggy Vicky and Gary who soon got the everyone off to work to avoid any unnecessary standing around. The group were split into wheelbarrow and shovellers, raised bed weeders, tree choppers, willow weavers and rakers.

This task definitely wasn't for fair-weather GoodGymmers as the rain continued to pour down, giving a real test to the new GG branded jackets that were on show. A few people may have spent a bit more time hiding under any shelter they could find, but Ed wasn't going to be too much of a taskmaster tonight as it really was pretty grueling conditions.

There was a little bit of confusion when the walking group were gathered to begin their route home, with word getting around that the task was complete (possibly more out of hope than anything else) despite there still being a good 10mins or so left. But we decided to call it a day before anyone suffered from hypothermia and so downed tools ready for a warming fitness sesh.

Before the fitness began we heard the news that Sophia would be leaving us for a few months in order to go and work abroad. It's been fab having her join us and we look forward to seeing her back next year. Give her a big cheer!

The fitness then involved some wacky relay racing which included lunging, jumping, skipping and crab walking. After the first round of racing we did some traditional birthday squats in honour of Area Activator Vicky's birthday, before a second round of relay races before a dash back to CVS to warm ourselves with Lyndsey's chilli chocolate brownies.

With our task leader, Penny, resting up post op, Bec, Elle and Mike made short work of cleaning up Planet Food. When Jenna got there, it was nearly all done. In a whirl wind of brooms, cloths and table moving the task was complete ahead of time. We were in for Penny, and left with a pound of blueberries and potatoes. Thanks Planet Food!