As one member put it, we were blessed with a "royal visit" tonight. The usual suspects were joined by a couple of guests from Goodgym HQ. Alex had been in Leicester fotr meetings with the city council to try to up the ante with mission referrals with various agencies, and his new colleague Liv on only her second day in the job got to experience the delights of Leicester.

It was sods law that Mel wasnt around at the start tonight as Liv was looking to walk - she is only just about to embark on a C25K programme - so in the time honoured fashion of Jimmy being our member most supportive of new starters, he agreed to do the honours with a short walk to the task.

The runners went on what Alex described as a spaghetti route where he had no idea where he had been, but as a born and bred southerner from the south east of the country and therefore "obviously" a confirmed Manchester United fan we did make sure that he paid homage to the home of the mighty foxes as we looked across the river to the King Power in its full glory.

I had been down to Perfectly Edible to collect the key earlier on and this time made sure it actually opened the lock to the store cupboard so when the runners arrived Jim and Liv had already made it and Mel had driven to task and we were ready to go.

Our task master was a bit vague on what she wanted done so we set about clearing out the 3 planting beds, apparently they want to grow some herbs out there to supplement to food they provide from the kitchens.

Tools and other equipment were somewhat limited but we made best of it and under the lights of several torches got the job done. The weather was kind for a January night, the afternoons rain had finally stopped and the forecasters had promised double digit temperatures all night so at least we stayed warm and dry while we worked and talked.

For the route back to the fitness activity Jeanette took over walking duties and left a few minutes early leaving the rest to pack away the tools and lock up.

It was off to the areas only "hill" at Upperton Rd. Jess peeled off and bid us farewell at Braunstone gate leaving Jim, Sharon and Alex to chat further as we had a steady jog along Midland Road.

Time had flown so it was a very short up and down hill technique session, it was great to see that even Liv gave it a go.

In the spirit of inclusiveness we led Liv lead us back to base at power walk pace and we arrived back just about on time for some structured stretching before departing for our respective homes.

Scope next week - another week with me leading then Huw will be back from South Africa no doubt with tales of an historic England win and he can tell us how many of the drinks in the picture were for him!!!!

Nine runners ran 5km to help Perfectly Edible UK

Our first run for a while completely in darkness has come around at last! Where did the summer go? Tonight we welcomed Jessica to her first group run, thanks for joining us Jess, we hope to see you again soon! We shared news of another half marathon for Stu who is piling up the miles lately, Mel and Huw's puddle jumping trip to Worksop and other wet parkruns for our gang.

A pleasant loop through Rally Park along Fosse Road North and down Hinckley Road took us to our destination bang on time where we were met by Gemma from Perfectly Edible. After she talked us through the amazing work they do rescuing food for those who need it most she set us to work outside. We cleared leaves, weeds and litter from the car park, planters and borders in swift time, completely filling the huge industrial bin that had only been emptied in the morning. Gemma was a little concerned that she'd have no room for their usual waste disposals until the next collection - never fear, GG debutant Jess had the bright idea to save the day and got a leg up to jump in the bin and stamp it down. Problem solved!

An impressive amount of work complete by everyone but there is definitely scope for a return visit to properly turn over the planters and clear a few more weeds, hopefully we can arrange something soon!

On the way back we were treated to a guest fitness session from Dave with some hill work on Upperton Road and some great advice on technique to avoid injury and maximise our speed when hammering it down hills!

Back at base, we stretched off, congratulating Jess on her first group run, Lisette on a successful interview today and presented Jen with her 50 good deeds medal.

Brilliant work tonight everyone, see you next week for some leafleting on behalf of Menphys.

Happy running, HD