Phew, what a scorcher!

Temperatures were raised today and not just in anticipation of a tense World Cup showdown between Sweden and England, it was actually flipping hot.

All the more impressive then that a hardy bunch of seven runners agreed to join me on one of our longest ever runs (a 10k round trip) to help out Brave Bold Drama at Creative Workspace in Withywood. Brave Bold Drama are seeking to make drama accessible to families in an area that gets very little funding and is in fact one of the most resource deprived in the whole country. Our job was to clear their outdoor space of litter (and a couple of tyres) so that they could lay wood chip and create a welcoming community space. Our host Paul even sweetened the deal (literally) by laying on water, tea and biscuits for us when we arrived.

With such a long run (made slightly longer by a wrong turn at the last junction) we didn't have much time to spare but we had pretty much cleared the central area of rubbish by the time we had to leave - so fuelled by jammy dodgers and chocolate biscuits we took the more scenic route home along the Malago Greenway.

Meanwhile, Dave took our remaining group around the harbourside to join Sarah of FoHRB (Friends of Harbourside Reed Bed) in a little waterside gardening. This certainly sounds like a nice place to hang out on a hot day - and I understand there were some little moor hens to coo over too! A few enthusiastic individuals even completed a harbourside loop with their run home.

A day of many happy returns today as we were not only wishing Tom a happy birthday but also had two group runs on offer returning to two of our favourite task venues. Could today's big turnout have been influenced by the promise of cake from Tom? Or was it the choice of a long and short run option and two fabulous tasks, giving everyone something to look forward to?

We welcomed Russell along for his first GoodGym group run and hope you enjoyed the experience Russell!

We also congratulated Chris and Alison on their London Marathon heroics last week and Hugh who had completed the Paris Marathon a couple of weeks earlier - well done guys!

The longer option was wonderfully led by Richard who expertly guided us through town and along the gentle ascent of the Bristol Bath Railway Path to The Haven.

The Haven is a 1.3 acre oasis of countryside near Greenbank cemetery where people who have issues around their mental health and/or drug/alcohol misuse can have a safe space to relax, socialise and be involved with activity's such as gardening,art,sculpture, woodworking and nature conservation.

Here we were met by Julia and Alistair who got one group pulling out weeds and nettles from a raspberry patch, taking care not to get stung in the process and then barrowing the waste over to a compost pile. Working efficiently they soon had the patch looking clear whilst taking care not to pull out any raspberry bushes.

The other group helped out with building a dead hedge to encourage some wildlife to inhabit the area. Under the careful supervision from Alistair, including some excellent axe instruction, the group managed to strip down branches for the hedge and make stakes for supporting the hedge and by the time we left this was looking great.

All the while a duck busied itself foraging for something to eat - I'm not quite sure how successful it was but seemed very content getting it's beak dirtier and dirtier as it patrolled the area, whilst a chicken pottered around nearby.

Meanwhile, Jack led the shorter run option to Windmill Hill City Farm. Beth from the the Farm showed us the around and it was clear we were going to have to get out of a bind (weed)! The farm was in need of bindweed haircut and the team duly obliged. Grabbing the weeds and securing them in buckets to be disposed off, so they hopefully don't grow back. A robin made the best of the situation and was eating up the earthworms as we dug out the weeds!

Chris had a bit of a different environment to the hot streets of the London Marathon and found himself ankle deep in horse muck. Debs and Emma decided to test Chris's shoveling skills forming a rapid two woman wheelbarrow gang - racing to ensure that they never ran out at the other end, where it was emptied onto the ground so provide a bit of fodder to get the veggies growing well on the city farm. There was just enough time for a cup of tea and a look at the new spring animals and goat kids and lambs were very popular with all, we look forward to going back to Windmill Hill City Farm again soon.

Nice work everyone today and big thanks to Richard and Jack for getting everyone there and back safely!

On a very mild evening 35 of us met up outside Workout Bristol for our first visit of the Spring to help the APE project at St Pauls Adventure playground. This was the location for my very first run as trainer last year so it seemed appropriate to be introducing new GG Bristol trainer Shona to the group. Shona will be shadowing me for the next couple of sessions before taking over in full towards the end of the month - and I know everyone will give her a warm welcome while she finds her feet!

On arrival at the playground, the first thing that was noticeable was how much more welcoming it felt since we were last there in the Autumn. Guy and Rachel have done a fantastic job of adding colour and magic with lots more painting, wind chimes and windmills about the place. Good to see the zip wire is still there though and I wasn't altogether surprised to see a couple of runners find their way onto the rope swing during our session tonight.

Our task at the playground involved moving a whole load of items from the front of the playground to the basketball court so that there would be space for some containers to be delivered. The items ranged from fences and fence stakes to a trike, tumble drier and yes - even the kitchen sink! All were moved in no time at all leaving some spare time to sweep the paths and do a quick 5 minute litter pick about the path.

With our task complete we headed back to Queen Square for a few walking lunges and squats before spending the last five minutes engaged in a game of Fact or Fiction. Then it was over to Chilli Daddys for our regular monthly eats - thanks to Clo for organising!

PS loving the contrast between the serious and crazy group photos tonight :)

The first truly light evening and doesn't it feel great! After a spot of antonym warm-up we headed straight out to Portland Square to help the Portland and Brunswick association give the space a good spring clean.

This involved picking up stray twigs and branches that had collected on the path during the Winter months and sherpening up the edges using shovels and brooms. We also took the opportunity to have a bit of a litter pick so by the end of the session the square was looking pretty sharp - with all the right angles.

There was just enough light left for a group photo before finishing with running train chase around the newly cleared path and a game of Squatopia in the middle.

Thanks to the association for coming so well prepared with brooms and shovels (and to Bristol Waste for litter pickers and bags) - we look forward to helping out again in the future. Also, nice to report plenty of residents coming up and thanking our runners for all their hard work tonight - top work folks!

A massive turnout tonight with lots of new faces which is fantastic - always lovely to welcome new runners to Goodgym Bristol.

Our task for the night was to help East Bristol food bank to weigh and sort the donated items from their most recent supermarket event. These events take place over a weekend at a local supermarket, with shoppers asked to donate items from a supplied list. Such events can result in a ton or two of donations which are then stored at a warehouse ready to be processed - and that is where we come in!

Half of our group worked to take the crates of mixed cans and packets and weigh them (for the charities commission) before sorting their contents across other empty crates so that they are ready for use in foodbanks. This is always quite hectic and it was good to have Jack in charge overseeing the operation and making sure everyone got back safely.

With there being so many people tonight we were then able to take the other half on an impromptu delivery session of Helpful Peeps fliers. Barton Hill is one of the few places we haven't covered so we were able to tick off another area on our list and continue spreading the word about this online pay-it-forward community!

Leaflets delivered and crates weighed we all found our way back to base in time for some stretching and a few light refreshments in Workout Bristol.