As part of GoodGym's mega weekend away in the Lakes, we all volunteered at Patterdale Village School. They needed a lot of work completed to make the school tidy for the pupils.

The initial task was actually getting there. There were multiple splinter groups where some people ran whilst some people (including myself) hiked. We loved the scenery of the Lake District so much we decidede to take a scenic route and get to the task half an hour late. I did not hear of other stories from the runners, but I assume they were more punctual!

After that initial hurdle, we all got stuck in. There were so many tasks to complete, including:

1. Clearing out a greenhouse of old dead vegetation and giving it a good clean.
2. Digging up large amounts of weed and soil around a climbing frame, and throwing the debris into a drainage ditch (lots of fun!)
3. Adding new meshing and wiring to the border fence (very proffessionally done!)
4. Cleaning out a bug hotel
5. Cleaning out a chicken coop
6. Lopping trees of various sizes. Some of the branches were massive and required 4 of us to move!
7. Clearing the car park of moss and debris.

Despite the fact there was so many of us (more volunteers than students), we were all busy and got to work.

See this mess I'm making, you need to clean it up - Rich

After 2 hours of solid graft, cake and a chin up competition (which Paul absolutely won!) we were left with a clean and tidy school and very happy staff. We definitely earned our trip to the pub after.

A gaggle of GoodGym Yorkies assembled at Penrith parkrun to volunteer their services as pacers and marshalls. With a couple of other volunteers we had most times covered between 19 and 40 minutes with some parkwalkers thrown in as well. We were given a warm welcome and were all asked to line up at the front to be introduced to everyone.

It was great to see the blue pacer bibs dotted around the course, helping others along and the faster runners cheering in the rest.

*we may not have all been perfectly on time but we did a pretty good job!

report courtesy of Matt Hobby

Let's face it, January is rubbish! The nights are long, the Christmas and New Year hangover has truly set in and spring still feels like the light at the end of a very long tunnel. So what better way to turn that frown upside down and spend a weekend with the good gymmers in the lake district.

And if you think you're not a fan of January, well... the weather gods are just as peeved. With Storm Eowyn sent to smite the north of England, the weekend started with a series of closed roads, fallen trees and landslides. But, undeterred, with the mountains calling and tasks to be completed, a pioneering team set off across the pennines early on Friday. Relaying messages as to the great peril that lay ahead, they provided safe passage for the goodgym pilgrims who followed later.

Home for the weekend was Glenridding YHA. This remote hostel, nestled amongst the old lead mine ruins of yesteryear, conjures up feelings of a dwarfish middle earth. And like Hobbits to the shire, the goodgymmers feasted on home made chillis as late arrivals continued bursting through the door to much laughter and joy. None less so than during the Goodgym Treasure hunt, derived by Abigail who sadly couldn't make it at the last minute. Making full use of the YHA, it was a good thing we had exclusive use of the building

Saturday dawned with some folks disappearing off to Penrith Parkrun as volunteers, Pacers and participants, whilst others remained in the mountains to watch the sun rise or go for a fell run. Snow levels at 650m and some remaining strong wind meant changing plans to accommodate the conditions. But with stunning views of Ullswater amongst the snow covered corries above, it was well worth it. Returning to the YHA from the buzz of parkrun and fell runs alike, a full breakfast was prepared and devoured by all. Cooked eggs, bacon, veggie and meat sausages, hash browns, mushrooms, beans, tomatoes - you know, the full works organised with the usual military goodgym precision.

Sated and ready for action the team descended upon Patterdale school. Such an idyllic place for little people to learn with wild gardens on the edge of the lake. Of course, even wild gardens can get too wild and the school team had a big list of tasks pruning the hedges, clearing the flower beds, tidying the field edges and prepping the dead wood hedgerow. What would have taken the school team weeks, if not months, was polished off in mere hours - they were so happy! A warm feeling, knowing that we'd made someone's life easier and brightened up a spot of the local community, meant a well deserved stop at the Ullswater Inn, before heading back to the YHA. ... and then, of course via the Travellers Rest. Well, we were travelling and fancied a rest. It would have been silly not to stop for another beer!

Finally returning back to the YHA to a smorgasboard of curry dishes that folks had prepared at home and brought along to share. There's a recurring theme here, have you noticed? Big spice, little spice and everything in between made for a super tasty supper followed by a game of pass the parcel. Now, you may think you know how to play pass the parcel... but you've never played Goodgym pass the parcel. Everyone brings a parcel, an old unwanted gift or something, and everyone takes home a parcel. Everyone is a winner! However, with some exchanges forced by the gamesmaster and others voluntarily engaged in, there's no telling whether you'll go home with Aunt Ethel's old stockings, or a golden ticket to Willy Wonker's chocolate factory. Nevertheless, Mitch seemed genuinely excited by his grabbing a copy of Cheryl Cole's biography - who gave that away!?!?

And Sunday dawned with another fantastic breakfast, consisting of more bangers than a second hand car show (leftovers making a perfect treat for James dog when he returns home). Task number 2 involved another school trip, this time to Chapel Stile in Langdale. Once again, the team set about helping to clear up the school grounds and build deadwood hedgerows. But this task had a special treat - fresh pizza cooked on the school's wood fired oven.

... and just as the weather took another turn, the team packed up and started heading back to York. Well fed, well rested and with a warm glow inside from having helped out some local communities. Maybe January isn't that bad after all!

Another fab January turnout saw a whopping 29 GG Yorkies turn out for a trip to Back Park for an epic leaf clearing sesh. Before we set off we welcomed newcomers Jody and Matthew who were completing their first Good Deeds tonight. Give them a big cheer 🥳

We also celebrated all those who had taken part in the Brass Monkey Half Marathon on Sunday. Especially to Paul who was celebrating a new PB. Great stuff Paul Kelly 💪

Our walking group of Nikki, Pete and Debs set off whilst the rest of the gang warmed up. Ed then led the run to Back Park with Abigail and Laura on hand to back mark. At the task we were greeted by Kristina from the City of York Council Environment Team who set us off armed with rakes and brooms with the aim of filling up as many tonne sacks as possible. Newcomer Jody was excited to be left in charge of the leaf blower, but her excitement was short-lived when she realised that battery had died and she wouldn't get use the leaf blower afterall.

A select few GGers armed themselves with secateurs and tackled a few brambles that were growing in amongst the shrubs, whilst the rest of the guys got to work on making piles of leaves and getting them bagged up. In fact they did such a good job that we were soon out of tonne sacks and had to call an early end to the task (or so we thought).

Whilst the team proudly posed for photos in front of the 15 sacks of leaves they had collected, eagle-eyed Kristina noticed that several bags had been over-filled and so more work was needed to decant some leaves from the bigger bags into smaller green bags. Only then could the task be completed and we could reward ourselves with some delicious cupcakes courtesy of Lyndsey

It was then time for our fitness session which required a fair bit of coordination. Basically teams of 4 had to line up and pass a cone to each other whilst lunging in sync. It also required people to make teams of people roughly the same height as themselves so that the synchronized lunging would work. However this also gave the team of 6ft something boys a huge advantage when it came to racing against the other teams. So for the second race we mixed it up and passed the cone over our heads then through our legs. This time the contest was too close to call, but needless to say Team Tall were not victorious!

It was then back to the Priory Street centre where we gave a round of applause to David for being the firssst GGer to complete his January Bingo card. Then it was off to the pub for a well deserved pint or 2!

While most of the GG help this sunday morning were on the way to help out with Brass Monkey Pete, Michel and Michael fitted in a quick task helping out with Junior Park Run. All went well and credit to Michael who swapped his Park Director bib for his running bib to arrive in time to run Brass Monkey alongside 1800 others and several other GGers...

4 regulars were met at the task by David who was keen to see what we all about and support his local school. Great to meet you and even better that you are a great shoveller !

Careful to avoid any nasty spores and digging through a still frozen layer we soon had the path covered and it was off home for tea and medals....