This was a really deceptive task - it looked like no amount of sweeping, chopping cutting back and shoveling would get this area clear. But 7 pairs of GoodGym hands proved us wrong and in a couple of hours we had the yard at Packmore's looking ship-shape.

All that is needed now is to get the leaves, branches, moss etc shoveled into bags for the council to remove. Then all is set for Packmore's Easter Event - scheduled to take place on Saturday 19th April.

Another beautiful day for some GoodGym'ing in the sunshine ♥️

Last Saturday, we had a wonderful time as dancing queens - Catherine, Lucy, Maisy and Jo (and Nugget the dog) - helped to shape the turf and bring the Labyrinth to life at All Saints Church garden in Leamington Spa. Under the expert guidance of Lucie from ARC (Achieving Results in Communities), we made great progress. While the delivery of perennials and bulbs has been delayed, we focused on digging out the planted sections of this intricate and beautiful Labyrinth. It was a perfect day to be outdoors, followed by a lovely cuppa and a biscuit to wrap it all up. This is an ongoing project, so if you'd like to get involved, there will be future sessions where you can join us in creating this amazing space.

Another beautiful day for Parkrun- this time a brisk 5k walk around Warwick Racecourse as a park walker - supporting those that aren’t quite as fast around the track. Had the opportunity to walk with the amazing Sue who has had 2 hip operations recently! A former marathon runner, Sue is getting her fitness and agility back by coming along to Parkrun’s Saturday morning challenge. Also waked with another volunteer Phil from Nottinghamshire who, at the age of 75, has visited 175 Parkrun locations - with this one putting him at over 200 that he’s taken part in! Having already completed the A to Z of Parkrun’s together with his son, they are now almost all of their way through the A to Z of Parkrun volunteering!

This is exactly what I love about volunteering - you just get to meet such interesting people! Bon weekende 💕

At last, the Guide Dog posters are getting an airing!

This task has been on the back-burner for a while, but today marked the beginning of spreading the word about the incredible work of Guide Dogs and raising awareness of their volunteering opportunities.

While visiting various organisations with public noticeboards to display the Guide Dog posters, I also took the opportunity to put up a few posters for GoodGym.

This led to some great conversations at the Cape Road Health surgery about lifestyle medicine. The lovely health practitioner, Jo, kindly offered to display the posters at several other locations as well.

The staff at the Sainsbury’s on Coten End were also very interested, so we're hopeful this will help boost our numbers. With more people joining, we’ll be able to do even more good in the community!

More posters... more noticeboards...more recognition for the amazing Guide Dogs.

I've just realised I've got 12 routes to do for these posters.... that's 12 missions.... 12 appalling run report titles about posters ..... and probably not much different content to document on each one!

Except that every mission gets me out on my bike and doing a good deed for the Guide Dogs, so that feels great!

Well, yes—it truly was a pile of old rubbish. While not as much as in previous litter pick sessions, Catherine and Joannah still collected quite a bit along the Grand Union Canal in Leamington Spa yesterday morning. Among the usual mix of empty cans, bottles, and dog-poo bags, they found an abandoned handbag and a lonely shoe (how does someone even lose a single shoe?!).

Afterwards, a well-earned coffee was enjoyed in the sunshine at Costa near Morrisons in Leamington, where Costa very kindly took care of disposing of the rubbish for us. Big thanks to them!