Well done to our cracking team of Goodgym-ers who after a jog ROSE to the challenge and finished part two of our Stephen Street garden tidy up in super quick THYME!

We weeded, tidied and brushed our way to a soundtrack of lovely music and were supervised by Ted, Head Woofer.

What a "lovely evening" with "grear company"!

Thanks and well done all, Kate xx

Last night we cracked through not one but two tasks! Chatting all the way and we got some steps in too!

No one was flagging as we pulled up weeds on the Urmston railway bridge to make it more presentable and as we got to work on the Stephen Street Community Garden, giving it a bit of a makeover.

Special shout out to Katie who came to her first group sesh in Trafford and who proved herself to be invaluable at moss removal.

Mentions to Althea, Joanne and Alessandra - all of whom have made strides in their respective running pursuits recently.

Well done and thanks - see you for the next!

Kate xx

Last night we went to a lovely hidden pocket garden to help tidy it up for the local community.

Previously an abandoned plot, the patch was transformed with some local government funding a while ago into a lovely patch of green with raised beds, vegetables and even raspberries.

We didn't CRUMBLE under the pressure !

Our task was to start the weeding and tidying up which we had a lovely time doing chatting about all sorts (as usual) as we went.

A really lovely hour spent, a job well done and to top it off, some rhubarb to take home which even though it's super hot, is definitely going in a hot pudding!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK IT LOOKS LOVELY!

We've even been promised a plum pie from the gardens later on in the year - yum!

Big shout out to Althea who attended her first Wednesday night community mission - lovely to see you!

Well done all and see you soon, Kate xx

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

Our crack team of Trafford Goodgymers did themselves proud last night at our Stephen Street Community Garden task!

We met as usual at St Matthews at 6.30pm where we chatted about our news, warmed up and introduced the task.

Two of our members who have completed 10 good deeds already (Fiona [https://www.goodgym.org/runners/fiona-sheen] and Jo[https://www.goodgym.org/runners/joanne-harding]) are now fully fledged Taskforce members which means they can set up Community missions and help with all sorts of Goodgym loveliness! Great to have you on board!

Once we were ready we set off at a fair clip off to the community garden getting a great blast of fresh air to blow the cobwebs away.

We assembled ready for the task and set ourselves a challenging time cap to complete the weeding, planting and tidying so we would move extra fast and therefore stay warm!

Up here for thinking, down there for dancing (running)!

In just 30 minutes we had blasted through the task and really turned the garden round putting our Green Fingers to the test

Many hands make light work

We planted all the bulbs, making LIGHT work of the flowerbeds, the myriad of leaves and the tidying. We even got visited by Lord Edward of Urmston who approved our handiwork Ted the dog observing regally

Fiona's Green Fingers

Jo, the lovely task owner, was so pleased with what we achieved that we're invited to the Summer barbeque to celebrate! Roll on summer!

Once we'd made sure we'd tidied up, we cantered back to St Ms for a warm down and pats on the back. We all agreed that whilst it had been a chilly one, getting out there and keeping moving had been really great for our wellbeing, especially for those of us who have been having a mega busy or stressful time of it recently.

Well done to us all for making it, braving it and out-of-the-park smashing it!

See you next time, take care

Kate x

Working on a small and perfectly formed pocket paradise

Well done to the GoodGym Trafford crew who ran 7K last night to help tidy up a little pocket paradise - Stephen Street Community Garden in Urmston, Trafford. Special mention to Helen aka Aggie who joined us for her first ever GoodGym run, well done!

After meeting at our base location of St Matthews Community Hall, Stretford (M32 9AJ) at 6.30pm we had our welcome natter (including a reminder about our social on 18th September after our Group run that evening at Head Bar, document check and warm up from Kate (at points both at the same time!), the team took off at a fair clip led by Lou and kindly backmarked by Cassie. Big thanks to you both and also to our tech consultant for the evening, John who helped us with some Strava connections!

Once all assembled, resident and fellow GoodGym-er Jo who was our task owner for the evening, explained some of the history of the plot and how it had been a dumping ground a few years back until the local community decided to take it over and transform it. The result is a lovely little green spot that has fruit, vegetables and flowers for the community (including the nearby Carehome residents) to enjoy.

Of particular focus is the end of summer party which is in a few weeks, so with that in mind and after we had been briefed and were suitably tooled up, the team set about weeding, raking, tidying and clipping like nobody's business to make sure the garden is looking its best for that!

Whilst we worked we admired the crop of frankly whopping raspberries and abundant apple tree which has already yielded sufficient a crop for crumble for the whole street! We all got into the party mood with some of Kate's tunes and even Freddy our mascot paid us a visit to lend a paw.

This GoodGym Trafford task is not to be sniffed at...

Even though Jo has been on Group tasks before she was still surprised about the impact the team had in less than 45 minutes.

This is fantastic, look how much better it looks already!

After taking a good group shot (Kate's photo skills are slowly improving!)

we divided ourselves into two teams to run home, one team taking a longer route and running at a faster pace with the second team pacing ourselves.

On our return we stretched off and congratulated ourselves on another task well done. Next week our Group run is helping a small children's mental health charity to clear down after their event on 11th September. Click the link to register!

Thanks to all who joined us and see you next time!

Happy running, Kate x