It was the third Saturday of the month and this always sees Goodgymers attend parkrun at our local Princes Park before heading out for breakfast. We have been doing this consistently since January so we knew we were in for a Gr8 time!

Today was Princes parkrun 666th parkrun. It's a busy parkrun and today there were 606 participants (almost 666) including Amina,Bekah, Jess, Jo, Sian, Steph and lovely to see our dear friend Roz (Goodgymer for many years and Jo's daughter). Everyone ran really well with several people getting PBs.

It was time then to head for breakfast which today was at Rhubarb a nearby cafe that has been on the list for a while. Lucky for us Ellie went straight there as soon as they opened and helped the staff to rearrange tables so we had a big table to sit together.

The thing about the monthly parkrun breakfast is that there is such a lovely warmth (not just from the weather at the moment) its a time of chat connection and coffee (ok i just had to throw that beverage in for alliteration purposes). Far from talking rhubarb conversation ranged from Nelson number, fibonacci sequence, what's on at the cinema, and what to have for breakfast. Leo definitely earned star of the month as he showed everyone how to put their parkrun barcode into their Google wallet.

As another parkrun breakfast morning drew to a close and whilst people's loyalty cards are filling up and another mystery category has been attained (to be revealed in December) and it was time to carry on with our weekend I for one left filled with not just a hearty breakfast but a heart full of time spent with lovely people

A great group of Liverpool Goodgymers met at St Luke's Bombed-Out Church on Leece Street and were greeted by the lovely bar staff from St Luke's Garden Bar and Cafe. Painting supplies and sizeable buckets of Ronseal presented, each Goodgymmer selected their brush and the throng of preservative on oak filled the air. The task in hand, to apply wood preservative to the remaining benches and tables in the gardens to complete some much needed sprucing! With no time to lose everyone jumped into action, brush in hand with the table per hour challenge fresh in the mind.

Well Goodgym by name, Goodgym by nature! This bunch did exactly what it said on the Ronseal tin. Clambering, stretching, bending and avoiding the table numbers - 9 tables protected and the good people of Liverpool may be merry for many seasons to come!

A few words from Kate the contact from St Luke's:

"Thank you so much for painting so many tables yesterday! That's loads more than I was expecting! Please pass on a massive thank you to everyone who came."

Well done all, a great job and we've already been invited back. And welcome to new Goodgymmer Sanda who joined us for her first session!

The King’s Guide walk across Morecambe Bay, raising money to help save the Grange Lido was fully booked and there was 500 people in attendance. Bekah, Miriam, Sallyann, Jo and Vikky drove up from Liverpool and Ellie joined us driving from Yorkshire. We parked in Arnside, where the walk was starting from. We grabbed a coffee, Bekah was really pleased to find a matcha iced latte! The local cafes were pleased as punch that 500 people had descended on Arnside as they said it was their busiest day ever. The weather was absolutely perfect, glorious sunshine with a cool breeze.

Michael the King’s Guide gave a safety speech at start point. Don’t feed the dog, walk when the whistle blows and stop when the whistle blows and whatever you do, don’t stop for anything when crossing the river.

We started out over the rocky headland, then we took our shoes off to walk across the sandy bay. It felt so nice. Then the first part of the river. The many dogs that were in attendance barked excitedly. There was a tiny sausage dog who turned out to be an amazing swimmer.

The King’s Guide marked the area for us to cross and we waded in. The water coming up to our knees. We all crossed safely and stopped for a bite to eat. We walked on to the second part of the river, another safe crossing. We walked towards Grange Over Sands and just as our feet were drying in the sand, we came across oily clay, very slippy and our feet got covered. We arrived at Grange and tried to wash off the clay and put our shoes back on. Sallyann was keen to walk back across the bay but thought better of it. We bought some merchandise to support the bay team. We then walked to Grange station and got a train back to Arnside.

An amazing walk, we absolutely lucked out with the weather. As every walk is different it was something that we will never experience again.

Goodgym Liverpool are frequent supporters of The Choir with No Name, mainly due to the support given to both by our fabulous area activator Ema.

Today was the CWNN fundraising Abseil at Liverpool Cathedral. Around 17 brave souls took the plunge - so to speak - including two Goodgymmers Steph and Steph! The event is so lovely that two bystanders were inspired to join, and took on the abseil there and then for a donation to the charity (shout out to Charlie & Terri!)

The choir serenaded the 'danglers' with themed classics such as Rod Stewart's "We're Abseiling" and Enya's "Abseil Away (abseil away abseil away)", and were supported by the Bebbington Bitterman who kindly took over during the choir's well earned break.

It was positively blustery, but that didn't stop our abseilers, nor the crowd from forming to watch and admire. We saved several critical pieces of paperwork from blowing into the ether, and frankly I doubted the MC's claims that due to a micro-climate, it was completely calm and still at the top of the drop. Lucien was proactive in abseil registration, gift giving and furniture moving, and I was on photographer duty making sure I captured the moment the abseilers gratefully reached dry land.

Well done to everyone who took part in this fabulous event and raised money for such a great cause, and huge round of applause and respect to the abseilers who braved the drop, it really is no mean feat.

Same time next year!

Mrs D greeted me warmly and welcomed me in, she'd been referred to Goodgym for some help with weeding the garden. She used to be a keen gardener, growing tomatoes and looking after raised plant beds, but recently ill health has meant she's struggled to keep on top of it.

It was a lovely south facing garden and she enjoys sitting out in it, but the overgrown weeds were dampening her spirits so I was happy to get to work to clear it up for her.

We were soon joined by Ellie, Mrs D's beautiful cat, who kept a keen eye on me and my progress, frequently checking the bag of weeds to ensure I was doing the job properly.

We went through the list of requirements: weeding the paving stones, cutting back some plants, weeding the paths and pots, and Mrs D was delighted to see the progress I'd made in a relatively short space of time. I even had time to remove a large plant from a pot which had recently died, freeing up the pot for another plant for Mrs D's next trip to the garden centre. We got to chatting and before I knew it it was time to leave to get to another Goodgym task, supporting the Choir with No Name at their fundraising cathedral Abseil - but that's another report...

Mrs D commented how lovely it was she was able to see clearly to the other side of the garden, and I left her glad she could enjoy sitting out in the fresh air. It was lovely to meet Mrs D - and Ellie the cat - thank you for the warm welcome. Hope you have some purrfect summer's eves sat outside together.