The January challenge is officially over and despite the monumental efforts of everyone at GG York, we still had an impressive 20 legends turn up for tonight's session, inverting soil at Millennium Field.

Before we set off we awarded the prestigious January GoodGymer of the month award to the super-human Michael who ran a ridiculous amount of KMs whilst also completing a remarkable 23 good deeds. Top effort Michael, give that man plenty of cheers 🍻

We then set off to Millennium Field with Ed leading the run out and Jenna, Laura and Abigail as our backmarkers. Those at the front got a bit too far ahead so did some very questionable wall sits whilst they waited for the rest of the gang to catch up! And then we arrived at the task to be greeted by Maeve and Nicola from St Nicks.

Nicola stole Mitch, Michael, Martin and Stef (the Mmms for short) to do some forking compost work, whilst everyone else joined Maeve at the South end of the field to start digging out clumps of soil and then flipping it over, ready for wildflower seed to be spread on top.

You can tell a lot about someone by how they invert soil - Vicky

The instruction was to dig out random areas but that didn't stop some GoodGymers from getting quite artistic with their inverting. Ben created two very neat connecting squares, whilst James went for quantity over quality and had dug out the biggest patch by far, if not the neatest!

The task was soon complete and the final ask was to spread the seed around on top of the patches we had just dug out, before trampling them down. We then set off and picked up the Mmms en route to a fitness session on the other side of the bridge

We used the seating area next to Rowntree Park to do a series of exercises followed by a quick dash up the stairs and a sprint round to do it all over again. Mitch was like a man possessed, completing 6 full sets, with Jane not too far behind as our leading lady

It was then time for the brief jog back to CVS complete with a few nore wall sits along the way!

Kristina met us at West Bank Park with wheelbarrows of tools & a list of tasks. Nine feelgood Friday goodgymers turned out for some fresh air followed by coffee & goodies for some. We chattered whilst picking up logs & twigs & refreshed & replenished the ' dedge' around the pond which Michael dredged of debris with a rake. Some trees were coppiced (branches chopped off at the base) in the orchard & another 'dedge' was magnificently repaired. Finally a low 'dedge' to deter dogs in the bird watching area was refilled with more twigs.

Our first Group Run of 2025 saw a bumper turnout of 32 dedicated but chilly GoodGym Yorkies head off to West Bank Park for a night of leaf clearing in the play area. Buy before we set off we welcomed 4 newcomers Amy, Clare, James and Sam. Give them all a big cheer 🎉

We also had a few things to celebrate tonight, starting with awarding the December GGer of the month award to David who also happened to be completing his 200th Good Deed tonight. Way to go David 💪. There were also cheers for those that had taken part in some of the festive races including Chevin Chase and the Jolly Holly Jog. Well done guys!

It was then time for a quick but much needed warm up, whilst our walking group set off to the task. Vicky led a run/walk group (although by the sounds of it, it was a lot more run than. walk) and Ed led the main group able back marked by Babs and Laura.

At the task we were greeted by Kristina from the City of York Environment team who was expecting a fair fewer GGers than had arrived, so quickly grabbed as many extra tools as possible to keep us busy. We then set off armed with rakes, shovels, brooms, wheelbarrows and a leafblower, with the aim to clear as many leaves from the play area as possible.

We soon got to work with Clare and James sweeping leaves away from the play equipment whilst Babs and Nick got to work shoveling snow. The rest of the gang were busy with turning over the mulch in the leaf bays and getting them ready for the mass of leaves that were soon heading their way. Well, apart from Ellie who was spotted playing on the springy rocking horse type thing!

After a solid 40 mins or so of leaf clearing the park was looking a lot better so we gathered up the tools and got ready for tonight's fitness session, courtesy of Nikki; A game of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Cones. This involved two people battling it out to be the first person to pick up the cone after following Ed's instructions, with the losers completing 10 squats after each defeat (there's a chance Rich might have sore legs in the morning!)

Then it was back to CVS for some stretches followed by left-over festive treats courtesy of Vicky

It was a beautiful morning to meet for a litter pick we found an area that has plenty to offer!

Ben, Ellie and Becky, accompanied by Kallie the dog, headed to Hob Moor, whilst Vicky and Abigail went down the cycle path and Babs and Jenna worked their way along the fence.

After 45 mins we'd filled 8 bags! and could have done more!

and I'm sure we will....