January may be over but that doesn't stop goodgym York from coming out in force to keep doing good!

We started by celebrating the folk who ran Dewsbury 10k and especially Amy's sub 50min PB! We also adorned John with the cape of good deeds for reaching a phenomenal 600 tasks, and congratulated Becca for getting to 50.

We were then off to Holgate Allotments where Helen already had the bonfire going. Tasks included emptying the shed, cutting back brambles, digging over the soil and keeping the fire going. it was a chilly night and we were grateful for the warmth, even if a few people got a bit singed!

i didn't need my leg hair anyway - michael

We enjoyed the fire so much it was too difficult to tear people away for fitness so we did some exercises whilst enjoying the heat. There was a bit of a stand off between Ed and Alex on the arm circles, and despite Alex's pleading we had to call a draw!

We have been asked if we'd like yo return to take the shed down. Now that sounds like the perfect follow up and right up our street!

Tonight was a very special session indeed!

We celebrated not one, not two, but three milestones! Bec did her 100th deed, Nick his 400th and Vicky her 600th. Top effort guys! 👏

The celebrations didn't stop there though- tonight we also reached our January good deed target.This has been an incredible achievement by everyone who has come along this month. You should all be so proud.

And as if this wasn't news enough, a real news reporter from ITN calendar news joined us to do some filming.📺

So, what did we get up to? It was our annual outing to give the willow at Park Grove it's haircut. We has a team lopping and sawing, another shuttle running the offcuts to team weave, who were adding to the willow dome. In the forest school Debs, Ed and Neil were making woodchip and Laura was busy collecting brash to chop up. 🪚

For the grand finale we did a fitness session based on the January bingo - 10 exercises on park equipment. This entertained the reporters as much as it did us!

We then headed back to base, waving cheerily at cameraman Mike on the way past and a few continued the celebrations in the pub. 🍻

Top work, but its not over yet. Still lots of kms needed, tasks to sign up to, bingo squares to complete and pledges to fulfill! Let push through the last few days and you can all have a day off on Sunday!

Theatre@41 is an independent theatre in York in a beautiful old church. Perhaps just a touch more beautiful in the outside than the inside - some of the back stage areas need a bit of TLC. In classic GoodGym fashion we made it look way worse before hopefully someone else makes it look better again.

We were tasked with stripping all the peeling paint we could reach in the green room and a stairwell. I say "green room" it was either brown or purple depending on who you asked but definitely not green. Either way, the paint was held on the wall only by force of habit and came off in sheets with the lightest on touches - in some areas not even needing a paint scrapper, it could be brushed off with a broom. For the team on the stairs it was more a case of knowing when to quit: it was a blurry line between peeling paint and crumbling plaster.

In much less than the alloted hour we'd stripped the paint from everything we could reach and turned to sweeping up, cheered along by Michael playing if you're happy and you know it on the piano. Then Nikki brought out her delicious banana and date cake before a team photo on the stairs like the bunch of luvvies that we are.

A great goodgym turnout for New Year's Day double whammy task. The memorial wood close by was looking rather sad, with a number of gaps where saplings planted directly into the clay earth had struggled. So as there was an excess of gifted trees at the Tiny Forest these could be used to fill in some spaces whilst in their dormant period. Today's task was to give the new trees a better start. Some clay was removed, a heavy bar & pickaxe used to break through the clay layer, fresh Tiny Forest compost and feed added, tree planted, recycled stake and rabbit guard applied and finally a blanket of woodchip mulch to suppress weeds and retain moisture in the summer. We look forward to seeing the green shoots in spring. In order to make the trees cosy the efforts of the brave and tough goodgymers working in a chilling Northerly breeze must be recognised. Well done & thank you. Fortunately there were hot drinks and cakes afterwards in the sheltered Tiny Forest. January challenge bingo baked goods ticked off by 3 😋