The Liverpool Goodgym team were lucky this evening, as the rain had just eased off an hour before the task. We met up at Park Lane to complete some much-needed litter picking of the surrounding residential area.

Returning faces gathered and discussed the tradition of naming interesting or compelling items to keep good spirits on a cold night. The group was slowly reminded that Halloween had just passed, and this became a re-occurring theme.

As we put on our gloves and grabbed our litter-pickers, a black cat was spotted running across the street after hiding in the shadows. Notable finds we two mismatching gloves and a missing wallet, which was handed-in to be reunited with its owner.

Under the moonlight, Goodgym Liverpool was thanked multiple times by onlookers heading home or into the city, noting the work was much needed in the area. One such person was Liverpool Council woman Angela Coleman, who kindly asked for a picture to highlight the work Goodgym does.

When coming back together at the end of the task, our member Heetu (give her a cheer!) found the most interesting item of the night, a witch’s hat! This was made all the spookier by counting up 13 bags of rubbish!

What a lovely way to fondly look back at the last season’s festivities before we make our way into the Christmas Holidays. Thank you to all the members who attended and those who cheered us on as they walked by.

It was a dark but thankfully clear Monday night that saw a good group of Good Gymmers meet at Mulgrave Street for our weekly task! We were excited to welcome Gaspar to his first task after meeting him last week in Everton Park! After a round of introductions, Khan arrived to set the brief. We set out weeding and litter picking the garden with a lot of the classic question "is this a weed?" being asked amongst the group. We all enjoyed chatting together as we tackled different parts of the garden. It was lovely to see some of the fabulous planting efforts of a recent Good Gym task.
Khan thanked the group with hot tea and Bueno treats which was much appreciated in the cold. Tea in hand, we all headed off into the night towards home. Another good gym task success!!

This session we were back at the Bombed Out Church, completing our excellent work painting the final tables, stools and benches, taking on the Host Stand, and litter picking.

We welcomed new Goodgymmer Colin who joined us for his first task - welcome Colin! It was great to meet you.

Task owner Kate gave us a thorough briefing, and we split into groups, some taking on the painting, and some on litter-picking duty. The site initially looked fairly clear, though with some rummaging the team were able to fill several litter bags, including a pair of shoes (yes, the full pair), socks, and a rather lovely bowl. The painting team took it in turns swapping the large and small brushes, and efficiently finished painting the benches, tables and stools, before turning their attention to the larger Host Stand. Everyone got stuck in, whilst I was on the important tasks of project management, team co-ordination, quality control and torch holding.

The BOC team were again delighted with how much we achieved in such a short space of time, and booked another session there and then. Next time we'll be planting bulbs to prepare for a dazzling daffodil display in the spring!

Alas, every silver lining has a cloud, and the cloud hanging over this session was that our beloved Dan is moving on to pastures new, and this was his last session with Goodgym Liverpool - for now. Dan joined Goodgym Liverpool six months ago, and quickly became an integral member of the group. His love of litter picking, skills with the puns, way with wordsmithery and all-round fabulous company endeared him to all he met, and we're very sorry to see him go. But Dan won't be giving up on Goodgym, he'll be moving to Goodgym Hackney, who don't know how lucky they are to have him - yet. Dan leaves us as a taskforce member with a very respectable 26 good deeds under his belt. He's assured us he'll be back to visit, and the door is always open for him to (litter) pick up where he left off. Dan - it's been an absolute pleasure getting to know you, we hope to see you again very soon.

The team presented Dan with a card and a farewell gift of some thorn proof gardening gloves and his very own litter picking hoop (he already owns his own litter picker!), and he very kindly opened his home to us for some post-task refreshments for a proper farewell.

Goodgym is a fantastic way to get to know some very lovely people, the other side of that coin is it's always difficult when people move on. But you know what they say: 'tis better to have loved litter-picked, than never to have volunteered at all...