It was a real team-effort on Saturday 14th Sept when Goodgym Liverpool and others joined forces to support The Choir With No Name.

Those familiar with Goodgym Liverpool may know our fantastic Area Activator Ema is also the Choir Manager for the Liverpool branch of The Choir With No Name. For the past several months she'd arranged a fundraising abseil, and an amazing 30 people had signed up to descend 150ft - free hang! - over the beautiful Anglican Cathedral West Door. Those 30 included 3 Liverpool Goodgymmers - Ellie, Heetu & Lucian, who very bravely took the plunge to raise money for the CWNN, a choir which helps those impacted by homelessness and marginalisation.

5 other goodgymmers - Liam, Sian, Pauline, Sally Ann & Bekah - also came along to volunteer on the day, helping with everything from registration, giving out goody bags, taking photos and corralling the abseilers to keep things running to schedule.

It was a fantastic event, with the choir performing live as the abseilers - or danglers, as the MC called them - descended, and the 30 brave danglers raised a phenomenal over £13,000 between them!

It was a real team effort with another Wirral based choir and a local ukulele band stopping by so the CWNN could take a quick break from entertaining the masses, and all abseilers were greeted with a little cake when their feet touched down, presented to them by a choir member.

Massive well done to Ellie, Heetu & Lucian, and shout out to Ema for organising the Goodgym volunteers whilst managing the choir AND the abseilers AND keeping the event running smoothly! The whole event had a fantastic atmosphere and raised a huge amount for an amazing cause. A round of applause to everyone involved.

Things that make Monday nights one of the best nights of the week..... in no particular order: 1. The opportunity to be outside -tonight felt like we are on the verge of autumn a warmish start leading into a cooler finish with the light starting to fade

1. The opportunity to feel part of the city - tonight we headed to Everton Community Garden an inspiring oasis of fruit veg and flowers all tended by the local community led skilfully by John who is always so welcoming to us.
   

2. The opportunity to give a little back to the amazing initiatives across the city - tonight we were tasked with removing the rotting wooden frames of two raised beds whilst trying to not disturb the actual raised beds.

3. The opportunity to learn new skills. John is always supportive and willing to share his knowledge and expertise and tonight was no exception. we needed to use various techniques and tools as whilst some of the wooden sleepers were rotten through other ones were still strong and gives with bolts and screws which all had to be negotiated.

4. The opportunity for a physics lesson may arise at any point - at one particularly difficult to remove section of wood Pauline called out.. we need a fulcrum and then said 'Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world' and then mentioned Archie someone...well i could not find an Archie signed up for this task . However with a lesson in fulcrums Pauline managed to remove the stubborn wood which had us all clapping and cheering. Physics lessons never felt this much fun before.

5. The opportunity to work together - its the start of the new school year a busy time for teachers and parents and its also the season for various lurgies. so tonight we were a small team of four but we achieved the task working together.

6. The opportunity to be welcomed into the community space and group tonight it was so lovely to be back with John and greeted by Barton who we all love (John's chocokate labrador that we all assured John we were happy to have around). We were able to see some of the fruits of our previous labours and talking of fruits John insisted that we all picked a bag of tomatoes to take home... they are absolutely delicious. we finished the evening by being invited to the open evening social at the end of the month.

7. The opportunity to spend the evening with a group of people that are just .... well fab.

On a warm sunny evening in Liverpool 15 GoodGymmers could be found in St James Gardens. Invited to join Friends of St James Garden's Michael and Vikky (who is also a Goodgymmer) and Lucy and Will from Shiverpool we could be found weeding the paved area around the Huskinsson memorial.

One of the great things about a session like this is it offers you an opportunity to take this time out of your day to suit what you need whilst helping out a local group. With clear directions to follow you are all in the same area but with the space to either focus on the task enjoy the fresh air and reflect on the day or to work by someone and chat whilst you weed. And that is how an hour flies by whilst the space turns from looking a little neglected and overlooked to being cared for once more and plans for a Goodgym trip to Isle of Man start to take shape (keep watching for more on this).

It was an evening of welcomes and farewells. We are so pleased to welcome Nina to Liverpool Goodgym. Nina originally with Haringey Goodgym has relocated and we look forward to seeing her more. A sad farewell to Renata as she moves away and on to the next era of her life. Please come back and see us when you visit and it was lovely to meet you.

It was also an evening of newness. Heetu led the runners through their paces on her first full session leading (Heetu is preparing for her run leader course which basically formalises what she excels in anyway). He5rtu had us running up and down the Metropolitan cathedral flight of steps making it fun and despite the steepness of the steps and the heat of the day laughter and encouragement could be heard as we all got into the swing of it step session finished we ran the length of Hope Street to the Anglican cathedral with bounds of energy and enthusiasm to start the task Well done Heetu.

This evening, as all our sessions do, showed the difference we can all make by joining together with kind intention in unity and understanding

Many thanks to Friends of St James Gardens for inviting us. We are back with them again next week.... why not join us.