Woking GG Xmas Meal 🎅🏽

Goodgym Woking members got together for a Xmas meal last night at Zizzi's 🍕.

What a great turn out last night was it was fantastic to see so many turn up to celebrate a great year together as Woking GG.

Firstly big thank you to Nadia who organised the venue 👏🏻.

Karen arrived first as she was already in town helping out at another local charity 😇 followed by Wayne. The table setting was impressive full of Crackers and decorations 🎗. Adam then arrived without his crutches which was great to see, still not back to 💯 but recovering well. Adam was telling us about his house move last weekend and how grateful he was to his fellow goodgymers who assisted his 😄 Caterina arrived shortly after looking very glam and sparkly ❈. Karen was telling us about her up and coming trip to India 🇮🇳 traveling around for a month just after Xmas, sounds amazing. As the conversation was flowing Kirsty & Bryan arrived followed by Melanie he had come straight from work. Stephanie arrived followed by Julie everyone was looking very festive 🎄. Just behind Anne arrived wearing her GG Shirt as well as her red tutu ❤️ Nadia & Andy arrived followed by Alys who had brough us all little choco treats ❤️. And finally Rebecca arrived straight off the train. It was great hearing about Rebecca 1/2 marathon that she did in New York 🗽 few weekends ago.

Now that everyone had arrived we could order food and drink. Plenty of food was ordered from Pizza's to Risotto's To Pasta dishes everything looked and tasted great.

All in all it was a great night celebrating a great year with fantastic people. ❤️

A cold and wet start didn’t look too promising for this morning’s junior parkrun, but things soon turned around. 🌧️We were delighted to be joined for the first time by the children of St Dunstan’s School, all looking smart in their maroon tracksuits and eager to have a great experience. After taking shelter in the bandstand, the clouds finally lifted and the sun made a welcome appearance.

Wayne, Kirsty, James and Karen completed their marshalling duties brilliantly, with plenty of cheering and clapping to keep the kids motivated. With the sunshine sticking around, hopefully everyone headed home afterwards for a well-deserved cup of coffee (or in my case, a cup of tea!). ☕️

Jemma was the first to reach the Food Bank, followed by Karen and Anne who ran there from the Leisure Centre. Karen and Anne started with dusting the many shelves while Jemma tackled the big fridge.

Nadia came from work in London, and without hesitation reached for Henry the hoover and vacuumed the aisles with dexterity. At that moment Morgan, whose mission was their first, came in from the cold. We all stopped to welcome Morgan and asked them to follow Karen's lead!

Morgan had signed up to GoodGym in South London but had not managed to get involved. We are all delighted to have them as part of our Woking GG team!

Alison, the manager, told us that the food bank will be moving in January while the present building will be demolished. The new temporary premises will be in Church Path where the "old" night club used to be.

With so many hands all the jobs were done and we gathered on the steps for our monthly photo!

**First Report By Olalekan

On Sunday morning, I volunteered as a Marshall at the Woking Junior Parkrun. I arrived early to help set up the course and was given a briefing about my position and responsibilities. My main task was to guide and encourage the runners, make sure they followed the correct route, and report any issues to the Run Director.

During the event, I stood at my designated point on the course, cheering on the children and offering encouragement as they ran past. It was great to see so many young runners taking part and enjoying themselves. I also made sure the path was clear and safe for everyone.

After the final runner passed, I collected the course signs near my position and helped pack them away. The whole experience was very positive — it was rewarding to support the event and help the children stay motivated and safe. I would definitely be happy to volunteer again in the future.

2nd Report By Karen

Following a last-minute appeal to parents and carers, we were able to go ahead with the parkrun — we had been two volunteers short at the start. In total, 134 runners took part, supported by 23 wonderful volunteers.

Among them were two GoodGymers, Ola and Karen, who sadly didn’t manage to spot each other on the day. With the colder weather now here, our red T-shirts tend to be hidden under coats, which makes meeting a bit more challenging. To be fair, Ola braved it in a T-shirt, so we’re still not sure how Karen missed that!

Despite the chill, it was a great morning and an enjoyable run for everyone involved — runners and volunteers alike.

It was definitely an autumnal park run this morning, with one of the HG members wearing her gloves to marshal.

There were 3 of us, Anne, Laura and Karen …situated at different points around the course.Despite the chill there was a good turn out of runners and as usual a great atmosphere.

This is a wonderful opportunity for children to start running, almost as soon as they can walk and such a fun volunteering role for us.