With Manchester finally thawing out after the cold snap, a few of us met up in St Peter's Square.

Sophie and Peter had already arranged a donation for Don't Walk Past for the Friday evening (11th Jan) outreach to give out sleeping bags and warm clothing for local homeless in the cold weather. Ben managed to provide some hats and gloves nearby this week. We will likely arrange more collections through the year!

On top of the donations, we had more local GoodGymers complete their document check for their DBS, so they are able to carry out nearby missions that get triaged towards GoodGym as a group that can help. It would be great to have more people mission verified to help out with this!

There were also some trainers to be recycled so a JogOn package was prepared to send for refurbishment and reuse, or for shredding and recycling of materials. A great way to help the circular economy of sportswear!

Peter and I completed a loop of the city centre for a nice evening jog.

Holidays are coming...

With Manchester city centre busy with Christmas shoppers and party revellers, 4 GoodGymers donned Santa and elf hats, plus an interesting bobble baseball cap, to go for a social run before the Christmas holidays.

Juno ably led the way taking us down Oxford Road towards the University buildings, which were quiet with students having left. We circled back to Canal Street with a rather frightening blow up Santa, and then back towards Deansgate with street Christmas lights shining the way.

We finished the ~5 km route via Manchester cathedral before a well earned drink at Victoria Tap.

Was great to get out for a group run before the holidays!

In the aftermath of Storm Darragh, three GoodGymers Stefanie, Peter, and Ben brought their sturdy gloves to pick up the litter left in its wake. With bag rings, litter pickers, and strong pink sacks from Keep MCR Tidy, we made the short jog from St Peter's Square to start litter picking from Deansgate.

On our way, we found numerous cans and bottles plus plenty of filled coffee cups that have gone to waste. We found a still tagged plaid shirt, too much McDonalds waste to keep track of, and a decent wellington boot. With the high winds over the weekend, it probably wasn't a surprise that we found 4 discarded umbrellas and the wet weather made the bin bags quite heavy by the end!!

Following the tracking of the bin bags using What3Words, we were able to pass on the locations to Keep MCR Tidy to ensure they are collected successfully.

Always a good and useful backup task through the winter months. Keep an eye on our sessions for a possible Christmas social run next week and for sessions during the January Challenge coming up in the New Year!

On a typically drizzly and gray Manchester day, 3 Goodgymers met up to run with fully laden bags to donate items to local food banks. Over the colder and darker winter months, with energy bills high and costs spiraling, food banks are becoming a necessity for many whether in work or not. The Trussell Trust do a fantastic job seeding food banks and supporting local groups and their website is a good start if looking to donate food.

We met up outside Manchester Central Library and the large lit-up Santa. As a sign, there was a row of tents and a gathering of local homeless people seeking heat and warmth with libraries now able to provide a safe space for many in need. With the MCR 24 hr run raising over £50,000 for the Greater Manchester Mayor's Charity and the Embassy Village gaining ground, maybe there is a glimmer of hope for those in need.

With lights and heavy bags, we made steady progress in the direction of Hulme where a large food donation point was accessible inside the large ASDA there. On the way, we winded around the busy roads and stumbled across Parakeet Parkway where a row of planters and planted trees made up 273 m of the cycle path alongside the main road. It really is amazing what can be done with such a space! After dropping off the items with an obligatory selfie, we made our way back a different way before taking a route around Deansgate before returning to St Peter's Square.

It was a great pleasure to welcome Steph Ducat from Goodgym Ealing who was nearby for work!! Keep an eye out for more Monday sessions with Goodgym Manchester.

Welcome to Christopher and Md for their first GG Manchester task!

Five keen Goodgymers rolled up their sleeves to help out with Ardwick Climate Action on their Saturday morning volunteering session. We wheeled the equipment and plants over to their site next to the Mancunian Way before getting to work.

We quickly cleared the nearby litter with 6 or 7 bags collected plus a GB sign, a set of traffic cones, and a metal pole. With the litter cleared, we helped plant 500 crocus bulbs around the trees and some additional grass plants to be ready for the spring.

While planting, Peter was busy pruning the tops of lavender on a nearby site and Stefanie with Ben pruned a hydrangea near Brunswick Parish church.

On a busy morning, a few of us managed to swap numbers and pick up some strawberries for home, while also singing happy birthday to Ben on a bumper day of GG Manchester volunteering.