As hard as it tried, the weather couldn't dampen GG York's spirits and we still had over 20 amazing volunteers brave the conditions for the choice of two tasks. Either delivering leaflets for the excellent York International Women's Week, or heading to Park Grove for what was originally going to be painting but promptly changed once it was clear that the rain was hete to stay for the evening 🌧️

Tonight was a landmark occasion for GG York with the winner of the GG Yorkie of the month and the cape of Good Deeds both going to the same person in the same night! So give a huge well done to Lucy who not only was completing her 400th Good Deed but also had her picture taken in the frame for being pretty excellent throughout October. We also gave a round of applause to Laura who was completing her 50th good deed tonight (although she signed up after Ed had set off so unfortunately no cape until next Monday). Give them both loads of cheers 🥳

Before we set off Ed and Nicola did the admin of marking out the distribution zones for the leafletting task, with 5 crudely drawn areas highlighted on maps of the City. We then set Leanne and her team off to Park Grove, whilst the rest of the crew were divided into 5 groups of 3 and set off armed with 200 leaflets each to hand out to all the wonderful places across the city that they thought would be receptive

Pete, Ellie and Claire won the prize for being the first group back having got rid of all their leaflets. The rest of the groups slowly trickled back and stuck around for some of Lucy's tasty cake! 🍰

Meanwhile at Park Grove....

The infamous five GG Yorkies ran over to Park Grove n the rain where they met Vicky who had some surprise sheltered tasks including repainting a pink fence panel and painting the interior of a shed in colours of their choice.

For those who wanted to avoid paint splashes, there was also an optional leaf clearing task. Lucy, Leanne and Paul got stuck into the shed, painting panels (and a few spiders) with bright shades of blue, red, yellow and purple. Lets just say we wouldn't be surprised if caretaker Gary opened the shed door tomorrow to find the fresh paintwork covered in red spider footprints... Even brightly coloured spiders couldn't persuade Vicky to come near them, so she stayed outside, but under the shelter repainting a pink fence panel with Jen. Kit was the most waterproofed of everyone, so he set about clearing leaves into big sacks to be dragged into the forest garden.
The group overruled Leanne's plan to lead a fitness session in favour of putting some finishing touches on the shed and washing paint from their skin. The rain came pouring just in time for the run back to meet the other teams. Lucy sprinted off into the distance, leaving the rest of us in the breeze of her flapping 400 good deed cape, claiming that she was a bit cold. Thankfully it wasn't long before she slowed down to let the rest of the team catch up.

What a night! Well done everyone for getting out in the rain

Tonight we met for our bonfire special. We started by discussing the best thing about autumn, where leaves features heavily, then set off to Wild Things Forest school. Ed led the runners, Stef guided a walking group and a few made their way on bike.

When we arrived Emma met us with a long and varied list of jobs ranging from sawing wood and raking leaves, to removing ivy and putting up bunting.

Once the tasks were complete we headed over to the hill for fun fitness hill reps. Some of the techniques were questionable for the exercises, in order to get back to the team quickly! The winner were rewarded with extendable forks for the bonfire.

After fitness we headed back to the fire pit and had marshmallow or camembert smores. Martin also brought a tub of aptly named heroes, because thats what you all are!

can anyone guess who's knees are on the Photo?

Tonight was our #letsliftthecurfew run in partnership with This Girl Can, and we started the session by reflecting on the number of women and girls who feel like they have to change their exercise routines in the winter by talking about where we would run if we had complete freedom to do so. We had everything from Area 51 to the moon but it felt like most people just wanted to feel free to run along a beach if they could, possibly more due to this being our first group run since the clocks went back and it being a bit chilly ❄️

Pete set off first with a walking group before Rich and Max led out the runners with Vicky and Babs backmarking. There was enough time for a quick blast of tricep dips, press-ups and squats whilst we regrouped, before we arrived at task. We were greeted by taskowner Maeve who was on brand for the theme of the evening with her purple hair and jacket, which guaranteed her a slot in the group photo later on! 🟣

Tonight's task was to either turn over squares of soil or scarrify (no idea how to spell that) the ground ready for some wildflower seeds to be sown. With tools at a premium Vicky and Ed made a start encouraging people to sign the Lets Lift The Curfew banner with their thoughts on how running at night makes them feel. Thank you to everyone who shared their feelings

With enough ground ready for some seeds (or porridge oats) to be sown, Erin and Jenny took on chief spreading duties, with Erin displaying her remarkably impressive highland jig to help stamp the seeds down into the ground.

Once all the seeds had been scattered it was time for a group photo before Vicky led a fantastic Mexican wave fitness session 👋 with Rich's team claiming victory over Max's despite some very questionable interpretations of some of the exercises

It was then back to Priory Street but not before a 1km sprint down one of our new strava segments. Well done to Matt for laying down a considerable marker for everyone else to aspire to!

Remember, if anyone does ever feel nervous or unsafe running in the dark then just pop a message into our group WhatsApp chat. One thing we're not short of is people who are happy to head out for a run!

Tonight's GoodGym York Group Run saw us returning to the wildflower meadow at Clarence Gardens to clear the flowers that we had previously sown. We started the night with a bonus litterpicking task in the surrounding area, before getting stuck into the main event with a bumper turnout for an autumn night. Imen had joined the litterpickers for her first ever GoodGym task before deciding to stay on and stick around for the group run. We also welcomed Georgina along for her first ever session. Give them both a big cheer!

Tonight we were finally able to presentJenna with the cape of Good Deeds a little bit later than we should have (so sorry!) but still gave her a big round of applause for competing her 400th task. What an incredible achievement. And we also said well done to Richard who had completed his first ever cross country run at the weekend. Quite remarkable for a man who has done most things imaginable running-wise!

It was then off to the task with Mitch leading a small walking contingent and Nikki backmarking the main group. We were joined at the task by Cara, Jan, James and taskowner Iain who got us underway with some very simple instructions. Basically rake up all of the arisings and shift them over to the skip by any means necessary. Before long there were tonne sacks, wheelbarrows and tarps being moved left, right and centre and the skip started to get full, although a fair chunk of the space was taken up by a buried Mitch! In fairness Mitch and Pete did a cracking job of stomping down the skip so we could continue to fit more in, clearly impressing taskowner Iain who was planning where we could start a new pile once the skip got full.

Before you knew it, it was time to put the tools down and pose for a group photo before this evenings fitness sesh which involved teams of three running in opposite directions, or completing some exercises before then having to meet up again around a coloured cone, where they were then rewarded with a rest or punished with even more exercises. The activity required a lot less explaining than i'd imagined and seemed to work despite some groans from everyone one they realised they all had to complete burpees at the end regarldess of which cone they were stood around.

All in all the gang of GGers shifted a huge load of the arisings, but there's still plenty more to do so we'll be back later in November to finish the job

A bonus Monday night treat was arranged for us tonight. An area had been identified as needing some great GoodGym help and York's wonderful Area Activators Vicky & Ed were out on the streets with a litter picking gang. We had a fantastic age range (4 weeks to nearly 60 years!) and it was an honour for us to welcome a 4 week old to a wonderful GG way of life! Long may it continue. (Promise no child labour was involved - just an opportunity to meet York's youngest.) We also welcomed Imen on her first GG task and she enjoyed it so much she stayed for the group run & mission, lovely to have her along. We had some lovely comments from locals thanking us for our efforts - it does feel good to be recognised. We left the area depleted of litter & looking much tidier.