A group of GoodGym volunteers ran along to Action on Hearing Loss in Twerton to do some gardening in their grounds. We mainly weeded and cleared pathways to keep them clear and safe. Then we enjoyed some cake with our hosts to celebrate GoodGym's 10th birthday 🎉🎉!

Well done Bristol Half runners!

I shared the latest news from the past week with the group at our meeting spot outside the leisure centre. At the weekend was the annual Bristol Half Marathon and I know of at least 4 GoodGym Bath runners that were involved. Well done to all of you!

Super Saturday coming up!

In other news we have 2 fantastic Community Missions happening at the weekend. On Saturday we have organised a task at Bath City Farm as part of the Super Saturday to celebrate GoodGym's 10th birthday. And on Sunday we have been asked to go and help out Bath District Scouts at one of their service days. Both tasks are a great way to spend time outdoors in nature and help the community at the same time!

Along the Avon

We ran along the river path to Twerton and met out host, Evan. Action on Hearing Loss is a shared living space for people with hearing loss and deafness. There are also residents with sight loss, too. Evan and his team are responsible for keeping the grounds clean and well-maintained, and they kindly offer us the chance to come and help out. Excited that we had a good turnout, Evan asked us to split into two teams for the evening.

One team had to weed several flower beds that have become a bit overgrown and untidy since we last came. By clearing up this space we have made it easier for the residents to grow their own flowers and produce when growing season starts again. We were so eager to get up some of the pesky weeds that we accidentally 'modified' one of the handheld rakes. Thankfully Pascale was on hand to teach us how to sign "sorry" to Evan for breaking his tool! The team made a huge impact to the flower beds and also on the paving slabs that were left severely de-weeded.

Check mate!

The other team were tasked with scraping and clawing out the weeds and moss that have been growing among the paving slabs of the 'chess board' tiles in one of the gardens. They got on their hands and knees and put their back into clearing up the space to make it safer and tidier. Good work team!

Happy birthday to GoodGym 🎂 !

At the end of the task we took some pictures with the GG birthday flag and enjoyed some cake to celebrate GoodGym becoming 10 years old this week. Thank you for being a part of our mission and supporting us in this time, and here's to the next 10 years!

Thanks!

Special thanks to the awesome Pascale for coming along to the task to interpret for us despite an injury. Thanks also to Rachel for backmarking and thanks to Evan and his team for hosting us for the evening. We look forward to coming back again soon!

7 GoodGym runners jogged along to Victoria Park to litter pick in the play areas and shovel sand from the paths back into the sandpits. We filled up two bags of litter and helped make the park a cleaner and safer place for everyone to enjoy.

We avoided the hill, so the task was more chill!

Due to a last minute change of plans we wern't able help out at the church as we had originally planned to. But, if nothing else, we are adaptable at GoodGym and we are always keen to help our community in any way we can! This meant we avoided a hilly route ... but we made up for that with all the work we did!

We cleaned the park until it got dark!

The previous weekend was the last of the school holidays so there have been lots of visitors to the park recently. As well as lots of fun and games, that also, sadly, means lots of litter. We worked in teams to use our litter pickers to pick up as much as we could and we were pleased to fill up two big bags between us.

Picking up litter while getting fitter!

Some of the more interesting items we found (and bagged!) were a hair brush with a mirror on the back, a metal fork, half a screwdriver (where is the other half....?), a wheel from a skateboard and a pair of glasses (which we did not bag but left on top of a bin for their owners to find!). We did not enjoy picking up smelly banana skins but it made the task even more satisfying in the end!

After we had picked up lots of litter we used shovels, rakes and brooms to clear a path near one of the sandpits. Where the sandpits are so well used they tend to spill over onto the path which can make it slippery for people to use. You can see the picture of us celebrating our victory over the 'sandslide' in the pictures attached!

Overall

We were really pleased to make such a visible impact on the environment and on this great community space.

Thanks!

Thanks to Rob for the awesome pun this week. That makes a 'hat-trick' with three in a row now. Keep them up! Thanks to Max for backmarking for us and thanks to the team at the council for facilitating us for this task.

Next week:

We are running to Smallcombe Nuttery to do some harvesting! This isn't one to miss!

10 runner ran 3km to paint garden furniture at St John's Court

Race Roundup!

A quick well done to everyone who took part in the GoodGym Big 6 weekend activities - Somderdale Parkrun (curly wurly fun for all the family?!), the Community Mission and GoodGym West Alternative Olympics at Bramble Hill Farm on Saturday and the Two Tunnels races on Sunday. We had a fantastic turn out and some great PBs so well done and we hope you enjoyed it!

100 hero!

Congratulations to our mighty leader Sam, who hit 100 good deeds at the weekend. Hopefully your new t-shirt is winging it's way to you!

Paint no stopping us now!

For this week's task it was a short run along the river to St John's Court to give the garden furniture we've painted previously another lick of paint for some added protection. As well as lots and lots of chairs, we also gave a new lease of life to a few tables and a memorial bench, making the garden space look much brighter for the residents.

Wasn't this a shortcut last week?!

After a slightly earlier finish, we took a scenic route back to the leisure centre through Sydney Gardens and along the canal. Wait... wasn't that the shortcut home last week!?

Thanks!

Thanks to Emma and Iona for backmarking and making sure nobody got left behind. And thanks to Rob for this week's pun!

Next week

Next week, we will be running to Bath Organic Group to help spruce up the community garden.

Last night, on a beautiful summer evening, 14 GoodGym volunteers ran out to Alice Park to paint benches in the new wildlife area. As well as getting some great exercise we painted 4 benches and gave a new breath of life to the park.

Welcome along, Griff!

We met at our usual spot outside the leisure centre and welcomed a new runner, Griff. Thanks for coming along and getting involved last night, Griff. Hopefully we will see you again soon with your very own bright red GoodGym t-shirt!

GoodGym events at the weekend

I shared the latest running news with the group. At the weekend there are lots of events as part of the GoodGym West summer celebrations. You are welcome to come to as much or as little as you want or have time for. There is no obligation to come to all the events.

• There is a park run in Keynsham on Saturday morning (which you can either volunteer at or take part in).
• There is a volunteering task at Bramble Hill farm in Bristol.
• Note: you join some of the keener runners and run from the park run to Bramble Hill Farm if you want!
• After the farm task there is the GG West Summer party in Bristol.
• On Sunday there are races with a variety of distances in the Bath 2 tunnels.

I plan on doing all of these events (apart from running from Keynsham to Bramble Hill Farm!) and I know there are quite a few others from GG Bath that are getting involved as well, so let me or the organisers (GG Bristol team) know if you have any questions about anything. It would be really good to see you there!

Avin' a giraffe in the park!

After taking the scenic route along the beautiful canal path we arrived at Alice Park with plenty of time to spare. In fact, we had enough time for some extra training before we were ready to begin the task! I got the group involved in some animal-themed movement exercises. We walked like a giraffe, then a bear, then a gorilla, then a crab and then a praying mantis. It was a fun way to do some good exercise while we waited for the task to begin!

We woodn't want to be anywhere else on a Tuesday evening!

One we were finished exploring the animal kingdom, Tony introduced our task to us. We had to paint some benches in the new wildlife section at the back of the park. The benches have been damaged by the weather over the years and were desperately in need of some care and attention. We took our brushes and a few gallons of Medium Oak coloured paint and got to work!

Team work makes the dream work!

This was a task that required us to use our communication and teamwork skills to make sure we painted all the visible areas of the benches thoroughly while avoiding painting each other and getting paint everywhere. We were super efficient and when some of the groups had finished painting they hunted down litter in the area to keep it clean and tidy.

Painting in such a beautiful spot on a lovely evening was very therapeutic and a good reminder of how beneficial getting involved with activities like GoodGym can be for our mental health as well as our physical health. We will return to Alice Park at some point to continue our mission of developing the grounds so everyone can enjoy the open public space.

Thanks!

Thanks to Rachel and Emily for backmarking for us and making sure no one got lost or left behind on the way. Thanks to Tony at Alice Park for arranging for us to come down and sorting out the paint and brushes.

Upcoming runs at the weekend:

• Park run in Keynsham on Saturday morning (which you can either volunteer at or take part in),
• Volunteering at Bramble Hill farm
• Note: you join some of the keener runners and run from the park run to Bramble Hill Farm if you want!
• After the farm task there is the GG West Summer party.
• On Sunday there are races with a variety of distances in the Bath 2 tunnels.

Next Tuesday

We are using our painting skills again at St John's Court.

The rain clouds cleared and the sunshine came out as 7 runners set out from the leisure centre along the towpath. We came to Nest just as Nicola met us on her bike.

The Nest Project is a charity that provides new and second-hand clothes for children aged 0-5 for free. You can read more about what they do here: http://thenestproject.co.uk/.

Pip met us with a nice big pile of baby clothes to sort into age (and weight) categories and we spent an enjoyable half hour squealing over onesies.

We ran back to Leisure centre to finish off with 8km and a double rainbow over the abbey!