Care to party-cipate?

What an evening this proved to be. I was really excited to return to see our friends Claire and Lisa at Breathing Spaces but little did I know about the plans that were about to unfold.

The evening was always going to be celebratory one . GG Worthing's 2nd anniversary , our very own Snowflake's ( aka Jay's ) Birthday, Lucy's recent half marathon and my 100th good deed .The agenda for the evening was all clear in my head. An environmentally friendly task in support of the WWF earth hour, followed by a run and epic 100 fitness session then finishing with a social down at our favourite chippie.

Not even a record turn out of 17 people rang any alarm bells in my head. I just assumed that the lighter evening and beautiful weather had inspired nearly all my team of regulars to turn out on the same evening.

Tonights task was predominantly to shift a ton of manure from a bag to a raised bed in the allotment together with a some digging and weeding thrown in too.

Basking in glorious reflected oblivion

It was an earlier start tonight and everyone (amazingly) managed to arrive directly at the task and not at our regular meeting place at Splashpoint LC.

There were no last minute whats app messages about sitting in reception on their own or even any phone calls of 'I'm lost in Worthing' . The team were on their best behaviour .

Yet not even their 100% attention to detail rang any alarm bells, I just proudly basked in the defining moment that maybe just maybe after 2 years 2 weeks of being the Worthing GG leader that they had all had an epiphany moment or possibly even read my emails,messages or perhaps even, shock horror, found the GG website where the weeks instructions are carefully hidden!

Little did I realise that it was our task force member Belinda who had whipped them into this perfect state of union!

Task dung and dusted

Some of the the team set about shovelling the manure into wheelbarrows whilst others set about digging and weeding this secret garden of an allotment stashed away in the depths of Goring.

It was with some amusement that we observed the steaming warm manure. It drew my memory back to a line in one of my favourite films , Pretty Woman , where in a polo match the crowd are encouraged to help displaced turf but also advised ' Beware of the steaming divet' ( I digress!)

With tonights record attendance we achieved loads in a really short amount of time and still kept the light from the beautiful hue of a setting sunset. There was an electric buzz of energy and chatter too.

As the task was drawing to an end I asked the walkers to gather together and set off on stage 2 of the evening to the WLC track for our fitness session . 5 minutes later there was so much shuffling around but no sign of anyone taking any notice of my repeated requests .

'I'm waiting for Belinda who's by the car' says John. 'You have to walk past Belinda at the car John, there is no other way out so lets be on our way now ' I replied( twice)

Still no obvious move to leave .... and then a few moments later I looked around and suddenly I understood everything....

All You Needle Is Love

Oh my goodness! Coming at me were bags, balloons ,bottles of champagne and a cake too! Suddenly all the team gathered around with a plethora of good wishes and vibes for my 100th good deed .

The team had all pulled together to arrange this mega surprise with an assortment of goodies.

Rosin handed me red balloons with a 100 one flying high. Jay handed me an amazing red GoodGym wings cake that he had arranged to be made and Belinda handed me a bag with a red box in. Later on Duncan presented me with a large rectangular box with a framed canvas of our infamous sea photo from last years long hot summer and Paula a little bag with some stunning iridescent star earrings.Others handed me both written thoughtful cards and extensive good wishes.

Inside the red box John had worked his magic with a needle felt image of me in my red t shirt in a framed red wooden frame that he had also made and painted. This must have taken hours to make and I'm so touched and grateful for the time and love that went into making it.

Advanced In Cheers ( years)

Barbara had previously smuggled in champagne which I'm convinced had been carefully hidden in the manure due to its warmth! To think I thought I had control of this group and yet they managed to pull a stunt like this right under my nose lol.

Duncan and Jay popped the corks and we raised our glasses ( well actually some plastic cups that had miraculously appeared ) several times but encompassing so many celebrations . To GG Worthing being 2 years old , to Snowflakes 32nd Birthday , to all the personal and group achievements,half marathons, personal bests , good friends made and all the good deeds we have done and will continue to do and finally to my 100th which without all of you I would not have achieved. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Special mention to Claire and Lisa from Breathing spaces for facilitating this impromptu party in their allotment and for joining in the fun.

To put the lid on my complete lack of control tonight I was informed that the run and fitness were cancelled and that we were heading straight to continue the festivities at Chipwick.

Whilst most of the team disbanded before I changed their minds Jemmie announced her intention to lead a mini fitness session around the green and so for those willing (or unlucky ones that hung just a few minutes too long) we had a quick 10 minute HIIT session.

Bubbles of Love

We all reconvened for a pretty lively Birthday celebration ( massive apologies to the other diners at Chipwick ! )

Roxy arrived with the biggest cake ever that one of her talented house mates had made and that which she had decorated with wings , writing , snowflakes ( No you can't eat the snowflake Jay !) and candles . With a rousing happy Birthday and one off moment of me crushing Jays knee when we blew out the candles, we posed, chinked and cheered our way through the rest of the evening.

With an amusing cake cutting scenario (competition?!) between Jay and me, we somehow managed to give every willing taker a goodie box ( pilfered by Jay from the staff ) of cake to take home . Suddenly the evening was over but I was still buzzing with the surprise and warmth from this special evening.

Roll of honour

It honestly hadn't crossed my mind that any of this would happen. In fact I only noticed it was my 100th last week whilst scrollling through GG profiles whilst I was on holiday . I really could not of dreamed ,imagined or asked for a better surprise than this. I feel so humbled at the pure joy and love that you have all shown tonight.

Massive thank you to the following ( in no particular order ) who turned out tonight

• Barbara
• Jay
• Duncan
• Lucy
• Tamsin and Jemmie
• Roisin
• Anne
• Roxy
• Ros
• Emma
• Paula
• Belinda
• John R
• Gill
• Paul
• John
• Michelle
• Nick

With huge GG love and massive thanks to you all