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.