In a first for GoodGym Cambridge, the team headed to Jimmy's to plate and serve Thursday evening's dinner to the residents 🍽️

Catherine, Harriet & Caroline met beforehand for a 2-3km jog/natter around Parker's Piece, putting the world to rights and helping Harriet taper for the upcoming Manchester marathon this weekend. It's her 18th marathon which is super impressive and inspiring - go Harriet, we're all behind you! 🙌

The three then met Rafi at the task, rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in to the evening's dinner service. On the menu was a gorgeous chicken & pheasant pie with mash potato, veggies and gravy, and a lemon & blueberry cake with custard for afters. Rafi became master of the pies, Harriet the mash queen, Catherine took on gravy duty and Caroline kept the production line running smoothly. At the end of service, the team put the leftover food away and cleaned the kitchen and dining areas.

After a productive session, the team celebrated two incredible milestones: Harriets' 50th task and Catherine's 100th! Well done both, you're an inspiration to GoodGym Cambridge and your commitment is valued so much 🥰

It was a chilly start for Milton Country parkrun, but the amazing 287 finishers were full of smiles.

With near perfect conditions on the course (not too muddy and not too dry and gravelly) there were even 44 PBs!

The volunteer crew were full of cheer (quite literally in my case, marshalling) making for an enjoyable morning.

Tonight we supported Cambridge City Foodbank through the valuable work of Your Party Youth Cambridge's mutual aid initiative.

It was a first task for Rafi and first task in Cambridge for Scott (formerly of GG Norwich) and it was a pleasure to welcome them to the crew 👋

We were all set for a warm, sunny session, but as the time came head out to the task, the grey skies darkened and the rain began. Channelling the GoodGym spirit, we persevered and ended up having a very lovely evening (as is the way with GoodGym) delivering donations and having a good chat.

Scott, Harriet and I met for a social run to the second meeting point in North Cambridge, where we picked up Ilse and Rafi to head around the corner where the donations were being stored. We were greeted by Eddie, a very motivational pooch, and seven crates of food and household items collected by YPYC at the weekend. Thanks to Rafi's VERY impressive Mary Poppins-esque travel bag, we were able to pack up about 5 of the 7 crates to take to the foodbank.

We took a speedy, weighted stroll across North Cambridge to deliver the goods to the warehouse. The walk was a perfect opportunity to chat about anything and everything including travels to Japan, death cleaning, conservation, the joys of working for a charity, and why Last one Laughing is just so good.

The foodbank volunteers were incredibly grateful as they had not been as busy as usual. With bags now empty, we positively flew back! 💪

A delight doing good, getting fit and staying connected with you all 🙌

Mini eggs for volunteers this morning at Coldham's Common parkrun 🐣

Feeling motivated, I headed over to my favourite part of the common and excellent marshaling spot 'the trees'. Perfect not only for cheering on parkrunners and walkers, but also ideal for bird and plane spotting. Next to Cambridge airport, there were lots of light aircraft taking off and in amongst the sounds of the planes and my cheering was the distinct tapping of a woodpecker. All very exciting.

Over the other side of town, Harriet was Run Director at Fulbourn Hospital parkrun, ensuring all went smoothly. Nice one 🙌

Well done to all runners and walkers that took part this morning. Enjoy the long weekend ☀️

A ribbiting evening spent at The Fields Child and Family Centre, where we welcomed Yasmiena and Peter to their first GoodGym session 👋

I met Peter at Parkside Pools and we took a lovely sunny jog over to Abbey where we met Sunethra and Yasmiena.

All was quiet on site, but armed with gardening tools, gloves and determination, we got started on the overgrown beds. They were full of dead shrubbery and thorny bramble, some of which had grown up under the cladding on the building!

After a little while, Yasmiena spotted a frog, who was very unhoppy about being disturbed. 🐸 We attempted a careful relocation, but it was sure it wanted to find its own way to a new home. Safely tucked away, we continued.

We weeded, cleared, pruned, and turned the soil to transform it in just 50 minutes 💪

What a fantastic first daylight evening session of the season, with dappled sun, interesting conversation and satisfying progress made. We collected all the waste for disposal and admired our work before going our separate ways into the sunset.

Until next time!

Another great session at the Definitely Real Build site where we were preparing the ground for a community planting event next week. That meant clearing overgrown beds including some absolutely mammoth dandelions (grandelions?...).

Joining the amazing Lucy from SIN Cru, who provided the tunes, it was a proper workout. All work on site is carefully assessed by Lucy's canine site managers, who also get paws on and conduct a number of sniff checks.

I got busy digging and weeding, saving plants to be transferred to other parts of the site and leaving the ground ready for planting. Lucy was on fire with the mowing - quite literally, as the mower went up in smoke. After ensuring the whole event was captured for socials and agreeing there was really nothing we could do, we doubled down on digging.

In a couple of hours we had managed to transform a large area, which is always very satisfying. This is the first of a few sessions for the Definitely Real Build project, so if you like getting physical to the backdrop of exquisite tunes with the help of furry friends, then definitely join next time!