We were delighted to see 5 people expected to attend our morning session at Frenford Food Bank. Ed and Linda started off at a relaxed pace- as there were going to be plenty of people. A local volunteer arrived to help at 11am and it was lucky that she did as no one else came! Overnight 3 GGers had dropped out. I'm sure they have their reasons but it then put pressure on us to up the speed as we had other commitments later. Happy to say the job got done just in time.

We realise people have busy lives but please un-sign if you cant make it.

One does wonder sometimes why some things happen.... This evening was no exception. Popping into M&S down the high street for some fuel pre-grouprun, my Goodgym t-shirt caught the attention of an elderly lady, who enquired what it meant.

Having explained the basics, it sounded like she might be (getting her more Internet eavy sister to) get in touch for a helping hand here and there, lightbulbs and dog poo bags in the bushes seem the main annoyance.

She catch on to my accent and to my surprise accurately placed it! Turns out she has family not that far away from where is grew up, hence. From there she was chatting all sorts, van Gogh seemed to be a favourite, time flew by and before we knew it half an hour had gone qnd I had to round it off to dash back to base to open up, leaving Ms S smiling rather than the serious look she had coming into the shop.

Perhaps a taster of a coach run in the future...?

Although the weather forecast for the week showed a marked improvement compared to the freezing temperatures of last week, it still was not quite summer weather just yet...

This did ofcourse not deter certain hardy characters - James showed up in shorts as always!

A quick discussion on the balance of walking/standing picking litter vs doing a longer run resulted in the former - a little challenge to keep warm visiting some usual hotspots.

The usual variety of rubbish collected included a number plate, NO2 canisters, pair of shoes as highlights.

3 bags filled in 2 locations, job done - time to head off to the warmth of base.

Another chilly Saturday morning....

Just like last week, a bit of a chill in the air is not stopping the dynamic due of Linda & Ed to get down to Valentines Park and help out with the local parkrun.

As the pictures show, especially Ed was very sharp in spotting hazards and protecting the runners & walkers from slipping on the ice.

The frost does make some lovely scenery though.

For quite a while low hanging branches have caused people to duck & dive & detour.... and the council did not seem to be interested when it got reported.

So in several stages 3 bushes and 4 trees got trimmed back so people can use the pavement more easily!

P.S. since there is no Epping GG, Redbridge would have to do

3 goodgymmers, 4 Church Goers and several Local Mums teamed up together at Frenford Food Bank. Between us we bagged up over 60 food parcels. With over 1.6km covered (yes we Strava'd it) walking up and down the shelving units, lifting and shifting heavy bags it was agreed we really had worked out by helping out.