A bonus Monday night treat was arranged for us tonight. An area had been identified as needing some great GoodGym help and York's wonderful Area Activators Vicky & Ed were out on the streets with a litter picking gang. We had a fantastic age range (4 weeks to nearly 60 years!) and it was an honour for us to welcome a 4 week old to a wonderful GG way of life! Long may it continue. (Promise no child labour was involved - just an opportunity to meet York's youngest.) We also welcomed Imen on her first GG task and she enjoyed it so much she stayed for the group run & mission, lovely to have her along. We had some lovely comments from locals thanking us for our efforts - it does feel good to be recognised. We left the area depleted of litter & looking much tidier.

Tonight's GoodGym York Group Run saw us returning to the wildflower meadow at Clarence Gardens to clear the flowers that we had previously sown. We started the night with a bonus litterpicking task in the surrounding area, before getting stuck into the main event with a bumper turnout for an autumn night. Imen had joined the litterpickers for her first ever GoodGym task before deciding to stay on and stick around for the group run. We also welcomed Georgina along for her first ever session. Give them both a big cheer!

Tonight we were finally able to presentJenna with the cape of Good Deeds a little bit later than we should have (so sorry!) but still gave her a big round of applause for competing her 400th task. What an incredible achievement. And we also said well done to Richard who had completed his first ever cross country run at the weekend. Quite remarkable for a man who has done most things imaginable running-wise!

It was then off to the task with Mitch leading a small walking contingent and Nikki backmarking the main group. We were joined at the task by Cara, Jan, James and taskowner Iain who got us underway with some very simple instructions. Basically rake up all of the arisings and shift them over to the skip by any means necessary. Before long there were tonne sacks, wheelbarrows and tarps being moved left, right and centre and the skip started to get full, although a fair chunk of the space was taken up by a buried Mitch! In fairness Mitch and Pete did a cracking job of stomping down the skip so we could continue to fit more in, clearly impressing taskowner Iain who was planning where we could start a new pile once the skip got full.

Before you knew it, it was time to put the tools down and pose for a group photo before this evenings fitness sesh which involved teams of three running in opposite directions, or completing some exercises before then having to meet up again around a coloured cone, where they were then rewarded with a rest or punished with even more exercises. The activity required a lot less explaining than i'd imagined and seemed to work despite some groans from everyone one they realised they all had to complete burpees at the end regarldess of which cone they were stood around.

All in all the gang of GGers shifted a huge load of the arisings, but there's still plenty more to do so we'll be back later in November to finish the job

The cognitive and physical challenge successfully completed!

Tonight we had a last minute change of task due to the original being cancelled. Luckily Rowntree Park came up trumps!

First we met, named and numbered off saying our favourite smell! Mitch then headed off with a walking group and Ed led out the runners with Laura back marking.

We were given a selection of jobs to do. Team path were charged with clearing and sweeping the steps and ramp. Team soil shifters moved soil from two big piles in the park to a planter behind the lodge and team shift stuff filled bags with, well, green stuff. It was a beautiful evening in the park and we were treated to an awesome full moon... the perfect setting for murder in the dark! This was tonight's themed fitness led by Jenna!

On that note, a huge shout out to wonderful Jenna ,who has now completed an incredible 400 tasks! And if that isn't enough goodness she also brought along some delicious cake! Thank you Jenna for everything you do.

We were joined by a few local residents to help keep Holgate CommunityGarden looking good. We cleared a lot of weeds from the long bed and planted some tulip bulbs. We also planted crocus and daffodil bulbs around the trees that we had cleared around last month. Jane used the ladder to the all of the remaining apples down and we left them any that weren't claimed in one of the beds for people to take.

A beautiful morning in Danesmead Wood saw a bumper turnout of GoodGymmers to clear another area of nettle roots and turn the soil in preparation for planting some wild seeds. We did this task last year for an area next to where we were working and the flowers have established themselves really well.

With so many volunteers we cleared a much bigger area than initially planned and also fitted in some woodchip barrowing.

Post task, Jude has made us some amazing chocolate squares which were definitely earned.