GoodGym Bath ran out to Twerton to do do some gardening tasks in the grounds of Action on Hearing Loss. We weeded, cleaned moss and swept up leaves to keep the pathways safe and tidy. This is one of our longer runs and we were all worn out by the time we got back to the leisure centre!

GG news

When we met at the leisure centre I shared the latest GoodGym news: * We have lots of exciting runs coming up in the next few weeks and we will start doing more outdoor tasks once the clocks go forward. * This weekend is the Bath Half and there will be a GG cheer squad somewhere around the route. Keep an eye in the GG Bath WhatsApp chat for more information (ask me if you would like to be added).

On with the task!

We ran through town and along Lower Bristol Road out to the task. Action on Hearing Loss is a shared living space for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Some residents also have sight impediments. We regularly go and help Evan, who looks after the grounds there, to maintain the outdoor spaces. Last night we mainly worked in the space towards the back of the grounds. We weeded and cleared out a flower bed that is maintained by the residents, getting it ready for spring planting. We also cleared the steps and the walkway to one of the entrances to the car park.

Overall we filled up a large wheelbarrow full of garden waste which was a great achievement for the group of us in just over half an hour. We stopped to take a picture by the lion and then we headed home.

Thanks

Thanks to Rachel and Emily for backmarking for us and thanks to Evan and his team for hosting us for the evening. We were really pleased with what we achieved and we shall return!

A group of GoodGym volunteers ran along to Action on Hearing Loss in Twerton to do some gardening in their grounds. We mainly weeded and cleared pathways to keep them clear and safe. Then we enjoyed some cake with our hosts to celebrate GoodGym's 10th birthday 🎉🎉!

Well done Bristol Half runners!

I shared the latest news from the past week with the group at our meeting spot outside the leisure centre. At the weekend was the annual Bristol Half Marathon and I know of at least 4 GoodGym Bath runners that were involved. Well done to all of you!

Super Saturday coming up!

In other news we have 2 fantastic Community Missions happening at the weekend. On Saturday we have organised a task at Bath City Farm as part of the Super Saturday to celebrate GoodGym's 10th birthday. And on Sunday we have been asked to go and help out Bath District Scouts at one of their service days. Both tasks are a great way to spend time outdoors in nature and help the community at the same time!

Along the Avon

We ran along the river path to Twerton and met out host, Evan. Action on Hearing Loss is a shared living space for people with hearing loss and deafness. There are also residents with sight loss, too. Evan and his team are responsible for keeping the grounds clean and well-maintained, and they kindly offer us the chance to come and help out. Excited that we had a good turnout, Evan asked us to split into two teams for the evening.

One team had to weed several flower beds that have become a bit overgrown and untidy since we last came. By clearing up this space we have made it easier for the residents to grow their own flowers and produce when growing season starts again. We were so eager to get up some of the pesky weeds that we accidentally 'modified' one of the handheld rakes. Thankfully Pascale was on hand to teach us how to sign "sorry" to Evan for breaking his tool! The team made a huge impact to the flower beds and also on the paving slabs that were left severely de-weeded.

Check mate!

The other team were tasked with scraping and clawing out the weeds and moss that have been growing among the paving slabs of the 'chess board' tiles in one of the gardens. They got on their hands and knees and put their back into clearing up the space to make it safer and tidier. Good work team!

Happy birthday to GoodGym 🎂 !

At the end of the task we took some pictures with the GG birthday flag and enjoyed some cake to celebrate GoodGym becoming 10 years old this week. Thank you for being a part of our mission and supporting us in this time, and here's to the next 10 years!

Thanks!

Special thanks to the awesome Pascale for coming along to the task to interpret for us despite an injury. Thanks also to Rachel for backmarking and thanks to Evan and his team for hosting us for the evening. We look forward to coming back again soon!

We had a rainy run out to Action on Hearing Loss in Twerton to do some much-needed gardening and weeding. We ran 7km in total and had a great workout. We always love going back and helping our host, Evan, and can't wait to go back again and help out some more!.

Well done ... GoodGym Bath!

After meeting inside the Leisure Centre in our usual space, I shared the latest running news. Emily and I represented GoodGym Bath at the Volunteering Community Awards held at the Guild Hall in Bath last week. We were nominated for 'Volunteer Team of the Year'. So well done and thank you for all of your hard work volunteering with GoodGym - that nomination only came through your hard work and effort.

Although we didn't win the award, we were very proud and thankful to be recognised with a nomination. We were also inspired after seeing so many fantastic individuals and teams rewarded for their tireless volunteering efforts in BANES. It was also great to see many of the partner organisations that we work with be recognised with awards (in particular, Bath City Farm and Carol from FoodCycle) and it's great to think that we are a small part of that too.

Evan-tually, we made it there!

Evan, our host for the night, welcomed us when we got to the task. Action on Hearing Loss is a shared living space for people with hearing difficulties. We regularly help Evan maintain the grounds on our Tuesday runs. It is important to make sure that the paths are clear and bushes are well kept to make sure that anyone with any impairments can safely walk around the grounds.

Last night we had two main tasks and we split into two teams.

Beleaf in yourself!

Emily lead one group to clear the area outside one of the main buildings. The runners used a variety of impressive gardening tools to trim hedges, control bushes and clear dead leaves from the path.

A weedy good bit of work!

I took the other half of our group to clear some weeds from the pavement and the flower bed areas around the back of the complex. This space will be used later in the year for the residents to grow flowers and vegetables, and its important to keep it maintained and clear.

Well done, in particular, to Chris for valiantly being in charge of taking the wheelbarrow down the muddy (and spooky) track through the trees to compost all of nthe weeds and leaves!

Thanks Evan!

At the end of the task Pascale taught us how to say "thank you" in sign language so we could thank Evan for his time. Thanks Evan! We shall return!

Thanks Chris, Emma and Pascale!

Thanks to Emily for backmarking on the way there and the way back, and thanks to Joe (the King of puns) for the pun this week! And a special thanks to Pascale for interpreting for us last night.

Upcoming runs

• Running the Bath Half? Emma has kindly volunteered to lead a weekend training run this Sunday.

Social Media

Please like/follow us on social media and share/retweet our content! We are on Facebook and Twitter. Organisations are already getting in contact with us through these platforms and this means we are securing more varied tasks for you to enjoy!

We had a long run out to Action on Hearing Loss in Twerton to do some much-needed gardening. We ran 7.5km in total at a good pace and had a good workout. We had lots of fun and can't wait to go back and help Evan, our host, again.

Well done, Emma!

After meeting inside the Leisure Centre in our usual space, we congratulated Emma for smashing the Bath 10km Skyline Run at the weekend. This event was organised by Relish Running and they have lots of other events coming up soon, so if you are interested in entering a race then check out the listings here.

Welcome Chris!

We welcomed a new runner to the group, Chris. Chris quickly fitted in with the group and became one of the team on this task. We hope to see you again!

We ran through the town centre and along Lower Bristol Road. Unfortunately it is still too dark to run along the river, but we stayed safe by obeying the traffic lights, staying as a group, making sure that people with reflective clothing/lights were always visible and using a backmarker to make sure noone got lost.

We fork it was easy!

Evan welcomed us when we got to the task. Action on Hearing Loss is a shared living space for people with hearing difficulties. We regularly help Evan maintain the grounds on our Tuesday runs.

Last night we were tasked with removing a load of weeds and clearing a path of dead leaves and grass. This task was important because some one the residents have mobility and sight challenges so we made sure that the paths were safe and clear.

We didn't frog-get to clean up!

Chris discovered a frog (sadly not a new species), Chris/Kiran/Tim uncovered an animal bone (noone owned up to this because they didn't want me to think they had killed a poor animal!), Jane found a sparkly Christmas decoration lying in the weeds and a team of runners savagely conquered a large pesky bush!

A sign of our thanks!

At the end of the task Pascale taught us how to say "thank you" in sign language so we could thank Evan for his time. Thanks Evan! We shall return!

Thanks Chris, Emma and Pascale!

Thanks to Chris for backmarking and for Emma for the pun this week! And a special thanks to Pascale for interpreting for us.

Upcoming runs

• Running the Bath Half? We have a series of weekend training runs.
• Join us for a fun task to celebrate Wassail with other community groups at a Community Mission this Saturday (19th Jan)
• Next week we are cleaning toys at Oldfield Baptist Church (a super-super fun task!)

Social Media

Please like/follow us on social media and share/retweet our content! We are on Facebook and Twitter. Organisations are already getting in contact with us through these platforms and this means we are securing more varied tasks for you to enjoy!

This week, 9 keen GoodGym runners braved the damp conditions to run a solid 8km to Action on Hearing Loss in Twerton. This is a shared living space for people who are Deaf, Deafblind or have hearing loss. By doing some much-needed gardening we helped keep the communal spaces safe, tidy and presentable.

Welcome Kiran!

We welcomed Kiran for her first run with GoodGym and did a quick headcount where everyone shared their name and their favourite animal. We don’t get many platypuses in Bath, but that didn’t stop it being one of our favourites! After a quick warm-up to get our bodies ready for the 4km run ahead, we got on our way.

Most of our route to Twerton took us along the river Avon. We took in some lovely scenic views of the river as dusk was falling and we even spotted a couple of swans. As well as enjoying the views, we had a good work-out by making time to do some squats, walking lunges and some standing push-ups.

When we got to our destination we received a warm welcome from our host, Evan. We have a great relationship with Evan and he was excited to have us back again! Evan took us to their equipment shed and distributed some gardening tools before heading us round to where we would be gardening.

Cutting-hedge technology

Ollie and Allie did an excellent job trimming back some bushes. They had grown a lot since our last visit and needed several inches chopped off their front-facing side to make them even and stop them taking over the car park!

What a sweep thought

Jaxx and Emma spent part of the task working hard together to sweep and shovel the hedge trimmings into the wheelbarrow to be disposed of. There was lots of garden waste being cast around and we left the ground clear and tidy at the end thanks to their efforts!

We’ed not want to be anywhere else right now!

Not shy of getting their hands dirty, Emily, Catrin and Kiran were down on their knees pulling up lots of pesky weeds that had smothered the flower bed.

Having a wheely good time

As well as kindly using her Signing skills to act as our point of contact, Pascale volunteered for wheelbarrow duties. We filled the wheelbarrow several times over and each time Pascale navigated her way to the compost heap to dispose of all the waste for us.

Special thanks to Pascale for using her Signing skills to help us communicate and get the task done. Thanks (and well done!) to Ollie for this weeks pun! And thanks also to Ollie for kindly offering to backmark for us last night.

Coming up:

• Next week we are running to Cleveland Pools to develop the grounds ahead of a special visit.
• We have a Community Mission on Sunday 7th October at Prior Park Landscape Garden. Not one to miss!

This week’s group run in Bath saw 16 runners come along for an 8k run to Action on Hearing Loss to help the wonderful Evan out in the extensive gardens at the Poolemead centre in Twerton.

Congratulations to everyone who raced/marshalled at Bath Running Festival on Sunday, you are all amazing!!

A few announcements before heading out in two groups alongside the river Avon to Twerton and our task destination in the wonderful gardens at Action on Hearing Loss.

Evan ‘Elp Us

Evan was pleased to see us arrive and we signed “HELLO” and “Welcome” as a group to show how talented we all are, we love to be inclusive at Goodgym Bath and all thanks to the fabulous Pascale on hand to give us a few lessons in signing. The dry ground gave us a challenge on this task but that was a good thing giving those arms an extra hard work out for 30 minutes, we aren`t  softies in Bath you know. We absolutely love coming here to help out and always come away buzzing with delight considering it is one of our longer group runs.

Time Up

Goodbye and farewell to Evan (sign style) with the hope of coming along someday soon for more adventure and fun in these beautiful gardens providing a great outdoor space for the residents at the centre.

We had a Puny time

Back at the leisure centre for our stretches, Gotta love Goodgym Bath and all the wonderful work these selfless runners do in their community.

We have a community mission on Saturday if anyone is free to lend a hand at Warleigh Weir but remember you make your own way, this is not a trainer led run https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/warleigh-weir-project-guardians-day-litter-pick