If in doubt we'll figure something out!

Nevermind the real GoodGym motto of "Do Good, Get Fit", last night was all about improvising to complete the task. We had been asked to spend our evening giving the Ark-T centre garden a tidy-up, but with the promised tools nowhere to be seen we had to do some rapid re-thinking. Fortunately we all had sturdy gardening gloves, a few of us had brought along some hand tools, and we found a broom (missing it's handle, but we were in no position to be picky!), and so we were able to do a decent amount around the garden.

Lots of weeding was done in the courtyard garden, we cut down 6ft high brambles around the shed, detangled miles of bindweed, and removed ivy from the stone wall. Particular kudos goes to the hardcore GoodGymers who removed large amounts of nettles with nothing but small secateurs and sturdy gloves!

Welcome to GoodGym Sarah, and welcome to GoodGym Oxford Becky.

A damp but hardy group of Goodgymers gathered at Ark-t this evening to help with preparations for the upcoming light festival.

Transforming the garden with an (ironically) underwater theme in mind we draped white plastic over the trees, fencing and climbing frame, fastened giant tentacles to the teepee and trees and gave the area a spruce and tidy.

*Hopefully the decorations will withstand the amazing amount of rain that we were pelted with!*

Big well done and excellent garland wearing to Megan for achieving her 10th good deed this evening!

HUGE thank you to you all for turning out is SUCH grotty weather xxxx

The GoodGymers came in 2 by 2,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers ran up 2 by 2,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers biked in 2 by 2,
The Aoife and the Shati too,
And they all went into the Ark-T for to clear up human poo.

The GoodGymers came in 3 by 3,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers ran up 3 by 3,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers biked in 3 by 3,
With secateurs ready to lop holly leaves,
And they all went into the Ark-T for to cut brambles and weed.

The GoodGymers came in 4 by 4,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers ran up 4 by 4,
Hurrah, hurrah!
The GoodGymers biked in 4 by 4,
Emily waiting to open the door,
And they all went into the Ark-T for to pick litter and sweep.

Singalong here.

The Ark-T centre have a Summer Celebration event on Friday evening this week, so they called in the GoodGym flashmob to get the garden ready for an influx of visitors.

Armed with secateurs, brooms and paint brushes we set to work:

• Painting the wooden teepee in funky colours
  
• Giving the pathway a good sweep to clear it of as much sand as possible
  
• Trimming the willow fronds back so that they weren't at eye level (and blocking the sight line of the CCTV).
  
• Pruning the shrubbery so the hammock can be used.
  
• Litter picking (2 condom wrappers found)
  
• Moving decking boards so that they don't form a trip hazard
  
• Breaking down rotten wooden pallets
  
• Giving the garden a thorough watering
  
• Topping up the sand pit
  

Fun was had on the climbing frame and slide and no-one over heated while running or gardening, plus we had a full compliment of GoodGym Tshirts, with everything from Race Team Vest to 50 and 100 Good Deed milestone Tshirts, to New Balance AND Saucony versions - a successful summer evening!

100th time's the charm!

We're trying not to take it personally that the one day of filthy weather this week was the day of our 100th GoodGym Oxford group run!-Do we get wings on our GoodGym flag for reaching that milestone?!

This week's task was to distribute posters advertising the Lord Mayor's Charity Quiz. Given that the Lord Mayor is one of our longest serving GoodGymers and the quiz is raising money for several great causes in Oxford we were more than happy to help.

Dividing into a walking group and a running group we set off in different directions laden with posters. The runners jogged up the hill through Iffley and across the muddy playing fields to the Rose Hill Community Centre, then dropped extra posters off at various local shops and takeaways on the way back to the meeting point at the Magdalen Arms, where they were grateful for a chance to warm up and dry off while waiting for the walkers to finish their route. Lead (astray) by Mark, the walkers meandered down the Cowley Road, round The Plain then back along the Iffley Road, pinning posters up in pubs (and enjoying several swift halves) and cafes as they went. It might have been as much of a pub crawl as a good deed - I couldn't possibly comment!

Happy 100th Group Run everyone!

Ark-T are a cultural hub for Oxford's Christmas Lights Festival, which launches on Friday, so last night they called in GoodGym to get the play space and back garden fully dressed with fairy lights in preparation for the event.

Everyone got very creative - trees, shrubs, fences, and boulders were all artfully draped in fairy lights - but biggest KUDOS goes to Hattie for spelling out ARK T in fairy lights on the play space fence!

We worked away for an hour or so, sweeping up leaves in garden and play space, uncoiling and detangling strings of lights, scratching our heads a little over making sure all the links connected correctly, and trying to ensure we didn't create any trip hazards. The big switch-on of the power was our reward, as the garden and play space turned into a magical kingdom of twinkling lights. It'll look beautiful on Friday.

If you are interested in attending the Ark-T event on Friday the details are here, and all the other Oxford Light Festival events are listed here.

Congratulations on your 100th Good Deed Rachael! We look forward to seeing you sporting your wings soon. Thanks for baking celebratory flapjack Bethan.