The sunny evenings have arrived and we made the most of it this week supporting Cambridge City Foodbank with an awareness raising campaign.

Ilse and I met at Parkside Pools for a warm up and the all important pre-run picture (with very good light!). We enjoyed a social run along Mill Road before setting off down residential streets to get busy letter posting. It turns out Ilse is quite the leafleting pro, having helped local councillors with their campaigns in the past. This was my 5th leafleting task and the letterboxes were still getting the better of me.

We covered 2 miles in 40 minutes, helping the foodbank reach houses they have not had contact with previously.

We both agreed that it was a really lovely way to spend an evening - keeping active, staying connected and enjoying the sunshine all while doing good for the community 💛

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 🙌

It wasn't quite the workout we had planned, but cycling into a headwind certainly got the heart rate up!

Wind stopped play for our group run, so we switched to two wheels to get our donations to a Cambridge City Foodbank donation point. It was hard going, figh-tin against the wind, and we were blown about a bit, but we valiantly persisted 💪

We donated a range of food and household items most needed by the foodbank to support members of our community.

Feeling rather windswept, we flew into town for a legendary gelato - becoming a regular feature at the end of a task 🍦

Credit to Caroline for the superb puns

Our last push for the Cambridge City Foodbank winter appeal, delivering the final batch of letter packs across Cambridge.

Learning my lesson from last time (that it is quite hard to run for miles with 10kg of leaflet packs on your back) we had less of a group run and more of a group cycle with Caroline cycling furiously across town to meet me in Newnham and finish the leaflet delivery we started last month. Michele delivered a large batch of packs to houses in the centre of Cambridge, and all in, we distributed another 500 packs.

Earlier on in the day, Nick (top UK recycler) had been at it again with the litter picking, keeping the streets of Cambridge clean ♻️

Litter picked and leaflet packs delivered, we headed for a "quiet" drink. With the music pumping, there was a tactical switching of bars before any moves came out. As always, in the company of GoodGymers and with some much needed laugher, the social was a fantastic way to end the month!

For our group run this week, we headed across town to drop some food and household items at a Cambridge City Foodbank donation point.🥫

With one of us pushing through a cold and the other recovering from food poisoning, we took a steady jog along Mill Road from Parkside pools to Sainsbury's. Caroline carried her donations, so had an extra weighted workout 💪

Between us we donated at least one of nearly all the most needed items on the list, which will be distributed to those who need it in our community.

We once again loaded up our backpacks and set off for a weighted jog delivering leaflets around the community in support of Cambridge City Foodbank's winter appeal 📨

The team met at Parkside Pool where Catherine distributed some of the haul to Caroline and Harriet. The 3 then set off for an illuminated jog across town to meet Michele in Newnham, where they paired up to make the task a social activity! 👩‍❤️‍👩

In just 40 min, we hand-delivered 300 leaflets! When we reconvened, we alll eagerly shared and compared our notes and observations on the beautiful glass door designs, doorways decorated with fairy lights, intricate (and sometimes glove-snatching!) letterboxes and curious dogs 🐶

In a double-header evening, we met Nick at a nearby pub for our January social. We warmed ourselves by the fire and ate some notably tasty chips, catching up and celebrating all the good deeds we'd accomplished this month - so far!!! 🫶

As a team, we're all super proud of the effort we're making and all the fun we're having along the way. Here's to keeping up the momentum and continuing to build and support our Cambridge community! 💪