Out in patches of freezing fog, we cleaned up the remains of fizzled festive fireworks on top of the usual litter in our 'home park'. The bags got heavy enough that we got the equivalent of a weights workout too!

Six 'good gymers' met in Upton Court Park on a windy morning to litter pick the green gym and car park areas before walking into Eton. This was our first walk of the year so it was good to catchup and share our news whilst getting some much needed fresh air. Some left us part way to continue their walk, Jean declaring she'd leave us at the church! A welcome coffee was had in Eton and a brisk return walk to Upton.

A little bit of litter picking to get the year started... so glad that the epic weather of the last couple of days has eased off, making it so much easier to get out there, get moving and do stuff for a great 2025.

We had a great lunchtime task today of litter picking at Black Park whilst enjoying a lovely walk in this beautiful forest setting (fir for a film crew!).

We started the session with our newest Run Leader Jenny carrying out her practical assessment to finalise her Run Leader training. And what a marvellous job she did of welcoming us, giving us route and task briefing of highlighting all the risks and considerations! Well done Jenny

We then went off for an 'off the beaten track' walk. I personally was hoping Jenny and Helen knew where they were going as i was clueless!

Luckily they did!

As we walked and talked, we hunted for litter! There was hardly any there (which is great)! and we did 'fight' for the scraps of litter we could see until Alicia found the sole of a shoe!

An hour in and we had reached the cafe where Jenny completed her assessment with 5 cooldown stretches.

A lovely task with great company

There are some Goodgym tasks that are so impactful that you dont actually realise how much so until you do the do...

Today was one of those tasks

What started out as a networking opportunity to promote GoodGym turned into a protest march alongside the Mothers Together team to share the message of

Drop the knife... save a life

This march from Harvey Park to Langley Memorial Park was organised by the Mothers Together campaign leaders (Madhuri and Julie) alongside the mum of Temur (who was sadly killed by a knife a year ago), Tatiyana.

Ruth, Rosa, Mabu and I were all involved in the march to show how the community connects with the drop the knife message.

Pray with your feet

After doing the march we descended at the Pavillion at Langley Memorial Park and intently listened to all the key speakers about the community action needed to help young people out of this unnecessary need to carry a knife. As Comstable Sunny put it

Today is not a moment.. its a movement

With the minute silence completed we arrived inside the hall where Dr and Mohamed were waiting ready to talk to any residents about GoodGym

Peace Garden

One of the initiatives of this campaign is to create a peace garden. After Becs gave us an overview and with a few tools at hand we decided to make a start. Savi and Mohamed did a cracking job of pulling out all the high growth whilst Rosa and Ruth gave the garden a tidy up.

We had help from the Together as One volunteers too which was great as many hands make light work!

So much accomplished in just one afternoon!

Thank you all for getting involved

Four good gymers met with members of Stoke Park Active to litter pick Upton Court Park and walk to Eton. It was a chilly and misty morning and a brisk walk was needed to keep us toasty. The trees were stunning and Jean posed gracefully with a swan gliding by.