An email request begging for help brought huge excitement to Bristol GoodGym with an urgent need to shift and spread 6 tonnes of sand across some space that had been lawn, to increase the wildlife and plants right in the heart of the city. GoodGymmers who were still at work spied on us from afar.

In the (not) shadow of City Hall on a gloriously sunny late afternoon, red t-shirts approached from all directions on foot and on bikes and 11 GoodGymmers split into their groups of a 5 and a 6 to be sand-shifters or sand-spreaders across a pleasing trapezium*, entitled to 4 of the 6 dumpy bags of sand.

Social distancing went vertical as Shreena enjoyed being the tallest GoodGymmer, standing on her sack of sand.

It was especially lovely to welcome Kate and Patrick to their first ever GoodGym session - we hope to see you again really soon.

Charlee, from the Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation and Joe from ParkWork (long-term friend of GoodGym) were super impressed with the speed of spreadage and after lots of hardwork we had a vote on further raking or a fitness session. Tge raking won and the sport Synchronised Socially Distanced Raking was born - already listed as a demonstration sport for the 2028 Olympics.

It was fantastic to be back in the heart of the city, getting fit by doing good.

*Maths is fun

It was another gorgeous Saturday morning when 9 GoodGym runners met by the Avon to pick litter along the river banks. Mark from Surfers Against Sewage instructed us what to look out for and how to safely move along the banks to avoid a cold dip into the river. Some of us were already quite familiar with the task while for others, like our newest GoodGym recruit Laura, this was their first time litter hunting. Everyone seemed to be "picking it up" in no time as we scanned the grass for discarded items whilst discussing the basic recycling rules, debating appropriate footwear, and pointing out some dubious findings.

A big thank you to Mark for organising this task for us and to the runners on the Portway who cheered us on. We had so much fun that we decided to do this again next week but on the opposite of the river.

Great job everyone!