Our terrific 12 completed a small run to a big task at Liverpool's iconic Bombed Out Church.

Returning from my jollies, I resumed my role of GG Lpool Trainer with equal amounts of cheer and jet lag, making my red-clad team a true sight for sore eyes!

Liverpool's Bombed Out Church is an iconic building in the centre of the city, that is managed by a team of just 2 staff. We've helped them out in the past and always enjoyed the experience, so it was great to return. What's more, the run to the task is less than 1km (even when I take the team the long route!) all down hill. What's not to love?!

We were greeted by Ambrose and a room full of brooms, with our task to clean the stairs and external area 360 degrees around the church. The church steps are often used as a meeting place, a spot to eat takeaway food and to smoke a cigarette. As such, there was an awful lot of debris that needed clearing.

The whole team did a brooming good job, but a special shout out to Chanetelle and Sam (aka Team Wheelbarrow) for bravely dealing with some of the more suspect items and areas of mess around the building. #heroes

Also a huge welcome and nice one to newbies Lorna and Mille - you both did great and are super welcome to join us again anytime.

With the area around the church transformed, we ran back up the hill to the base of the Metropolitan Cathedral where the team split into three and ran drills, went up steps and completed conditioning exercises. A huge well done and thank you to everyone - you did grrrrreat!

Next week is another newbie-friendly session (2km each direction) to Central Youth Club where we'll be cleaning their astroturf pitch before another fun fitness session. Don't forget to sign-up and bring a friend!

Until next time, happy running! Char <3

A massive team of 19 rad runners beat the heat on a run to help out a community sports centre in Kensington.

We were newbies aplenty on this perfect starter run underneath a beautiful blue sky. The 2.2km run to Jubilee Sports Bank took us up a small hill and there were barely any complaints! On arrival we met with Laura who introduced the project to our newbies and welcomed back those who joined us when we tidied up the place a few weeks back. Jubilee Sports Bank is a community sports centre located in one of the most deprived areas of our city. It seeks to make sport available to all. We love their mission and love to help them out.

The team grabbed a pile of tools and Laura led us to some dead flowers beds and to an accessible path that was no longer accessible as it had become badly overgrown. I split the team into two groups and they set to work on both areas of the park that were badly in need of TLC. Half an hour later and with a pile of cuttings and weeds almost as tall as Leo, they had done a fantastic job.

A fun fitness session followed in the form of a good old fashioned relay race, with a little balancing and hurdling involved. Then it was downhill all the way back to our Hope Street Hotel base. Well done team! It was amazing to have such a big group this week - thanks to everyone who came along to give GoodGym a try for the first time, you are so welcome to join us again soon.

Shout out to GoodGym giant Beth who was in town for a long weekend and joined us to clock her 610th good deed - what a rockstar! And a big welcome to Ellie who joins a growing group of GG Lpool runners who have escaped from That London and are now living the good life in Merseyside :)

Next week is a bit different, as we'll be taking on a challenging run of 6km (in each direction) in an extended 2 hour session. We'll be heading to The Reader at Calderstones park to paint benches, so sign-up here if you're ready for the challenge. If you're a less confident runner, feel free to drop me a line to discuss whether this run is right for you, or to discuss alternative options such as running in one direction only. And/or/also sign-up to the following week when we're back with the Friends of Everton Park and the run is a steady 2.5km each way.

Looks like the weather is a going to be a bit cooler this week so make sure you get those training runs in. Until next time, Char <3

P.S. I really need help me with title puns folks!!!

Our lucky 13 transformed the ground works at Liverpool's iconic Bombed Out Church for the second time this year! After a short run down hill to reach the church, the building's director Ambrose was waiting for us with a whole host of heavy lifting and digging tasks. The team was raring to go but before they got stuck in, they took a moment to admire the level grassy area at the top of the church that we'd made happen after shifting 4 tonnes of top soil on our last visit.

It was brilliant to be joined by lots of new faces this week. We were chuffed to host Eleanor who is visiting from "That London" and is a GG Lewisham regular. Meanwhile newbies Chantelle, Lucy, Gabriella and Eimear all got stuck in and mingled easily with the regular crew. Do join us again soon, you're all fab!

Liverpool has been enjoying its best summer in years which made for a pleasant evening but also meant that the soil which needed turning over was hard as rock. A special shout out goes to Mat who worked wonders with that giant axe hammer thing (I know ALL the tool names ~ Char) AND for coming up with the title of this report. The whole crew got stuck in and in no time at all, this dream team had transformed dry hard ground into lucid soil ready to be laid with turf.

The Bombed Out Church is only a few streets away from our base at the Hope Street Hotel (350m) but I still managed to raise everyone's heart rate with a short but intense fitness session taking on the 108 steps outside Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral (4 times in quick succession). Exemplary work from an excellent team.

Next week we're heading back to Everton Park to take in the views while helping Friends of Everton Park team to get a handle of their wonderful but woefully under-resourced urban paradise. Same time, same place, same great people. So sign-up NOW!