Six of us returned to Danesmead Wood for some woodchip barrowing in the autumn sun.

With woodchip mounds at either end of the path we split into two teams. Team one was made up of the people who arrived on time and team two those of us who either couldn't find the meeting or misjudged the Wednesday night traffic. Jude from the friends of the wood was marshalling our work to ensure the woodchip lasted long enough for the whole path.

We made light work of the task, finishing just over the planned hour. New member Douglas was barrowing like a pro by the end of the task.

Sadly Jude had not had chance to make the usual traybake but she did provide us with some excellent rocky road from the local M&S so no one went away disappointed.

Changing Lives are a brilliant charity who help support people experiencing homelessness or other challenges, so they can change their lives for the better.

Today they needed our help supporting someone with decorating their flat, as they were unable to do it themselves due to health issues. Using a paint pack from the council, and with the support of the Changing Lives staff who had everything prepped and ready, our job was to spruce up a very sad looking room into somewhere lovely (or lovelier anyway, they knew our skill level 🤣)

We arrived by bike and foot, and quickly divvied up the tasks and came up with a plan of action, while the paint was kindly poured into trays for us. Hannah and I took on the ceiling, with one always-in-the-way ladder and one not-even-slightly-attached roller on a long stick (which wibbled it's way off it's roller-holder about once a minute, much to Hannah's frustration), moving the carpet protecting rugs around as we went like a weird game of Tetris.

Leanne appointed herself bag lady, and quickly taped bin bags all around the edges of the room so that edging could begin. Meanwhile Michael started rolling the grey (which was actually a nice blue) wall paint, while Emma, Lucy and Max started edging, with roles switching as we went. Linda from Changing Lives joined us for a bit too with the edging.

In no time we were approaching the finish line, with Lucy perched like an eagle on the windowsill, Max and Michael performing the standard Tall Person role of reaching the high gaps, Hannah finishing the ceiling, and the rest of us furiously (but neatly) edging. And done! It may not have been perfect, but the room was left looking much more homely and comfortable than when we arrived, and the occupant was very happy.

We celebrated our success with a colossal and delicious lunch at the Old Greengrocer's. Lucy "Is duck and pancakes too decadent for lunch?" "No!" Before heading our separate ways in the sunshine.

The Terrific Trio Tackled the Towering Tonne of Trash.

Sharp Shovels Scooped Soil. Brute Belligerence Broke Branches. Ruthless Rigor Removed Rubble. Contaminated Compost Cleared.

Cumbersome Compost Cleared ✅️

Osbaldwick Primary School are clearing a large overgrown area of woodland. They want to give the area a new lease of life as a forest school so the kids can play in nature. Today many volunteers already made a massive start in clearing the area - however there was still space for the Delightful Debs, Excellent Em and Mitch to help out.

We spent the next hour lopping, pulling up and raking all the vegetation . We managed to clear a large area in the time we had, although it's only a part of the amazing work of the volunteers today!

There was something for everyone at this week's Group Run with cycling, walking, steady and faster options on offer for a fantastic 24 GGers. We started by welcoming first timer Sophie who set off with Vicky et al as part of the walking crew 👋. We also announced the first half of the GoodGymmer of the month award with Mitch getting his turn in the frame for getting stuck in to a load of Good deeds and leading some missions. Well done Mitch 👏

Before setting off, we warmed up with a nod to World Bicycle Day (according to Amy's Garmin) by pretending to ride our imaginary bicycles around the CVS car park, much to the dismay of the more avid cyclists amongst us 🚲. Then it was off the Fulford Ings for Balsam Bashing Round 2!

At the task we were joined by Emma and a rather late Ben, who looked like he'd put in some serious effort to try and catch up with the running crew🏃‍♂! Nicola from St Nicks gave out a brief overview to those who were making their Balsam Bashing debut whilst the more seasoned veterans got stuck straight in.

Anna and Sophie made a fab start and soon got to work pulling out what they thought was Balsam left, right and centre, before Ed pointed out that what they had been pulling out was unfortunately something else! Don't worry guys, there were a few others making the same mistake

There's not too much else that can be said about Balsam that hasn't been said before, but there was much debate over the correct method as well as plenty of new pun options for future run reports. By the way, this week's genius word play came from Abi, not me!

Before too long it was time to head back to base, but not before a quick plank race on millennium field, with some very questionable planks and some very eager plankers

When we got back to CVS we were able to dish out the second half of our GGer of the month award to Lyndsey who had also completed a shed load of Good Deeds over the last couple of months as well as keeping the Friday Lunch Hill Rep Club alive 💪

Fab sesh everyone. See you next week for the third and final bash