Eleven GoodGymers met up this week for our group run, with 7 meeting at Edinburgh Street Food and 4 people making their own way to the task. This was our second visit to help Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links (FoMBL) and it was another great evening.

We've really enjoyed getting to know Neil, whose passion for maintaining the Meadows and encouraging a rich diversity of plant life is infectious. He was on hand again to kit us out with spades, forks, wheelbarrows and trowels and he briefed us on what needed done.

With three different tasks to do and enough of us to spread out, we split the group up with some tackling the heavy work of digging and spreading mulch around newly planted trees. This help to protect them and give them the best chance to thrive.

Others waged war on some stubborn thistles, hard work but it paid off with a huge bag filled up in a short space of time.

The final team got busy planting bulbs and managed to complete the fence line we targeted so that it will be brightening up the area with purple flowers next spring.

We were expecting a wet evening with the forecast, so it was a lovely surprise that the weather was kind and we ended up with a dry evening throughout.

It is a slightly longer distance run to Bruntsfield (3.5km each way) so it was expecially great to see a strong turnout, we made good time getting there and managed to get a huge amount done in a short space of time.

Thanks to Neil and the Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links for having us back. Hopefully we will be seeing you again soon for another great task.

Shout out to Laura and Raphael for coming along for your first sessions. It was lovely meeting you and hope to see you again soon.

The weather forecast was looking awful and I was worried our task was going to be rained off, but it turned out to be a lovely evening down at the community croft with Earth in Common.

After a short run down Leith Walk it was another evening of graft turning over compacted soil and digging out stubborn weeds. We are making steady progress in expanding the market garden but there's still a lot to do, so expect us to be back again to continue the work! The vision is to keep coming back to this spot and see it transform over time to a thriving growing space with Goodgym veg supporting the community!

Thanks to Ali and the Earth in Common team for hosting us again.

Shout out to Lucy for getting to a park run this past weekend.

Props to Rory for running all the way to and from Gorgie to get to the task.

And congratulations to Jake for completing your PHD! A huge achievement and looking forward to exploring your idea for a GoodGym run based around your history of running tour in Edinburgh - watch this space for developments on this.

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It was a mighty meetup on a pleasantly mild Tuesday evening this week with 13 GoodGymers joining 12 Edinburgh Trash Club litter pickers for a joint mission around Tolbooth Wynd Park and the surrounding area.

Walking and running groups set off from Edinburgh Street Food and made excellent time down Leith Walk to get to the meeting point. There we met up with Indy and the Edinburgh Trash Club for our first, but hopefully not our last, collab.

Edinburgh Trash Club meet up once a fortnight for cleanup duties around the city (and post cleanup socials in the pub) and are well worth checking out: https://www.instagram.com/edinburghtrashclub/

After some friendly introductions we got to work, armed with bags, litter pickers, gloves and plenty of enthusiasm. Over the next hour we set out to gather as much rubbish as we could, and there was plenty to keep us busy!

And what a transformation it was! So many full bags of rubbish collected and the whole area was noticeably cleaner and more welcoming afterwards. Our efforts certainly didn't go unnoticed too, with a number of local residents stopping to chat and sharing how grateful they were for the work being done with litter being an issue

A huge thank you to Indy and our new friends at Edinburgh Trash Club for welcoming us along and helping make the evening such a success. It was brilliant to work alongside another community-focused group that shares our passion for improving local spaces and bringing people together through local community action.

Here's to more collaborations, more community action and a cleaner city!

Shout out to first time Goodgymers Sam and Maya - hope to see you again soon :)

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Please note there is no GoodGym next Tuesday 29th September as I'm on holiday, We'll be back in a fortnight.

Our group was celebrating being a whole month old and this Tuesday evening saw us return to Leith Community Croft, our first ever Group Run task. This is a fantastic community croft run by Earth in Common.

Ali was on hand to welcome us, dish out the tools, and point us towards an overgrown herb garden and surrounding growing spaces that were in need of some TLC. Armed with trowels, forks, spades, and plenty of determination, we got to work straight away.

An hour of solid effort later, there was a significant transformation. We tackled weeds, cleared beds, and helped bring some order back to the growing areas. There's always plenty to do at the Croft, but it's amazing what a motivated team can achieve in a short space of time.

We have been talking with Ali about the possibility of GoodGym taking on a dedicated corner of the market garden to maintain on a longer-term basis. Ali is really keen on this idea so it looks like we will be returning to the community croft on a regular basis. Watch this space for what could become our very own GoodGym Growing Project! 🌿

A special shout-out goes to Luke, who joined us from GoodGym Kingston for the second consecutive week while enjoying his holidays in Edinburgh. We hope you've enjoyed seeing a bit of the Scottish capital and thanks for being part of the team.

Also a big welcome to Imogen, Michael, Ian and Suilven. Great to have you onboard!

With the tools packed away and some energy to spare we squeezed in a quick workout before running back up Leith Walk and a nice wee crew stuck around at Edinburgh Street Food for some well-earned food and drinks, taking advantage of that 15% discount.

Five weeks in and we're already building partnerships, improving local spaces, and perhaps even planting the seeds for a project of our own. Here's to month two! 💚🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🌱

We have recently set up a Whatsapp community - link to join is here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LWdv5YU8SJ7LYNARbKFj6f

And don't forget to follow us on Instagram (any help with photos/videos and getting posts out is greatly appreciated) https://www.instagram.com/goodgymedinburgh/