On a sunny morning, Jenna, James and I met for a litter pick at Glen Gardens, joining in one of the Council sessions for the Great British Spring Clean. The park itself was relatively tidy, thanks to the efforts of the friends group, but we spread out to cover some of the surrounding streets and left everything a bit brighter and cleaner than before.

Our last head torch group run for a while saw a bumper 26 GG Yorkies turn out for the choice of either soil inversion at Rowntree Park or prepping a flower bed at Southlands Church.

Knowing full well how difficult it can be organising a group of GGers (what is our collective noun?) at the end of a task, tonight started with a warm up which saw Ed introduce some of the exercises the gang would be doing later on as part of the fitness session. We then set off a steady group led by Nick to Southlands church, whilst Laura backmarked the bigger group which headed to Rowntree Park

After the brief run across we met Vicky at the task who had been left instructions by task owner Christine, who unfortunately couldn't be there tonight. Whilst Vicky is confident she got the details about the task correct, we're bot entirely sure that the tools were quite right as there surely must have been better options for shifting wood chip than a small bucket and two children's wheelbarrows! To her credit, Charlotte did make the most of the only full-size barrow, even if it was pretty broken

Whilst one group tackled the wood chipz the rest of the Rowntree Park crew cracked on with soil inversion at two designated areas. One proved significantly easier to get the spades in than the other so there were a few grumblings from Nikki when she was moved over to the tougher area, although her suffering didn't last long as she was handed a tiny wheelbarrow and joined in with the wood chip spreading

Over at Southlands Church....

The two groups came together at the end of the night for a fitness session (with some of the moves we'd rehearsed earlier). The workout featured 10 exercises, with 20 seconds rest between each one, and with each exercise being done for 30 seconds. Vicky was so disappointed that there was no can-can as one of the exercises that Ed caved-in and added a bonus exercise at the end. And this time we were determined to get it right. So after a quick tutorial from Leanne, everyone lined up, linked arms, and performed what felt like a perfect can-can. Although the video tells a much different story!

It was a Milestone Monday at GoodGym tonight as we celebrate some pretty impressive achievements. Earlier in the week Nicky W completed her 400th Good Deed and tonight Vicky completed her 500th!! Give her a huge cheer 🎉

We numbered off by naming some inspirational women in aid of International Women's Day before setting off to the Groves with Ed leading the run out and Abigail bringing up the rear.

At the Groves we were greeted by Tracy who split the group into 5 tasks. The first group (aka the moss bros) tackled an area of tarmac that had become overgrown with moss. Armed with hoes, spades and a broom, the guys scraped and brushed the moss and began filling up a tonne sack.

The second group were tasked with filling up the planters (which GoodGym had helped to build) with soil, making light work of a pretty impressive mound of earth. James B and Emma joined up with the earth movers after completing a mini task of their own which consisted of removing a couple of buddleia bushes

Martin and Jenna also made short work of their job which involved decorating a couple of trees with some fairy lights (and not Tracy's tobacco) before joining up with the final group who were tasked with trimming back some bushes in planters that had probably not had any attention for several years.

Once all the jobs were complete we then joined back up for a tabata style workout on the now moss-free area that group one had been working on. An injured Nick provided the most interesting exercise variations and at one point almost looked like he might take off whilst doing his version of a star jump!

It was then back to CVS for some delicious cookies baked by Vicky before saying our goodbyes

Tonight we returned to Park Grove to give the willow its annual haircut.

We welcomed newcomers Leticia, Matt and David to their first group sessions then headed through town to the school.

When we arrived we split into three teams - loppers, runners and weavers. Within no time the willow was cut down and transported to the dome, where the team added to the structure.

We then finished off with heart shaped strava art fitness for York Cares. The heart shapes were questionable but we spread lots of love and were rewarded with a chocolate heart.

We then headed back to base to round off another fun Monday evening.