What’s more exciting than writing your first report? Doing your first task at a new site!

We started by having the running group meet us at the entrance of Princes Park. We were joined by Jess (congratulations on completing the half marathon with a PB 9 minutes faster!), Aatefa, Liam, Tom (who has rejoined us after a hiatus to become a father — congrats!), Bekah, Clara, Tsitsi, and Laura (and me – Leo). The public lighting of the park, or rather the lack thereof, served as a good mood setter once we entered. The total darkness created a sense of wonder and thrill, but it also made our torches and floodlights essential. It felt a bit like a Scooby-Doo episode where you’re going on an adventure that requires everyone to partner up.

Once we found our way to the storage container, we were greeted by Lis and Katy, who guided us through the task of the day. They were delighted to have us and were very keen to distribute jobs, with even more plans in store in case we finished early.

The task was straightforward in theory, but hard work in practice. We had to clear up the entrance to the section where the parkrun starts. We were informed that it was covered in mud and could potentially be a hazard for runners. The trees were also noticeably outgrowing the fences, creating edges that weren’t dangerous but were certainly annoying and could knock your head if you were careless (see pictures for reference).

Not only was this a new site for us, but it’s also the same place where we do our fabulous, amazing, and completely unproblematic (nobody mention stickergate!) social run with parkrun, so this task was particularly close to the GoodGym Liverpool heart.

The task owners gave us the tools to succeed, and we quickly identified the shovelers, the sweepers, the trimmers, and the litter pickers. The shovelers shovelled (shocking, I know) the mud and general grit around the entrance. The sweepers used brushes to direct the mud, and any fallen branches, towards the shovelers. The trimmers took care of the overgrown branches by developing a new technique (yet to be named by Jess and Bekah) where one person would reach a high branch with the loppers and pull the whole thing down while the other did the chopping.

Poor Tom was given the opportunity to try unclogging the drain as a welcome-back gift. Alas, the darkness worked against us and we had to leave that job for another time. Regardless, this didn’t put a damper on our spirits as we continued making a significant contribution to improving the starting area of the track.

Eventually, the hour flew by and we had to gather all the tools and head back to the storage container for a quick group photo, announcements, and some surprise cake! (Thanks, Bekah.)

And because GoodGym Liverpool made the grave mistake of allowing me to write the report, here’s a genuine attempt at a poem:

New day, new people, new task

Grab your running shoes and your water flask

Trim those bushes, shovel that patch

Just don’t use the mud as a face mask

The dust has settled, all is done

In the end, we just hope you had some fun

Get some rest, you did your best

Know that to GoodGym Liverpool, you are number one

Spring has finally sprung! Which means only one thing here at GoodGym Liverpool.... we are back at Everton Park! And finally a task which could only have been done in the dark.

The 9 of us met John from Friends of Everton Park at the view point where we were briefed on the task. Our misson? To find every street lamp that wasn't working and make a note of the (often elusive) number. When describing the task John had to take us to no less than three different street lamps before finding one that had a clear number, so we knew this would not be a task for the faint-hearted.

We split into 3 groups and off we went into the night to discover a surprisingly large number of broken street lamps. Thanks to our hard work, the council will now know exactly which lamps will need fixing- well done everybody!

To end the night John treated us to a few historical facts about the park and a rather spectacular view over the city. All in all, a Monday well spent and the perfect night to officially welcome Clara to task force. So glad to have you on board!

This Monday we were back again supporting Mulgrave Street Action Group with the Urban Space Community Garden for a weeding task. Not sure how a month has gone by already. Four Goodgymers ran from the suitcases with Jess cheering them all the way! The rest of us met at the task. We were all warmly welcomed by Khan, who as all dearest readers will already know, has far too much faith in our weed identification skills. Each time he gives us a new nugget of information to support with our weeding endeavours and on this occasion, the advice was "do you like it" and "does it bring you joy"?

Now this of course prompted much debate especially as anyone who knows Sallyann will know that anything green and alive brings joy. The humble dandelion got a particular shout out for the joy it can bring. However, Bekah and Jess were on hand with a clear and methodical approach - "it's spikey, it doesn't bring me joy. Get it gone!"

Tonight also marked the inauguration of one of our new Litterpicker Leaders - Clara . Without haste in this new role, a litter pick around the community garden and surrounding area was carried out by Clara and Ellie, both of whom received lovely words of thanks as they went which motivated them further with the task. The task ended against the backdrop of evening prayers from the local mosque. The 4 bags of weeds and 3 bags of rubbish and knowing that we are returning in a month certainly brought us all joy. Speaking of joy - congratulations to Aatefa who has now completed 5 tasks, to Jess who has completed 20 and Ellie who has completed a whopping 70!

A fabulous group of keen runners met promptly at 6.30 pm on Monday to run to our task! We were all looking forward to our second week at Pagoda Arts Centre, helping them prepare for their Chinese New Year celebrations. We completed a lovely 2km run through the Chinese Arch and recieved some enthusiastic cheers from passers by.

It was the night before the New Year, but unlike the night before Christmas, lots was already stiring at the centre on our arrival.

After being joined by the rest of the group we had some quick introductions and the all important safety briefing!!! The task owner, Zi Lan, gave us our directions along with some education about the three core symbols of the Chinese New Year celebrations; longevity, good fortune, and, prosperity. We were then given free reign in hanging and decorating lots of lovely artwork and decorations including setting up the display on their main feature wall!

We split off into groups, with various people measuring, planning, hammering and decorating and others assisting in moving and organising items that needed to be stored away for the festivities.

After a lot of planning, hanging and organising, we all came together at the end to finalise the main feature wall. It was lovely to see the wall finished by the end of the task and even better to complete it as a team.

I was delighted that most of the runners were happy to go back to the suitcases the long way, resulting in a total of 4 kilometers run together. A great success all round!

11 goodgymers headed to Pagoda Arts Centre on Henry Street on a cool night. It felt like there was a hint of spring in the air. The front of the centre had a snake decoration around the doorway for 2025 and in a couple of weeks the Chinese luna calendar will usher in the year of the fire horse. There were many tasks to take on to get the centre ready for the celebrations. Ellie and Sallyanne cleaned inside the centre, Nasser moved boxes and put up pictures, Liam and Laura cleaned and cleared the entrance, Bekah, Leo and Jess did some up hill gardening and litter picking, me and Sophie cleared the car park of leaves and litter and Steph got to grips with a pile of papers that needed shredding in a temperamental shredder. All while a tai chi class was in progress which we tried hard not to interrupt. We were rewarded after our tasks with Chinese tea and chocolates.