There’s something great about doing something on a Friday night after work, it extends the weekend and there’s something extra special about running to the Hilbre Islands off West Kirby in the River Dee estuary. Until about 3pm this particular Friday it had been overcast and drizzly but miraculously the sun came out for us for this run (and walk). April is lovely because you’ve shaken off the winter and those dark nights and you get your evenings back. There was a great group of Goodgymmers for this special run. Heetu and Liam drove joined by Steph, Ellie, Priyanka and her friend Aisha, Vikki, Miriam, Jess and her partner Jono. While the runners warmed up on the shore at West Kirby, Miriam and Ellie got a head start walking and made it past the little island before the runners set off. When the walkers reached the middle island, the runners caught up. The sunset was so beautiful. The runners ran all the way out to the old lifeboat post at the end of Hilbre Island. The walkers made it to Hilbre island and had a good nosy at the Nordic style properties, even waving at some residents through the window (probably unwelcome ha ha! Pesky visitors!) We all made our way back to the mainland at our own pace in the gorgeous last rays of the sun. Liam had been prepared and bought a towel for wet feet, others stewed in soggy socks until they could get home and showered. A lovely group run that cleared out the cobwebs and started the weekend right.

The mid April weather being what it is, our latest group run began with a mix of a rain deluge and sunshine at the Suitcases, which rewarded us with some beautiful rainbows before we even started. A nervous Liam stepped up to lead the run for the first time, leading Aatefa, Sallyann, Heetu, Steph, and Laura on a short but sweet run through the Georgian streets toward the Cathedral. It was a great way to warm up before the main event.

By the time we reached the gardens, the sun had come out fully as we were joined by the rest of the group. We were delighted to celebrate two big milestones: Aatefa completing her 10th task and Miriam reaching her 50th! To mark this milestone Bekah brought a box of chocolates for Miriam, which she kindly shared with the group. We’re all looking forward to seeing Miriam in her new black GG T-shirt soon!

After a helpful briefing from the Friends of St. James Gardens, we got straight to work in high spirits. Heetu and Sophie did a great job clearing litter to keep the space tidy, while Aatefa, Sallyann, Jess, Pri, and Ellie planted new flowers near the Parliament Street end. It’s always rewarding to add something lasting to the gardens and the new flowers will be a lovely addition for the gardens.

The rest of the team headed to the old towpaths at the back of the gardens, working together to clear branches and foliage from the walls. Some of the branches put up a fight but the team weren't accepting defeat and managed to clear a large section of the walls. This essential maintenance helps preserve the site's history, and the team made light work of it with plenty of chat and energy.

The time really flew by and before we knew it we were back at the Huskisson memorial in the centre of the gardens to wrap up the task under the shadow of the Cathedral. A special thanks from Liam to the rest of the group for making the task go so smoothly. It was really appreciated!

A huge thank you to everyone for your hard work and for making the session so enjoyable—we look forward to seeing you at the next one!

Five thousand, six hundred and thirty five good deeds

Five thousand-six hundred moments so dear

Five thousand, six hundred and thirty five good deeds

How do you measure, measure 8 years?

In daylights, in sunsets, in parkruns and breakfasts

In walking, in running, in laughter so rife

Five thousand, six hundred and thirty five good deeds

How do you measure eight years in our life.

How about Love

How about Love

Seasons of Love

Five thousand, six hundred and thirty five good deeds

Done by, three hundred-forty three volunteers hands

Seven Hundred and twelve times we helped a community

How do you measure eight years in GoodGym plans

In brushes, in litterpicks, in weeding and planting

In painting, in clearing, in cheering so rife

Five thousand, six hundred and thirty five good deeds

How do you measure eight years in our life.

How about Love

How about Love

Seasons of Love

(apologies Jonathan Larson)

Celebrating is something that comes second nature to a GoodGymer. Every week for eight years we’ve celebrated the amazing communities we get to work alongside and be inspired by. We’ve celebrated connecting with older people who may be a little isolated, hearing their stories and sharing a smile. We’ve celebrated running and walking together, and all our achievements and milestones along the way, big and small. And we’ve celebrated milestones in each other lives, weaving together our own stories as we dig, plant and weed. If there’s one thing you can say about a GoodGymer is that our group is full of people cheering each other on! Celebration is second nature.

And if we are ever lacking in energy, feeling a bit glum in this complicated world, we know that an hour or two working side by side with neighbours, communities, and projects in Liverpool will lift us up and remind us that Liverpool is a city full of love.

It’s no surprise that when it came to our 8th Birthday celebrations, that even people who couldn’t stay for the evening popped in to help Bekah and Heetu set up before heading to another commitment (lovely Clara) and that everyone coming mucked it for this GoodGym style DIY party.

We had use of the fabulous DoES Liverpool space arranged by our ever amazing Bekah (where would we be without the effort love and care of our Bekah!) and everyone brought food to share (including Bekah’s now famous sausage rolls!) and Liam provided the music (after a somewhat intense discussion about what playlist to choose - why 80’s/90’s bangers of course!) With party decorations a plenty the room soon filled with the buzz of joy just to be in each others company, and one of our favourite things we also got to meet new people as Aatefa brought two friends along as a means to pursue them to sign up (It was lovely to meet you Kate and Sadia) (If Aatefa has her way her whole class would be joining GoodGym!)

We talked about what our favorite tasks have been (seeing the sunsets from Everton Park always gets a mention here) and what we would like to do in the coming year.

And I managed to share some statistics from our 8 years together reminding people that each and every task has been an act of love in a world that often feels scary and isolating for so many of us. There is no greater achievement in this world than connection, creating community as an antidote to what ails us, and community as a radical act of love.

“Community is much more than belonging to something; it’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter”

In eight years (including the time spent in national lockdown) 343 GoodGymers have cumulatively completed 5’635 good deeds in Liverpool. This includes: 349 visits to people who are older and isolated, helping with the things that usually slip through the net of social services, and finding that the task is what brings us there, but the chat and the cuppa is what we always remember most.

712 Group Tasks, planting, clearing paths, painting rooms and fences, wrapping presents, cleaning walls, lopping trees, sorting clothes, weeding, brushing yards, shifting furniture, stewarding runs and festivals, and not to forget litterpicking! Often in the dark, sometimes in the rain, always in laughter.

8 years, 32 seasons of love Happy Birthday GoodGym Liverpool

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!