A brilliant evening spent helping SIN Cru at their Definitely Real Build site, continuing the wood clearing we started last month. They're creating a calm space for creativity, and the development has sustainability and biodiversity at its core. We're on board with that (last night, quite literally)!

It started with a run. All making the dash from work, Scott, Beth and Imet at Parkside and were joined this week by Kate and Alice. Having both done lots of good through community missions, it was fantastic to welcome them to their first group run 😎

It was the hottest evening so far this year, so we took it steady and chased the shade, winding our way up to North Cambridge, where we met Caroline, who had sped all the way across town on her bike. Arriving first, she had extra time for dog fuss!

After introductions and a briefing from Lucy, we split into a sawing crew and a wood pile crew. Back in his element, Scott wasted no time sawing down large wood beams at speed. There were a number of different methods trialled including a karate kid-style foot chop of strand board, which was occasionally successful. Alice and Caroline adopted an innovative approach, Caroline providing stability as a counter-weight. A very effective strategy as it turned out ⚖️

Nothing beats the feeling of successfully sawing through a piece of wood; all the effort for a very satisfying 'snap' as it comes free. There were cheers and celebrations all round as Kate sawed her first plank and Caroline conquered a particularly hefty section of tree trunk 🙌

To the back drop of whooping, the rest of us set to clearing the massive wood pile and bag of wood offcuts, taking them to be cut down or stacking in the wood store. Less muscle needed, but much more courage as the bag and pit were full of the most enormous spiders. 🕷️ Super-sized and super speedy, a respectful, mutually-agreed no-contact zone was soon in place.

After half an hour in the heat, energy was starting to wane, but the ever-thoughtful Beth had brought sweets and we were saved! 🍬 Drinks and shade (and more dog fuss) were in order.

Feeling recharged, we got back to it with bucket after bucket of wood making its way to be stored. We had some 'help' from our canine companions, but their sticks didn't make it to the store. 🤔

With Lucy delighted that we cleared the fire pit, which had not been seen for years, and the uncovered slugs and spiders much less delighted, it was time to go.

We enjoyed a cooler run back to Parkside (downhill on the way back, right?). Taking in the river views and reflecting on what a brilliant session it had been, we left, although slightly weary, more motivated for next week 💪

Cambridge Half 2026

We had a blast supporting the Cambridge Half on Sunday!

Welcome to Tatiana who joined for her first GoodGym task 💪

It is our first year with GoodGym representation both on the course and behind the scenes. Kate, Sadiya and Catherine were in the bag storage tent, helping manage runner's bags and Tatiana was managing runners in the starting pens before switching to handing out medals and tote bags at the finish line. From start to finish, we had logistics covered.

It's hard to describe exactly what 15,000 bags in a marquee looks like, but the picture gives a good idea. We played a game of Where's Wally (Catherine) in amongst the sea of backpacks. It was an early start and surprisingly stressful at times, requiring military precision to stack bags and eagle eyes to spot race numbers at a distance. Teamwork really was key and the highlight of the morning was meeting like-minded volunteers and sharing tales of races gone by (followed closely by the free gelato 🍦) .

As always with Cambridge Half, the atmosphere was amazing and it was a privilege to hear runners motivations for taking part and their experiences of the race. Despite having only 50m of elevation overall, there were a lot of comments about the incline out to Granchester; a hill by Cambridge standards.

All in all, a great day and here's to 2027!