Thanks for coming along to the Christmas pizza (and salad/crisps) a couple of weeks ago.

The food was on GG Bristol but if you'd like to tip the Club Haus team, they're able to take cash whenever you're next in - they couldn't take just a tip on the card machine so it all got a bit difficult on the night. So, up to you now we're back!

Woohoo, it's nearly Christmas AND it wasn't raining as 13 GoodGymmers, including Callum for his first ever good deed, Chloe for her first Group Run and Jo for her first Bristol good deed - we love you being part of GoodGym Bristol!

The running group and walking group set off for the sights and sounds of St Paul's, negotiating Christmas shoppers, revellers, roadworks and building to arrive at the lovely warm Emmaus office with lovely Xanne ready to tell is all about the charity and tonight's tasks - one indoor and one outdoor.

The outdoor group were filling a big and a small planter with compost and then being trusted to plant cyclamens, ivies and something we don't know the name for. Xanne knew there was a distinct lack of spades so there was a traditional GoodGym scouting-about for anything that looked spade-y and bucket-y. Winners were an actual spade, a couple of snow shovels and some desk in-trays (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to fill a freezer drawer and other receptacles at great speed. Only to empty them into the planters and start all over again!

Meanwhile, indoors, the floor was deep in crates of Bric (as we professionals call bric-a-brac) to be sorted and shelved with all sorts of 70s and 80s reminiscences for those of us old enough to remember the 70s and 80s. We had a brush-o-matic that i remembered as soon as I saw it!

The outdoor team were soon laying out and planting the new plants, getting into the groove (other Madonna songs are available) with brushes to leave it clean and tidy - fit for a Queen (who we can now reveal was visiting two days later on Thursday). Sometimes we are actually quite good at keeping secrets. Not much of the tine but some of it.

Withe the outdoors finished, everyone headed indoors to help with the sorting and to find something to wear as headgear/hide behind for the team photo.

Off we then shuffled, via the excitement of the Christmas Market (sheds) for our post-task socialising as Workout's Club Haus had a private function- so mulled drinks and interesting hot chocolates it was.

Roll on next week for the pizzas we've pre-booked at Club Haus to celebrate Christmas GoodGym-style.

There's a new vicar in town and Laura had heard very good things about GoodGym and couldn't quite believe it was real! We'd warmed up with a game of pointing at Ed's Christmas leggings before the runners headed off on a longer route than the walkers, who beat them to the Parish Office.

With expert planning and the help of a big map, we worked put roughly which tower block was which, and which we could have easy access (don’t tell the running group theres a fob) and which we'd be relying on our negotiation skills - we're not leafleting, we're spreading Christmas cheer.

We love the fitness challenge of getting up all the stairs (less Santa Claus-trophobic than the lifts) and then building yo speed as we work our way down the buildings. Or some of is do, whilst others "manage" the task indoors with a cup of tea. I did leaflet a couple of blocks on my way home, though!

Soon wed completed lots of the routes, only kept put of two where we couldn't persuade someone to let us in even though we used the "whats your favourite number" technique.

I'm sure we'll be back next year, or before if we can help with any of the community outreach to Redcliffe and especially the refugees here.

Happy Christmas!

I think winter's arrived. At about 1905 on Tuesday 29th November.

It was all fun and games, GoodGymmers arriving in shorts, welcoming chit chat then running or walking over to Dame Emily Park for a spruce up before we all spruce up our homes for Christmas*, armed with trusty litter pickers including David HeadTorch trialling his new foldy uppy litter pickers (FULPs) and Bristol Waste bags to fill.

There was very little big litter so we were able to spot all sorts of smaller-see-through litter with our (not always) powerful lights. Obviously this led to a hugely fun game of "Leaf or Litter", one of our favourite past times.

And then, all of a sudden, it got very cold and the choice of fitness session or longer run/walk back was given, the latter being the seemingly unanimous choice. Bags were joined to make a single bag of lots of little litter, pickers were put back in the Great Big Bag and off everyone was about to set when Jason, carrier of the Great Big Bag, produced packs of brownies and flapjacks to celebrate his 300th good deed - Hooray! Everyone warmed up a bit and was fuelled for the run/walk back with the walkers carrying the diminishing supply of celebratory cake and the Great Big Bag because we're good like that.

For maybe the first time ever, the walkers were back in Queen Square before the runners and decided it was too cold to wait for the runners, still a mile away, so did their end of group run gubbins, returned the Great Big Bag to the receptionist/cupboard-in-the-cupboard-in-the-cupboard and made for the bar to order a big pot of tea, in theory for two but actually containing SIX cups of very nice tea indeed. And Paul ordered a pint on something very cold, despite being cold himself, having joined the walkers back as he has another marathon this weekend - pink panther is already dressed as an elf but hadn't been allowed to come along as its too early for elves.

The runners returned with their rosy cheeks (on their faces, at least) and joined the GG tables and then, in one of the greatest achievements of her life to date, Melanie persuaded Club Haus in Workout to have the footie on only one TV and the GBBO final on the other, thus introducing GGers who had so far avoided the feel-good-or-sometimes-bad TV show to its gloriousness. And misinterpretation of the Signature Bake as Viennetta Fingers, which would have been Viennese Fingers except they were éclairs. Which led is down the regular GG Bristol discussion of Chris Lewis and general love if the Walls Viennetta. Other ice-cream desserts are available, but not as nice. And so closed another fabulous group run where Clo reminded us all that even though some of us may not have wanted to come along, we were all glad we did.

• is that where the phrase cones from? Spruce up your home with a Christmas spruce tree? Now spruce looks wrong when i write it or say it. Rabbit hole created...

After a very soggy day we were delighted to find a dry-ish evening waiting for us in Queen Square with Richard leading the runners on a longer route and Richard back-marking, catching us walkers at pedestrian lights and having the shed open by the time we walkers arrived.

The massed rakes and brushes were carried to the joyous wheelbarrow park (soooo many wheelbarrows, some very useful, some very pretty and some in the middle) and into the wildlife garden where wed previously spread much woodchip. Our task was to clear the leaf fall and leave the path surfaces intact - normally pretty difficult but the rain had the leaves sticking to each other and bot the ground which, combined with our skill set, meant leaves were quickly off the paths and onto the plant beds and compost heap.

David athletically vaulted* the fence to the pond and cleared the pontoon whilst Jason mastered lifting large quantities of leaves without the help of tools.

Katie and Ed proved dab hands with the rakes, skimming the paths to make numerous leaf piles whilst Alice arrived having tracked us down with her amazing bloodhound senses.

We'd heard the ducks, seen a very big black cow (seeing only its eyes at first in the torchlight - eek) and experienced proper farmyard smells as we worked around more of the path we'd dug out a couple of years ago (or was it just last year?).

With multiple barrows of leaves moved to (hopefully!) more useful/less disruptive places, we tidied our tools back into the shed and set off back to Queen Square and on to Workout to taste test flapjacks with a huge pot of tea - perfect!

*climbed over very carefully

It was a warmer but not quite dry evening that greeted GoodGym Bristol on an evening when the walkers outnumbered the runners, who ran around the top of the harbour as Vauxhall Bridge is the latest to close for repairs with Sarah setting the pace. The walkers stuck with the short route over the re-opened Gaol Ferry Bridge and managed a lot of chat on the way, including finding out facts about Arron on his first group run and catching up with Katie who was back for her first group run on a while. Welcome!

Hugh has moved on from BS3 Community but the playground/outdoor space still needs looking after so we were met by Kay on reception duties and shown The Shed, The Compost Bin and the plethora of brushes for the task. A lack of hand tools was more than overcome with the discovery of a huge pick axe with a tiny pointy bit to get into the edges that needed weeding.

David Head was most chivalrous in lighting Sarah's way up to the compost bin with his Head torch (get it?), marginally less so on her way down. Having emptied the last bin of leaves and pick-axed weeds from the playground edges, there was a bit of time for football skills and a quick ride for those GoodGymmers with less-long legs - go Alexis!

Well done everyone - Kay was really impressed (although it was dark...) and Frances may have found a removal company for her imminent house move.