A small but mighty crew headed down to the riverside this evening to tackle a familiar invasive foe: Himalayan balsam.

After a run or cycle to the task location, we split up along the riverbank and got stuck into pulling up the plants before they have a chance to spread their seeds. The recent weather had left the ground soft, making it satisfying work as roots and all came free with a gentle tug.

Working our way along the path, we soon created impressive piles of balsam and opened up space for native plants to thrive.

With plenty of plants removed and the area looking noticeably clearer, we gathered for a group photo before heading to the memorial gardens for fitness, feeling pleased with another practical contribution to keeping our local green spaces in great shape.

Tonight we did some exercises around the circle then froze into different positions. It was then back to base for a stretch out.

We also congratulated all the impressive runners who completed races and relays over the weekend, cheered Mitch for doing his 600th deed and Neil his 100th, and welcomed Yashodh and Nada to their first group run.

Great effort from everyone involved!

Tonight's GoodGym York Group Run saw us returning to the wildflower meadow at Clarence Gardens to clear the flowers that we had previously sown. We started the night with a bonus litterpicking task in the surrounding area, before getting stuck into the main event with a bumper turnout for an autumn night. Imen had joined the litterpickers for her first ever GoodGym task before deciding to stay on and stick around for the group run. We also welcomed Georgina along for her first ever session. Give them both a big cheer!

Tonight we were finally able to presentJenna with the cape of Good Deeds a little bit later than we should have (so sorry!) but still gave her a big round of applause for competing her 400th task. What an incredible achievement. And we also said well done to Richard who had completed his first ever cross country run at the weekend. Quite remarkable for a man who has done most things imaginable running-wise!

It was then off to the task with Mitch leading a small walking contingent and Nikki backmarking the main group. We were joined at the task by Cara, Jan, James and taskowner Iain who got us underway with some very simple instructions. Basically rake up all of the arisings and shift them over to the skip by any means necessary. Before long there were tonne sacks, wheelbarrows and tarps being moved left, right and centre and the skip started to get full, although a fair chunk of the space was taken up by a buried Mitch! In fairness Mitch and Pete did a cracking job of stomping down the skip so we could continue to fit more in, clearly impressing taskowner Iain who was planning where we could start a new pile once the skip got full.

Before you knew it, it was time to put the tools down and pose for a group photo before this evenings fitness sesh which involved teams of three running in opposite directions, or completing some exercises before then having to meet up again around a coloured cone, where they were then rewarded with a rest or punished with even more exercises. The activity required a lot less explaining than i'd imagined and seemed to work despite some groans from everyone one they realised they all had to complete burpees at the end regarldess of which cone they were stood around.

All in all the gang of GGers shifted a huge load of the arisings, but there's still plenty more to do so we'll be back later in November to finish the job

Tonight we had a last minute change of task due to the original being cancelled. Luckily Rowntree Park came up trumps!

First we met, named and numbered off saying our favourite smell! Mitch then headed off with a walking group and Ed led out the runners with Laura back marking.

We were given a selection of jobs to do. Team path were charged with clearing and sweeping the steps and ramp. Team soil shifters moved soil from two big piles in the park to a planter behind the lodge and team shift stuff filled bags with, well, green stuff. It was a beautiful evening in the park and we were treated to an awesome full moon... the perfect setting for murder in the dark! This was tonight's themed fitness led by Jenna!

On that note, a huge shout out to wonderful Jenna ,who has now completed an incredible 400 tasks! And if that isn't enough goodness she also brought along some delicious cake! Thank you Jenna for everything you do.

Despite the slightly lower numbers for tonight's group run we had lots to celebrate. First we welcomed Emily to her first Goodgym session, despite her only arriving in York a week ago. We celebrated Abigail and Claire both achieving 200 good deeds. We celebrated Rebecca being crowned August's Goodgymer of the month, having completed lots of Goodgym tasks in her first few months since joining, including some Goodgym tourism. We also congratulated Emma on completing the Vale of York half marathon and Liv and Mia on completing the Great North Run. (We also thought there may also have been a few other York Goodgymers doing a race at the weekend and having a few drinks along the way.) Finally we celebrated World Ampersand Day by going round and naming our favourite food and drink pairings worthy of the & symbol. After all the congratulations we headed to the task at Holgate Community Garden. We did two main jobs, cutting a circle of grass and weeds away around the trees and tidying the beds nearest the road. Abigail, Leanne and Jenna joined in once they had finished staging a teddy birth for Abigail. As her due date is in three days we were hoping that we didn't have a real birth to contend with. Claire and Laura Bennett went down to the Holgate Allotments and brought back two barrows of bark chip for putting on top of the soil circles around the trees. Imran and Jenna did a great job clearing all the brambles on the beds. We managed to complete both tasks before doing some training related fitness, including squats while we were stopped for leaves on the line, lunges for shovelling coal, creating tunnel arches for the other team's train to go through and then finishing with all aboard the train for a photo and some delicious chocolate and courgette cake from Claire before running back to base.