GoodGym York Serves Up Smiles at Cancer Survivors’ Afternoon Tea

GoodGym York volunteers spent Saturday afternoon supporting Cancer Research UK’s Relay For Life event at York RI, helping to celebrate cancer survivors and their families. The event included a special afternoon tea where survivors were treated to a selection of refreshments, including tea, scones and a glass of prosecco, as the community came together to recognise their courage and resilience.

The afternoon tea formed part of the wider Relay For Life event, which honours those affected by cancer while raising funds for life-saving research.

GoodGymers helped with setting up the tea service, welcoming guests and serving drinks, Once the last cups had been emptied the team rolled up their sleeves for the less glamorous but equally important task of washing up and clearing away.

The task was a reminder that community support comes in many forms. Whether serving afternoon tea, sharing a smile, or tackling a mountain of washing up, every contribution helped make the day special for cancer survivors and their loved ones.

A huge thank you to the Relay For Life organisers for inviting GoodGym York to help and to all the volunteers who gave their time to support this meaningful event. (goodgym.org)

💥 FUTURE LEADER SOUTHERN COHORT LAUNCHES

To launch the Southern cohort of the Future Leader programme we all came together to help out St Pancras gardens. We did a quick garden tidy up to ensure the area is kept clean for people to enjoy this wonderful green space in the heart of London.

Denzel led a group of runners with Jack leading the group of walkers, with photographer Dave capturing some brilliant shots along the way.

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Future Leaders are young people that will be building leadership skills and care about their community, fitness and social impact. We had people travel in today from York, Plymouth and Cambridge - so amazing to see you all!

🎵 St Pancras Gardens are attached to St Pancras Old Church and have a long history. In 1968, The Beatles were photographed here for a famous series of pictures designed to promote the single "Hey Jude" and the White Album. More recently artists such as Sam Smith have performed concerts there.

🌿 It's a busy place right in the centre of London which attracts a lot of footfall, hence the constant need to keep litter at bay and the paths clear.

🛏 We have all collaborated and made new connections whilst efficiently getting the task done - we also discovered the war of the fallen mattress.

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Huge well done on your 1st good deed Imantha, Ana, Nazifa, Malachi, Tatianna, Luna, Jemima, Javic, Mason, Lubna, Lesley, Rasheed and Jihane.

Such great work everyone 🙌🙌🙌 so excited to see what you all make happen!

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Huge thank you to Havas for allowing us to use their amazing office space for our cohort workshop.

Nada joined Elle today for a hectic half an hour of watering, weeding, and planting of some edible flowers and spinach in the Southbank Community Garden raised beds.

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!