A fantastic squad of 10 GoodGymers gathered for this evening session to continue our litter picking from where we left off last week - Thankfully we were able to feel our fingers and toes this time! We were joined by Jack from the Central team - great to meet you Jack :) and Allan who we've been missing on our Tuesday sessions.

We split into 2 groups to cover both sides of the road and attacked the paths armed with bags, bag hops and litter pickers, the teams bagged and binned up any rubbish on the paths and sides of the road. It wasn't actually as bad as expected so competition was rife with us fighting over the rubbish - ha! Our most interesting finds were some 2 gloves but not a pair, so annoying when you loose 1 glove, an amusing small placed sponge in a huge puddle, but the rest were the usual haul of cans, bottles, chicken shop wrappers and wet tissue! After half an hour we bagged up our findings, left them near the nearest bins and made our way to the local library to regroup.

We ran back towards Coventry Boys and Girls club with a quick stop for a fitness session in Starley Gardens. Taking it in turns to run around the maze whilst giving the rest of the group an exercise to complete. It was fun and everyone put in lots of effort.

Well done everyone, we've left Ball Hill a litter bit tidier than we found it :)

Brrrr that was a cold one! Given the bitter temperatures, it was a great turn out with a merry band of 10 GoodGymers to help out at Clothing Coventry.

Jackie and Sharon set off for a brisk walk while the rest of us tried to warm up quickly before on starting our run. We were looking forward to get going to heat up a bit as it really was the coldest its been all winter so far.

We arrived to discover that finally, the new warehouse has materialised and the great garment migration had commenced! It's located directly opposite the old warehouse, so only a short hop over the road. The aim is to use this bigger space for storage and the smaller one as a shop to make it a more pleasant experience for the customers.

The plan was to use the electric van to transport the majority of the clothing over. We started by emptying the van of the bags and cases, which were ready to deliver to hotels, and replaced this with items from the old warehouse to take to the new. Forming a human chain we passed the bags and sacks from inside to the van with Lil getting into the back of the van to drag the bags on board. We all grabbed what we could carry and then scurried across the road over to unload at the new location.

Once we arrived at the other side and unloaded, we then made our way back to repeat the process. We managed to do this 3 times and cleared a few shelves and rails from the original warehouse. The new premises is big but wow, it is filling up quick!

The team worked so well together and it all went seamlessly, we even had time to do a speed sort of the school wear before we left. We moved such a lot of stuff in a short space of time so well done everyone!

Clothing Coventry have a mammoth task ahead of them to get those warehouses sorted so we will be assisting them as much as we can with this and will be returning at the end of the month.

*i think your hat really suits me Lil 😂

Thanks to everyone that made it to the last session of 2023 for our final leafleting drop!

As it was a little to far for a run from town, we met at the task this eve and took a casual stroll around a new(ish) estate in Westwood Heath. It was great to have Vic and Deb join us and to see Lil on the mend.

We split into 2 teams again to try and cover more ground and seemed to get around the area super quick. It was nice to check out people's Christmas lights and posh abodes! Taking it a bit slower meant we got to have a nice chat too, all in all a lovely evening.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, enjoy the break and get ready for some more GoodGym action in 2024!

p.s. Graeme hope you feel better soon!

We celebrated Christmas with a meal at the Pod hosted by our friends at Food Union. It was an absolutely delicious home cooked menu that everyone enjoyed. As it was a shared table event we didn't all get to sit together but it meant we got to chat to new people and we also got to listen some music by a band also dining at the cafe. It was a very filling menu and we all left feeling rather stuffed. Some headed home afterwards but the rest of us mooched up to metropolis to meet James and Suzanne for some after dinner drinks.

Such a lovely evening it was great to see you all.

Merry Christmas and happy new year! Looking forward to seeing you in 2024 :)