Trev was run director on Christmas Day at University parks. New Years day Parkrun today has been cancelled so we were pleased to run one of the special events! :) Well done Shati on 50 GG tasks, Thanks to everyone who helped or ran, was a great was to spend Christmas day Main report here : ...

🎅𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 - 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝟭𝟰𝟴‍🎄 ✍️This special Christmas Day report comes from Debbie, who visited us from her home parkrun of Hereford. In her report Debbie thanks the wonderful volunteers, celebrates parkrun milestones (including two of her own!), and talks about the joy and comfort that parkrun can bring, especially at Christmas. Thank you for this wonderful report Debbie. We are so glad you enjoyed your visit!

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/universityparks/news/2024/12/27/university-parks-parkrun-148-25-12-24/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2J1pY17I9p-DIjzeswSkArF4S7F0XpUc_4KpeBDOBhgsL61bjcvpiOUCE_aem_Xye_iUjsaPuf65y3oBOXXQ

👋 Among the 𝟲𝟰𝟯 people who celebrated Christmas morning with us, 122 were 𝗻𝗲𝘄 to University Parks parkrun and 28 completed their 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 ever parkrun! Welcome to the parkrun family 🧡 🔔 71 parkrunners achieved new 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 times! 📈 Congratulations to everyone who achieved 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 this week, and qualified for their new t-shirts!

2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ Marcus and Ian 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Fiona, Tim, Steven, Faye, Ka Ho Tam 5️⃣0️⃣ Alex, Emma and James 2️⃣5️⃣ William

James also completed his 400th parkrun, Terry his 350th, and Hamish his 200th! 🦺A wonderful 𝟯𝟵 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 helped make event 𝟭𝟰𝟴 happen this Christmas morning. Thank you all so very much for sharing so much Christmas cheer with all our parkrunners.🧡 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘀!

🦺We love welcoming new volunteers to the hi-vis fold, and we were very happy to have two this Christmas morning! Susie handed out finish tokens with Louise and Marcus, and did a brilliant job of keeping up with the fast flow of finishers! Lawrence was also a first-time volunteer, as a fantastic marshal. Thank you both so much, we hope you enjoyed this start to your Christmas! 🎄

If 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗱 like to volunteer, please get in touch with us on universityparks@parkrun.com. 🌳 #loveparkrun

We took to the foodbank for our monthly winter cleaning session last night. This time we cleaned fridges & sorted food waste in the kitchen. In the main hall it was the turn of the toiletries, pet food and baby supplies to get moved and the whole area cleaned. As nominated tallest person in attendance, Max even climbed a very tall ladder to clean the huge arched windows.

Well done team - as ever, many hands make light work of this big task!

Good to meet you Laura - welcome to GoodGym!

Last night was our third painting session at OXSRAD disability and sports hub. The whole centre is getting a refresh inside, which is a mammoth task for just the staff to take on!

We've helped repaint the studio, corridor and around the reception area previously, and last night we moved to the entrance lobby and the other side of the corridor. Lucky for us the painting has coincided with the clock change, so it's been a treat to have a regular indoor task. It's also surprisingly satisfying seeing the progress from aging cream walls to smart new blue and white.

This week we had the joy of Nelson the bulldog-beagle mix along for the session - we always enjoy a dog at a GoodGym task! With one more painting session scheduled this year we're determined to have OXSRAD spruced up and looking fabulous in time for Christmas.

Thank you for bringing the delicious waffles Shati!

For a handful of years we have had regular sessions throughout autumn and winter doing a deep clean of the Oxford Mutual Aid food bank in Cowley. The day-to-day operations of food bank leave little time for the kind of thorough clean which involves moving shelving and crates, so we try to lighten the load for their regular volunteers by taking on this task.

We tackle a section of the main hall each month (where toiletries, baby supplies and ambient food are stored), and make sure that the whole kitchen gets a clean every month (which is where the fresh fruit and veg is stored). It's an "all hands on deck" operation, involving moving stock, shifting shelves and crates, sweeping, mopping, dusting, and bleaching.

Session one of AW 2024/5 now complete!

Welcome to GoodGym Sasha and Max!

With the clocks changing last weekend we're into dark evenings for the next few months. Sport England's This Girl Can campaign is continuing the "Let’s Lift The Curfew" campaign, launched in 2023, to showcase women’s stories and concerns around getting active outdoors in the darker months, as well as calling on wider society to acknowledge their role in making getting active outdoors safer for women.

This year, This Girl Can is looking to go bolder and bigger, so they are partnering with GoodGym to help transform the campaign into a nationwide movement that can raise awareness and take critical steps towards making outdoor exercise safer for women.

This week we met for a 1 mile run to our task location, with 5 of us trotting and chatting in the dark. Head and chest torches definitely help us feel safer in the dark, and group exercise is always more fun than solo running.

Once we got to OXSRAD and met the rest of the group we picked up where we left off a few weeks ago - painting the reception areas, corridor and studio to refresh the Disability Hub & Sports Centre. Some of our painting from last time got high praise, so we all tried to "Be More Bethan and Katie" this time round. Painting and chatting is a lovely mindful task, so we're looking forward to another session here in 2 weeks time.

Welcome to GoodGym Helen and Isobel - lovely to meet you both.