On a very warm morning, Spital Cemetery workparty regulars Sue, Maggie and Sheila were joined by Yvonne and Hollie. Yvonne came fresh from her first W&M group session the previous evening, so it was great that she could join us again in a different location. It was Hollie's first ever GoodGym session, and she picked a hot one! We continued to work on a fallen obelisk and grave stone which had become heavily covered in holly and ivy, probably over a number of years. We cut away at the twisted stems slowly making progress to start to reveal the stonework underneath. Unfortunately some of the stone had already crumbled under pressure from the roots so we left some on to help stabilise the structure. We did however reveal some intricate carving, so look forward to uncovering some more at our next session. Great work by everyone in less than ideal conditions

Twelve of us gathered at the Ray Mill Island rise to help out with a few tasks.

Some took up the hose and watered the thirsty plants. 🌱🌿

Others took up saws and pulled out branches from among the brambles to use for a fern bed. 🪚🪾

And one took up a brush and painted some signs, in the exciting company of some rats 🖌️😬

Shout out to W&M newcomer Yvonne who joined us from Bracknell! Hope to see you back for more.

When we finished, it was time for a special celebration - Diya's 500th deed! We had delicious cake 🍰 - thanks Georgeta - with a clever topper (which flummoxed the only accountant amongst us!). Sheila made a beautiful medal 🏅 and had a great idea to have everyone say some words about Diya... here's the full list: Enthusiastic, Fun, Horse-manure, Kind, Thoughtful, Football, Warm, Camaraderie , Guinness, Friendship, Racquetball, Mad, Inclusive, Funny, Party girl, Always very hungry.

And we were all treated to Diya's biggest smile 😃 - warming our hearts on an already warm day! 🥵

We set off from the Showroom (which was much busier than usual thanks to DocFest) eager to take the high road to Burngreave to engage in some trashy behavior. There we met Malcolm and his team of Pitsmoor Pickers who were waiting for us at the junction of Andover St and Richmond St. Our job for the evening was to clear Somerset Open Space and the immediate vicinity of any rubbish. It turned out that there was quite a lot to pick up. Some notable finds were: a mattress, lots of large Nitrous Oxide canisters, and a few bike wheels. There was a little bit of drizzle whilst we were wombling away, but this didn't dampen our spirits.

After an hour of persistent picking we headed back to the Showroom to stretch off (and watch one of the documentaries being showcased there). I was unexpectedly thrust into the driving seat at the last minute for the session tonight. Therefore, I had not planned any fun fitness activities.

Hill Sprint Coach Celine provided running focus as we ran up the park, multiple times, in the dark :)

We finished off our training session with a good old litter pick in the local area.

Here's to more training and tasks to help Sheffield this January :)