After what was a scorchio day in brilliant Barnsley, five fiesty runners ran the four kms there and back to Locke Park to help the volunteers shift sand!

Tonight we were joined by a new member Jane let's give her a cheer here. Great to have you along and I hope you enjoyed your first run! We were also joined by James, Rachael and Sharon - lets spread the love and cheer them all!

After a quick courtyard warm-up and introductions, we set off as a group of 4 on the way to the park. The pace was nice and steady, allowing everyone to chat along the way. The majority uphill route felt tougher than usual due to the stuffy humid weather, but everyone dug deep and made it up the long steady hill without stopping!

Good effort team!

When we arrived, volunteer Anne explained that the planned task of weeding was going to be far too difficult as the ground was rock solid thanks to the weekends unusually hot weather, so she had a plan B. Plan B involved 17 tonnes of sand, 4 brushes, two rakes and a shovel!

Anne showed us to the park's large sandpit which had become one of Barnsley's most popular attractions for the local kids over the summer holidays! They had recently raised enough money to have the sandpit restocked with 17 tonnes of sand but due to it's popularity, there was now just as much sand outside the pit as there was in it! We got to work sweeping up and raking the sand in the pit. James focussed on a huge pile of sand that had blown out of the pit into a neighbouring climbing frame, pulling out alsorts of plants that had grown in the sand like sandunes! Sharon removed the litter and other oddities found in the sand, whilst Jane used a teeny tiny plastic spade to scoop up the sand around the edges. Myself and Rachael were chief sweepers, trying our best to collect as much of the sand as possible - not a job for someone as OCD as me!

Time was up and we had managed to replace a huge amount of sand back to the pit! We grabbed a picture and said our goodbyes, heading back down the hill for our fitness session! On the way back we stopped to use some steps and benches for tonights mini fitness session. Using the steps for cardio, the benches for dips and box jumps and the railings for press ups, we ran through a local park completing two laps to get our hearts racing and finish off the evening.

Back at base we did some stretches and said our goodbyes.

Tonight was my last night leading the group and as I drove away, thinking about the last 15 months I've spent leading and 24 months I've been part of GoodGym Barnsley, I felt very sad indeed! It has been such a pleasure to be part of the group and lead it and I am going to miss the friendly faces, funny conversations, bommerangs, running and all of the people we help locally. I feel very proud of what we have acheived as a group and hope the amazing work will continue.

GoodGym Barnsley will be continuing in the capable hands of Rachael who is very passionate about the group and has been involved since July 2018. Rachael's first session will be on Wednesday 11th September, so please sign up here if you can make it!