Our intrepid team of Quizzers ventured to the Dodo Pub's newest Oxford venue, the Slow and Steady. The quiz followed the usual word patterns, palindromic answers, a music round, and a picture round. The bonus challenge to create a campaign post for a new political party revealed some hidden artistic talents and a dab hands at the strategic use of glitter. Unfortunately the whole thing took over three hours to finish, and no amount of pizza and Ben's birthday cake could make a night bus look appealing. But, I am reliably informed by the hardy few who toughed it out that we finished in a very respectable 3rd place.

There is some interest in getting a team together to tackle Puzzled Pint (https://puzzledpint.org/city/oxford-uk/) but it isn't bookable so people will need to solve the riddle to find the location and chance it.

Mrs H is still smiling, even though she is finding it a bit more difficult to get around now. She will be 93 next month!

Last night we split into walking and running groups to pin up posters and distribute bookmarks for the charity "From Me to You". We ran and walked from East to West pinning up posters in libraries, cafes and community centres.

Through letter writing workshops, and hints & tips on how to reach out to family and friends, 'From Me to You' charity aim to reduce the social isolation and loneliness so often associated with cancer. Writers, from all over the world, send in their letters, which are then distributed to those most in need. 'From me to You' work with partners - hospitals, cancer centres and fellow charities - as well as sending letters directly to people’s homes, which anyone can request whenever a boost is needed.

With a task in Florence Park later in the morning it was a no-beainer to help out at Junior parkrun first. I walked round the first lap, but was pleased I’d put by trainers on when my junior companion suddenly got his run on in lap 2!

Trev led the warm up and marshalled, while Kieran was run director.

Yesterday we made a welcome return to Kate's Place. It was lovely to see it so well established given that we have been involved since it's early days. We did a variety if tasks including hedge trimming, raking leaves, and sowing yellow rattle seeds, then warmed up over a cuppa on Flo's cafe.

We usually try to get to West Oxford for a litter pick early in the year, and despite the ongoing challenges of accessing the Botley Road, we headed there last night for a clean up.

We split into 3 groups and allowed ourselves an hour to blitz the trash. Given the cold weather we found a surprising amount of discarded clothing (wouldn't you notice that you'd left your coat on the cemetery gate?!), as well as a bags full of the usual suspects (cans, bottles), and more unusual items (a whole block of cheese, part of a car bumper, MANY Christmas trees, a French dictionary).

All in all, a good amount of rubbish got picked and bagged, leaving the area looking a little more loved.

Welcome to GoodGym James!