Four people signed up for the last community mission of the January Challenge: a 1pm litter pick along Kingsway North.

• One signed out after a Saturday morning double good deed session. She needed a nap!
• Nicky decided to start an hour early so that she could get home quicker.
• Paul Kelly and Leanne started an hour late so that they could have lunch and visit a five-sailed windmill between tasks.

On average, they probably all arrived on time...

Nicky found lots of her litter on the way to the meeting point and had already filled her bag to the brim before she reached Kingsway North... mostly with a giant Peppa pig calendar.

Paul and Leanne found Nick and Barbara on the way to their pick - who seemed to be racing around York collecting last minute squares on their bingo cards. They did make it to Kingsway North and got most of the way down the road before their bags became heavy enough to leave by the bins for the council to collect.

They all went home for a well earned rest having claimed the title of the last GG Yorkies standing in the January Challenge!

A Firey Tale of Olde Yorke - Chapter 2

On the last Saturday of the month of January, eight red-coated knights of the Order of Goodgym York descended on an old allotment patch to continue the good work of their predecessors. They had previously cut back a hundred years of brambles, revealed a creepy old shed, and burned piles of old wood in Chapter 1: A Firey Tale of Olde Yorke

On arrival, the council of allotment Wizards decreed:

“Leave only the timber… and let fire feast upon it later.”

And with that, they quickly embarked upon their task to sort the wood from the not‑wood and the burnable from the bewildering.

The scarlet heroes descended upon the patch and delved deeper into the far corners of the magical plot than any Yorkie had ever been. Each piece was lifted, shifted, dragged, or coaxed from the land with heroic effort — for no monster is more stubborn than abandoned gardening equipment.

Amongst the wood, which they sorted and stacked, they bravely uncovered a host of treasure to be banished from the allotment kingdom. Heavy items were hauled. Awkward items were wrestled. Confusing items were stared at for several long seconds while Egg the Enthusiastic took photos for posterity.

Their bounty included:

• Heavy metal rods (or perhaps a stash of giant's javelins) likely to have been forged in the underworld itself, and definitely weighing as much as a small dragon
• Broken windows (none showing a better view)
• A magic mirror (though nobody remembered to ask who was the fairest of them all)
• Hosepipes and fencing tangled like gossiping snakes
• A decorative shower screen, fully in tact as though placed there by goblins seeking cleanliness
• An ornate copper kettle, tarnished with years of grime.

An onlooker may have wondered why none of the red knights sought to polish the kettle until it gleamed, in the hope of revealing a genie from within to grant three wishes. Those who were wise to the January Quest of the order of Red Knights might assume it's because they had already smashed their January goals of achieving 600 good deeds and 10,500m of running walking and cycling, and so wanted for nothing more.

Each treasure was hauled away with great effort and mild confusion. Lady Ellie coveted an ancient sieve meant for fairy dust (or soil), and peasant's throne. She was granted permission to take them both home to give them new life.

Within an hour, a mighty stash of treasure was piled high at Allotment HQ, ready for it's ultimate banishment. The heroes wiped sweat from brows, mud from trainers, and made plans for lunch as they concluded their quest.

And so ends this chapter of the fairytale of Olde York— a tale of teamwork, treasure, and truly inexplicable finds.

Why not join us for the next instalment of this epic saga at Monday's group run, when once again our fearless band returns with reinforcements to the realm of determined brambles, forgotten junk, and community spirit.

GoodGym: Your mission if you choose to accept it is to create a team of volunteers for the inaugral York Community Woodland parkun without letting everyone know that there is such a thing as the York Community Woodland parkun and definitely not letting anyone know when it is!

By means of a diversionary task for the York Knavesmire parkrun (a deception so good that Lucy actually did volunteer for the Knavesmire) and a WhatsApp group that started out life as the Secret Seven before becoming the Furtive Fourteen we gathered a band of the Trusted.

Despite keeping everything hush hush until 8pm on Friday nearly 350 folk turned up and the car park was soon full.

Team GG course checked, marshalled, car parked, funnel managed and barcode scanned and made sure the event was a cracker - a beautiful way to start the last day of the January challenge!

Ten terrific goodgymers turned up to Woodthorpe forest school on a dark Friday evening. We made our across the field and split into two groups. A team of 4 headed over to shift some woodchip and the rest of us tackled some flowerbeds.

The flowerbeds were soon looking more brown than green, with only a few wormy casualties. The woodchip team finished off and helped finish weeding some flowerbeds that had been hiding from us. We just about had time to dig some holes to re-home a couple of trees. Some of us headed to the pub, and others thought that home and a blanket sounded a much better idea.

Oopsies, someone forgot to confirm the task with CYC Rachael, so there was no chicken wire and no Rachael (my bad). So after a quick phone call we had permission to weed the wildlife area instead. The gallant 5 weeded by hand in the drizzle and cold for half an hour, before calling it a day. Well every little helps! (I'll be sure not to have egg on my face next time!) Thanks team!

Edwin Hood of Holgate left the Forest of Sherwood to help the sylvan Shangri-La of Stinky Foot Ryer (AKA York Tiny Forest). Our local legend Becca Maude Marion was awarded the black cape of 50 good deeds - a double award ceremony that deserved chocolate. Friar Tuck and Aidan arrived and the foraging of mulch from Holgate Allotment began. Soon Tristan-a-Dale's trusty truck was filled with bags of wood chip, 2 wheelbarrows and 4 strong GoodGymers as Alastair joined us. Sadly there was no room for Aidan's bike, so he swiftly cycled across town, very nearly beating the wood chip. Once at the Forest we met Hollie who was warmly welcomed and introduced to the fun that is GoodGym. She quickly locked up her bike, donned gloves and headtorch, grabbed a wheelbarrow and got stuck in. Swiftly the heavy bags of chippings were taken from the truck, carried across the wobbly road, loaded into barrows to be pushed through the swamp and up the steep muddy hill to the dark forest. We had a quick look around and were pleased to see tree buds, catkins and signs of life in the oxygenating plants in Lucy's pond. Looking forward to going back very soon to spread the mulch, plant some of the donated dormant trees and enjoy a picnic in good company.