We made great progress this afternoon tidying up the beds and planting a few new plants at Holgate Community Garden. We welcomed Joss and Rebecca to their first Goodgym task. Leanne kindly brought a puncture repair kit so Leanne and David started by mending the puncture in the wheelbarrow tyre which made it a lot easier to dispose of the weeds once we'd pulled them out. Everyone else got to work weeding the beds and pulling out the cornflowers that had died and Joss trimmed along the edges. Amy planted some celeriac seedlings once we had space for them. By the end the beds looked much tidier and there was much more room for the vegetable plants and flowers to grow.

York Pride is a huge event celebrating diversity and the LGBTQ+ community.

This year we helped out by marshalling at the parade. Our first job was unfolding the 50 metre long flag and spreading it down the crowd. There were many happy volunteers to carry it!

We then walked alongside from Parliament Street to the Knavesmire. It was amazing to see so much support on the route.

We arrived at the festival and were given our free wristband, then went our separate ways to explore.

Lovely to see Antonia again, hopefully we'll see you again at another task.

Planet Food, this week we've been there! :)

Tonight's Monday Night Group run saw 22 GG Yorkies tackle an overgrown patch of land in Clifton. But before setting off we welcomed the return of Amy practically fresh off the plane from New Zealand. We also celebrated Pete's 200th Good Deed and gave a big cheer to those who had completed the Yorkshire 3 peaks at the weekend. Give them all a big cheer 💪

The run out tonight was just over 5km out and back so we kept the warm up short and headed straight out with Ed leading the group and Abigail and Laura backmarking. Jenna was our sole cyclist whilst Jane, Michal and Martin met us at the task.

Kristina from the council's eco team gave us the lowdown on tonight's task. The area used to be a play park but had since been left to grow over, to the point that it had started to cover the paths that run through it. Our job was to cut back anything that was growing over the paths and generally make it feel a bit tidier and safe for those that use it as a cut through to the hospital.

Emma armed herself with a pretty mean looking strimmer whilst the rest of the group picked up wire brushes, loppers and shears and soon got to work tackling the overgrown foliage. Although it wasn't always easy going, with Amy struggling to get to grips with her wire brush and later not being able to open a pair of secateurs!

But it wasn't just Amy who was struggling. Emma was keen to get going with the strimmer, but wasn't too sure about where to put the rather large battery pack that came with it. Fortunately help was on hand in the form of Abigail who was looking for a mote gentle job to keep her busy, and was more than happy to act as the battery pack carrier, sort of like the GG version of a flower girl at a wedding carrying the brides dress

Before too long the task was completed and we had a quick thank you from local resident Rebecca who was delighted with the progress that we'd made. It was then off to Clarence Gardens, scene of many previous GG tasks, for tonight's fitness session

Since Amy T had been away for 2 and a half years the fitness was all about getting to know each other a bit better. The group ran around in a circle and then came into the middle if they had done the thing that Ed shouted out. We then chose someone to tell us a bit more about that thing. In true GG York fashion, we had more people who had a piece of work published than those that had tattoos but we still heard about the meaning behind a couple of Issy's tattoos as well as learning a bit of Urdu from Pete and being suitably impressed by the various celebrities that our crew had met. Although it's possible Jane's UFO sighting during a Radiohead concert may have been more to do with the light show than flying saucers!

It was then back to base but not before wishing Pete, Laura and Cara a happy birthday with some traditional birthday squats.

We've also had a special thank you from the council for our help across the city. GoodGym has been a huge contributor across multiple projects, so it was fab to do our fitness sesh right in front of a flourishing wildflower garden that wouldn't be the there without us.

See you all next week when we'll be back to West Bank Park

An impressive turnout of 19 GG Yorkies (and 1 GG Geordie) braved the less than impressive bank holiday weather to help St Nicks look after the green spaces on down by the river on New Walk. Before setting off we welcomed Issy along to her first GoodGym outing and Christine to her first task although she has been a regular at socials for some time. Give them both a massive cheer 🎉

We also had the honour of being joined by Aimee from GG Newcastle who came bearing the Golden Trowel, which is awarded to the most good GoodGym area during the January Challenge. So after a quick warm up featuring our favourite seasonings/sauces we posed for some photos with the trowel before heading on our way to the task 🏆

Tristan led a longer run, whilst Vicky led the more direct route with Ed and Rich making up the walking group. Upon arriving at New Walk were met by task owner Maeve who set the group to work armed with scythes, rakes and shovels in order to remove dock plants and cut back some of the nettles. GGer Martin also met us at the task and soon got to work digging up some of the bigger plants.

The team of GGers weren't the only ones foolish enough to be out in the rain by the river and we soon attracted the attention of lots of small bitey insects. Fortunately David was on hand with some bug spray to keep us all from getting too badly bitten.

Sheets of tarpaulin and sacks were soon getting full of weeds and getting shuttled back and forth to the dumping area which was a hood few hundred metres further down the path. Perfect for getting some more distance in those legs!

With time running out Maeve spotted a few larger docks which needed particular attention from our own Dock King, Martin who tackled them with ease before Michael and Hannah dragged the last tarp away. Whilst waiting for them to return we had plenty of time to celebrate Leanne's Birthday with some happy birthday squats, as is tradition. We may have also added an extra syllable to Leanne's name just to sneak a bonus squat in.

Happy birthday dear Le-a-anne

Then it was off to Vicky's fitness sesh which involved various exercises located at intervals on the slightly hilly Blue Bridge Lane. Poor Aimee had never come across a spotty dog before, and I'm still not entirely sure she knows what it is after being shown by GG's least rhythmic member, Tristan!

We then posed for a photo on Blue Bridge before all running back together, followed by walkers Ed and Rich

Great turnout for our social run at Kirkham Priory.

Pete led out a 12k route, Michael a 8k and Vicky a 5k. Thank you to the run leaders and to Rich for the route planning.

All the group had an enjoyable session in the lovely countryside and some of Michael's group even managed a quick dip in the river afterwards. Unfortunately I can't include the quote from him afterwards.

We then assembled at the Stone Trough pub for some grub before heading home