Oh what a wonderful start to the week, a good two hour mission to help our old friends at Big Moose. They needed a bit of a spruce up and we were only to happy to help, we can't promise a professional job but it will be full of love and determination.

We were called by Jeff who wondered if we would take on the task of helping to paint the ceiling in the cafe, only ever eager to help Michael jumped at the chance. After a few discussions we finally found a suitable date and the sign-ups came without problem.

So, 10 goodgymers made their way on a Monday to help and get all speckled in paint. We met Rachel who manages Big Moose, they showed us where we could help

• The ceiling we already knew about
• The wall going up the stairs
• The toilet walls to tidy up

Croeso, Welcome Phoebe, we hope you enjoy the first sessions with goodgym.

We let Rachel head out for their Monday Big Moose run with their group, a nice 5km whilst we got to work. Michael dished out the equipment and filled the trays with paint, The group were going to tackle the ceiling and stairs, and once they were happy and going Michael made their way to tackle the toilet.

It's fair to say that Paint was EVERYWHERE, thankfully it was easy to remove from the floor with a damp cloth as Michael frantically scrubbed like a scene from Karate Kid

oooh i feel a fact session coming up........

FACT TIME

What do you know about a Moose?

• The flap of skin under a moose’s chin is called a bell.
• Moose are also called rubber-nosed swamp donkeys.
• Moose calves can outrun a human by the time they’re five days old.
• A moose can kick in any direction with its front hooves.

And finally......Big Moose FACTS

• They employ, train and mentor people who’ve experienced homelessness and people who have struggled with their mental health.
• They hold mental health awareness evenings with knowledgeable speakers and encourage the audience to start and continue those conversations.
• They provide free or discounted counselling for our people with an amazing counsellor.
• They make some AMAZING cakes - take a look here
• They are well worth a visit for some food and drink as they strive to leave the World better than we found it.
• Check them out https://www.bigmoosecoffeecompany.co/ - We at Goodgym Cardiff love them!

Before our Group Run on Tuesday, a number of GoodGym runners came to help out our amazing friends at bigmoose! A few of us braved the cold and promoted the amazing coffeeshop to people passing by on Queen street - energetically talking to strangers about the amazing work that Bigmoose does!

On the inside - we got to work on making sure it was clean and tidy - and everything was ready for a busy day of trading for them tomorrow. There were areas that needed a proper scrub and it looked so great afterwards! It's always great to help out people who help us! :)

The weekend before Christmas, loads of us from GoodGym Cardiff and the Vale made our way to Cyncoed Campus - to the NIACS centre.

This wasn't a usual mission though - we were there to volunteer and help many disabled children to complete a triathlon! It was probably one of the best Good Deeds we've done!

With full use of the track for cycling/running and the pool for swimming, we started with the brief from some of the most inspirational people we work with - Chloe and Jeff - from Big Moose.

Feeling super motivated, we immediately got to it (After a few coffees with Mikey serving them) - with some of us being part of the cheer squad and some of us volunteering with the children.

We definitely got our training in - after being partnered with the children - as we did countless laps with them.

And what an amazing time it was...

Just seeing their smiles reach from ear to ear and the families at the brink of crying from happiness... it made it all worth it for us.

We use sports to help ourselves and others through GoodGym. But with the BigMoose Super Tri - we helped those disabled people through our passion for sports.

This mission gave an early Christmas present to those disabled children who loved every second of our company and our help to make them achieve a Triathlon. Heart reacts only please.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!... Especially when 30 GoodGym runners show up to get fit and do good in Cardiff

Only 8 sleeps left until Christmas! Isn't that exciting? At GoodGym Cardiff it still feels like we had a big Christmas present early, winning the Getting Wales Active award!

To start the night we did a warm up and said what our favourite thing about Christmas was. Some people said presents, some said Christmas dinners and others said spending time with family.

We acknowledged achievements / goings on over the past week, which included:

• Community Mission to help erect a tent at the Samye Foundation
• Community Mission to help paint a flat ready for Refugees to move in
• Nathan and Ellen completed a mission to help an older person!
• Hike up Pen Y Fan!
• A social outing to Winter Wonderland ice skating
• On Saturday 36 of us celebrated Christmas at the GoodGym Cardiff Christmas party at The Classroom

First good deeds of the night

The walking group walked around town, spreading Christmas cheer for all to hear. They were handing out Christmas cards to members of the public saying "Merry Christmas". They reported a mixed response and some people thought there was a catch! There was no catch and we just wanted to make people smile :).

Whilst the walking talking group were handing out Christmas Cards in town, the runners, with presents in arms - quite literally -were heading over to Nightingale House to deliver gifts to the residents. Sophie Hastings, a GoodGym runner, had her work kindly donate gifts this year and we got to run them to Nightingale House.

Onto the next good deed of the night

We arrived back to Big Moose about 7.25pm. Now was the time to do another good deed of the night! Matt, a lovely employee of Big Moose, gave us lots of tasks that the charity needed our help with. Tasks we helped with included:

• Baking cookies and biscuits
• Making framed certificates for the attendees of the Big Moose Supertri event
• Putting lush products and framed certificates inside goodie bags
• Sorting and stock counting Big Moose Merchandise
• Giving Big Moose a touch up of paint to keep it looking fabulous!

Matt couldn't believe the speed at which we worked. It was safe to say we were very busy efficient GoodGym elves.

** Post run**

After the evenings events we headed to the Glassworks for a social drink of water, coffee and for some something stronger Ahem Two pint tuesday for some...

Well done tonight. It was our final group run of the year and boy did we go out with a bang! Nightingale House were so grateful for the gifts... we were more than 3 kings bringing gold frankincense and myrrh that's for sure! Big Moose were immensely thankful for our help (Matt was in disbelief with how much we got done and how quickly we did it). The members of the public who have received cards wishing them a Merry Christmas, well who knows, we may have brightened someones Christmas... we may even be the only person wishing them a Merry Christmas - we may never know.

Happy New Year everyone - You are the best x

---

Tweet off Leaderboard 2020

There was a special opportunity for one runner to get ahead on the 2020 tweet off leaderboard. The competition was fierce. Can Lucy retain the tweet off crown? Only time we will tell. The winner tonight however was Marie! A huge well done. The scores are as follows:

• MOH - 1

A Choir-t night in

Was there a moose, loose about this hoose tonight? Or was it more a case of GoodGym Cardiff loose to spruce the hoose of our good friends the Big Moose Coffee co.

Instead of a run out to a task this evening, we had the honour of supporting our amazing hosts Big Moose with some painting, shifting and general freshening up of the cafe area. Did you know they’ve been going since March last year, supporting people who are homeless or disadvantaged to get back into work and society.

It’s a testament to their success and the popularity of the place that the walls already need a lick of paint to bring the sparkle back. This is where we come in! But first, once again we were required to put on our game faces and practice our running form for the cameras as our very own Rosie was being filmed as part of a programme about a community choir. While Rosie chatted with presenter Mark and explained how she got involved, the rest of us did our best to not look at the cameras and look as cool as possible dodging the good people of Cardiff heading home or out on the town. And gosh were there plenty of us - maybe it was knowing we’d be filmed that meant we were able to choral 31 people together for tonight’s session, including Ted, Marie and Immy who were attending for the first time and Maya who is back after her placement year in Africa.

With no run needed to get to the task, Ben put his famed planning skills to good use, sending half of us out for a gentle run and walk around Cardiff while the other half got stuck into painting walls and skirting boards, soundtracked by DJ Ben’s Spotify favourites. In no time place was beginning to gleam white, with surprisingly little paint spilt on floors, trainers or brand new GoodGym tops.

Not wishing to hog all the limelight, the first group moved on to clearing the outdoor area and filling the skip outside before welcoming back their running comrades and hitting the streets themselves for a spritely jaunt in the pouring rain, led by Mikey.

By now the painting was in full swing. No patch of wall or cladding was safe from eager GoodGymers wielding loaded paint brushes. By the time the second running group squelched their way back to the coffee house, it felt like the whole place was born anew - we knew it would be all white on the night.

Group photos taken, equipment packed away and new friends made, we said our farewells with the satisfaction of knowing we’d supported a valued partner who has so generously hosted our weekly group runs.

Next week it will be business as usual as we head out to Samye Foundation to do some more decorating, perhaps with a halloween theme? Make sure you sign up and tell all your friends.

The Tweet Off

Marie won the tweet off this evening. We caught Marie for a brief interview afterwards. She said "I'd like to thank my friends and my family."

• LM 11
• MO 7
• EW 5
• DRN 4
• MG 4
• NS 2
• MJ 2
• BA 1
• NI 1
• AG 1
• WD 1