Today we were back to see Pat at one of our favourite regular task sites, the wonderful Greenhouse Project on Lodge Lane, which is a multi-cultural early years education centre focused on play, arts and nature. We have helped out there in a variety of ways over the years including mulching, cleaning, litterpicking, pruning, weeding, and even sticking leaves to a hedge, but tonight was our lovely annual task of gift wrapping presents for the local children who attend the Greenhouse. As it usually is, this was our last task of the year, and a treat to be indoors at this time of year for a cosy, festive evening fuelled by mince pies and full of chatter and good cheer.

With such lovely vibes the gift wrapping is always a very popular task, and this year we outdid ourselves with nineteen attendees including not one, not two but three new members turning out for their first task - welcome Craig, Tsitsi and Saoirse! We weren't even sure if we would all fit into the one room but luckily everyone managed to squeeze in to find a big pile of toys, games, craft sets and art supplies waiting to be wrapped. With so many keen volunteers we had all of the gifts wrapped and labelled super quickly, leaving plenty of time for chatting and catching up before the end of the session. Steph H showed us a video of her performing her excellent solo at the wonderful Choir With No Name Christmas gig a few days ago. Lucien and I will be leaving Liverpool at Christmas time and although we will definitely be back to visit - and hopefully soon - we aren't sure when or even if we will be back to live, so the group gave us a lovely send-off at what could be our last task for a while with a very thoughtful card and present, and a beautiful speech given by Sallyann. We will miss you all so much!

On this bittersweet note we all said our goodbyes, wishing everyone a happy holiday, and set off into the cold outside, warmed from the inside by the happy glow of another year of doing great things as part of an amazing community.

On a particularly humid Monday, a crew of Liverpool Good Gymers headed to The Greenhouse Community Centre on Lodge Lane with the aim of doing some good! Heetu led the run from the suitcases with her usual enthusiasm, meeting others at the task. Sian even perserved with a broken single-pedal bike to get there on time!! We were all very excited to find out that this tasked marked 150(!!!) good deeds performed by Sally Ann!! A fantastic achievement, truly worth celebrating. So grateful and proud to have her as part of Good Gym Liverpool. Some of the team soon got stuck in weeding around the greenhouse centre whilst others started the arduous task of shoveling and transporting mulch to various areas around the building. By the end of the task a large part of the grounds was well-weeded and covered with an even level of mulch. Some of the team had also managed to litter pick the surrounding area, helped by Sam, a member of the local community. At the end of the session, the grounds were looking particularly tidy and we were all pleased to have helped out and had some exercise doing so. Well done to all.

Santa said he loves coming to Lodge Lane because he loves getting a shawarma from the Lodge Lane Bakery. He was chatting to Pat from the Greenhouse project when we arrived, delivering a few extra presents and seeing the toys that had been donated.

The Greenhouse Project enables children, young people and their communities to access support. They offer indoor and outdoor activities and every Christmas every child gets a gift. It’s really special and the most amazing, wholesome, festive good gym community mission in the calendar.

Good Gymers help to wrap all the presents. Pat said that this year they were short on gifts and Santa had no more in his sack as they were still in production at the North Pole so Good Gymers came to the rescue, we arrived with games, crafts and toys and then there were more than enough gifts for every child.

We bought snacks to enjoy and played Christmas songs as we wrapped away. Heetu was the quality control ensuring we didn’t waste any paper. Ema, our area coordinator was ill so couldn’t make it but she sent all the Good Gymers gifts to say thank you for the year which was a lovely surprise. Santa also gave us some mince pies that had been baked by Mrs Claus.

The wrapping production line meant that we were finished well before the end of the session. We said goodbye to Pat and Santa feeling as festive as can be!

This week we were back at The Greenhouse project with a slightly less festive task than last time - slotting leaves back onto the hedge outside. Not as strange as it sounds! The artificial hedge seems to shed it leaves like the real thing so we were tasked with replacing the leaves to cover some of the balder spots.

As there were a good bunch of us, we split into two teams, one team tackling the hedge outside and the other scrubbing some chairs inside. The outside team were quickly finished and came inside to lend a hand.

After a good scrub the chairs were gleaming! Sadly we forgot to get a before picture, so you don't get the full effect, but we certainly left the place a little brighter.

Well done everyone and particularly to Dike who came on his way to work. That's true goodgym dedication!

This week three goodgymmers ran through the rain to one of our familiar haunts, The Greenhouse Project on Lodge Lane.

We met 7 more goodgymmers there and quickly got to work.

The task this week was cleaning the walls. This might not sound like much, but with a nursery full of budding artists, it was no mean feat. Turns out toothpaste does remove crayon!

Armed with buckets and sponges, we managed to get both rooms and the hallway spick and span - well done to everyone! Special shout out goes to Mo for completing his first task. Lovely to have you on board and hope to see you again soon!

Well done all, hopefully we'll be back at the Greenhouse Project soon to help out with their forest school!

There was much to celebrate on a dark Monday evening as 16 Goodgymmers headed back to the Greenhouse Project. We were wrapping Christmas presents for the centre’s children ahead the big day on the 25th… on our 25th session at the Greenhouse Project!

The centre takes donations to ensure all their children receive a present this Christmas, and the large team quickly got to work ensuring they were all wrapped and labeled. With so many pairs of hands making quick work of the task, attention quickly turned to the buffet table, where everyone had brought mince pies, chocolates and snacks to share to celebrate the festive season and the fact we’re well and truly a part of the fabric at the fantastic Greenhouse Project, having helped out regularly since 2018.

With some quick calculations, it was confirmed those present had a combined total of a whopping 1097 tasks! Ranging right across the scale from a new goodgymmers very first task (welcome Rebecca!) all the way up to veteran Jo phenomenal 178th task! Plus we were delighted to celebrate Emma 100th task – well done you!

Our fabulous area activator Ema was, for once, lost for words when presented with a Christmas gift from the Liverpool Goodgym team, who were adamant she deserved a treat to thank her for all her tireless hard work over the year. Thank you Ema and Happy Christmas!

All in all it was a fabulously festive evening and shows just how much we can achieve when we work together. So whether it’s your first task or your 100th, everyone is welcome at Goodgym and each person really does make a difference to their local community.