Last night 9 Good Doers walked and ran 3km to help Tunstall Nursery fill up the sand pit and tidy up the outside play area.

We welcomed Rachel and Lucia for their first runs with Good Gym today after hearing about us through their work place. It was a lovely sunny evening and we warmed up by each suggesting a different exercise to do. Feeling ready, we headed off on our gentle 1.5km run to meet the walkers and staff at the Nursery. They were very pleased to see us as there were two big bags of sand which needed to be moved to the sand pit at the back of the Nursery.

We split into two teams with one group sweeping up the old sand and stones from the play area to make a safe surface for the children to play on. And it is true sand really does get everywhere! After a lot of hard work sweeping the play area was transformed, looking clean and tidy for the children to play in (and most likely make some more mess!) tomorrow. It was a very enjoyable task and therapeutic to see the difference we could make with our brooms. The other team took up the shovels and began moving the sand from the large bags in the car park into the wheel barrow and then round the back to sand pit. A definite arm work out! After a few run ins with some rather large spiders who had made the sand bags their home, there was soon an efficient system in place and the sand pit was full in no time.

Looking around it was clear to see the work we had done! Esther was even able to show us how a planter we had moved on our last task there was now full of potatoes and strawberries the children are growing.

Next week, we will be heading to Park Hill to give some help putting up some more of the Peace Poles. Sign up Here to take part!

Last night ran 2.95 miles (Liz a gentle reminder to switch your area to Croydon, Brent’s loss our gain and we need those miles and deeds this month) to and from Tunstall nursery, despite the showers of rain and constant drizzle that tried to derailed our second outing of the year.

Last week we were supposed to attend Tunstall however due to unforeseen circumstances our task was cancelled, so when Ester reached out asking if we could attend this week we were more than happy to oblige.

The task was to clear an area in the grounds of the nursery that was unused, to turn the space into an area for the forest school, so the children could go out and have a nice messy play area.

Glad I’m not there parents or one could say this is a nice opportunity for the parents to put their detergents to the test.

There were some tyres scattered around an area that looked like the hill in the Teletubbies, which Ollie and Steph, rolled away to a little corner that was identified for them.

Last night in the pouring rain 7 members from good gym Croydon rocked up at tunstal nursery to assist them in shifting two tons of sand into their sand pit.

The elements was against us from the start, as the sand was wet from the downpour earlier in the day and to make matters worst we only had one wheelbarrow a few buckets and some beach spades. One could say the sand along with the apparatuses available was perfect for building sand castles but it wasn’t that sort of party.

With the rain pouring down on our backs we all got stuck in trying to shift as much sand as we could. Just as we had shifted 3/4 ton of one bag the ladies at the nursery called it time as we had filled the sand pit to the level they wanted. So much for our plan of trying to group lift the remaining 1/4 ton of sand into the wheel barrow to at least completely decant one bag.

Despite the fact our run was a short one we sure we managed to get a lot of steps in due to the size of the buckets all in all although it rained we managed to get a full workout. The evidence was there to see with the members of the group who had glasses on steamed up from the heat they generated on their many trips to and from the sandpit or just blinded by the rain drops. Either way we all had a good time.

To round off the night participants of the big half was awarded with special medals by Karim, there were also special medals for our supporting members too.

Next week we’ll be heading over to Parkhill to work on the community mural, calling all you painters and want to be painters sign up here it’s going to be a colourful one.

Today we started off with five from our start location but we knew by the time we got to the task our numbers would multiply as others had sent messages to say they would meet up at the task.

After a little nattering finding out about our weekend, walking holiday and period of sickness that made some unable to join us on previous weeks, we headed over to Ruskin square car park for our warm up before setting off on our jog to the task.

Today we were heading over to Tunstall Nursery School to help with tidying up the playground and surrounding area. As we approach the gate we could see someone running toward us in a red t-shirt, to our surprise it was Magda, she has been out injured for some time so seeing her back jogging was welcomed. After greeting her we all went inside the nursery where Jane was awaiting g our arrival. She informed us of the various tasks she had for us to do, there was a huge tyre that needed to be moved, the area for their wild school was overgrown and needed to be cleared, the playground needed to be swept.

As we set about working on the various task we were joined by Ros, Nicola and Karim, it was just a passing visit for Karim as he lives local and although currently under doctors orders of no exercise, he missed us so the took a stroll down to say hello and fill us in on how his operation went before heading back to his sick bed.

While speaking to Jane we found out that this was going to be her last time with us at the nursery as she was retiring, her plans in no particular order was to visit friends she has not seen in over 20 years, visit Iceland, Scotland and Ireland while also trying to find herself a nice little place to call home in the South West of England.

We finished all the task that was there for us bid Jane our farewell and headed back to solutions.

Don't forget to sign up for next weeks group run here.

On Tuesday 8 runners ran 2km to spruce up the children's outside play area at Tunstall Nursery.

After several sunny days, the wind was out tonight making it a little bit cooler but we were all very glad that we are back to doing evening tasks in daylight! As we warmed up we made guesses as to what we might be doing tonight at the task, then we headed off on the longer route to the task to see who would be right! Jane met us and took us through to the play area where she had several tasks lined up for us. Magda, Hannah and Paul picked up the brooms and began sweeping up to keep the play area clear of leaves and it was soon full of lots of little piles for Ingrid to tidy into the dustpan. Conroy, Steph and Ros took the wheel barrow and set to topping up the sand pit with fresh sand. Kate and Nikki began to help Jane with dismantling a chain bridge in the play area as the supports had become rotten. The pins holding it together were pretty solid though and after a bit of ingenuity we were able to wrestle it apart and make the area a safe and fun place for the children to play.

Check out the website for community missions listed for the weekend and the group run next Tuesday!

Last night 10 Good Gym members ran 3km to Tunstall Nursery to tidy up the outside area ready for spring.

It was a drizzly night but we all wrapped up for the weather headed out for our run to the nursery. Arriving we met with Jane who was pleased to see so many of us. Jane led us through to the outside space (which was partially undercover!) and we began clearing up. It was suprisingly tidy! After beating the sand from the play pit out of the door mat and sweeping up some loose leaves we made quick progress on the task and Jane was pleased with our end results. Jane told us a little

After watching a lightening strike we decided to head straight to our social for pancakes and churros at Box Park.

Next week will be International Women's Day and we will be Wondering Along the Boulevard to help ECCO get ready for spring.