It's our Birthday!

To celebrate GoodGym Oxford being 6 years old a bevy of GoodGymers got together at County Hall. Of course we had to include a Good Deed in our birthday celebrations (no Wednesday is complete without one), so we packaged up 3 boxes of old trainers to send to JogOn for repurposing and recycling. These had been collected up from friends, family and colleagues over the previous few weeks, saving them from going to landfill.

With 26 GoodGymers in attendance that task was complete in record time, leaving us the rest of the evening to chat over drinks and nibbles, reminiscing about the past 6 years and speculating about what the future might bring.

Our 6 year Good Deed count is 8038. Happy Birthday to Us!

A couple of weeks ago we spent our evening running and walking around Oxford pinning up posters recruiting letter writers for 'From Me to You' - a charity focused on reducing loneliness in people receiving treatment for cancer. This week we decided to try writing our own letters.

Reading through the tips and guidance on how to approach writing our letters, we quickly put pen to paper, ending up with a beautifully eclectic mix of missives. Creativity shone through with poems and games included, plus anecdotes about daily life etc. It was really interesting to consider what to write to a total stranger, and easier than we thought it would be once you start.

Find out more about writing your own letters here.

Happy Birthday Bethan. Thank you for baking a lovely cake Alice.

Nothing focuses the mind on how hard it must be to be homeless like freezing temperatures. And so, in the bitter chill, we did our first January group session distributing leaflets around North Oxford for The Porch day centre's fundraising appeal.

The appeal has raised £30,000 so far, which is about 1/10 of what they need to keep the doors open all year. The Porch provide help towards gaining employment, laundry, hot showers, mental health support, and warm food.

Spotted while leafleting:
* Blue Plaque
* "The Cat is Irrational" door sticker
* Keys left in front door (posted back through the letterbox)
* Beautiful stained glass doors and windows
* Tapestry making
* Ice galore
* Christmas lights

Happy New Year everyone!