Another session helping Tang Hall Library raise some funds! While setting up the book sale, Amy appreciated some wise advice on How to Get your Teacher Ready for School, while Joanna found some Sweet treats and Jenna fell Hook, Line and Singer for a tuneful tome. Not sure what Lucy was thinking though...

...but we were very efficient and got the yard tidied before the hour was up, clearing up planters to be filled with some plants in the spring and generally tidying around the edge of the space. Well done team!

The January challenge is officially over and despite the monumental efforts of everyone at GG York, we still had an impressive 20 legends turn up for tonight's session, inverting soil at Millennium Field.

Before we set off we awarded the prestigious January GoodGymer of the month award to the super-human Michael who ran a ridiculous amount of KMs whilst also completing a remarkable 23 good deeds. Top effort Michael, give that man plenty of cheers 🍻

We then set off to Millennium Field with Ed leading the run out and Jenna, Laura and Abigail as our backmarkers. Those at the front got a bit too far ahead so did some very questionable wall sits whilst they waited for the rest of the gang to catch up! And then we arrived at the task to be greeted by Maeve and Nicola from St Nicks.

Nicola stole Mitch, Michael, Martin and Stef (the Mmms for short) to do some forking compost work, whilst everyone else joined Maeve at the South end of the field to start digging out clumps of soil and then flipping it over, ready for wildflower seed to be spread on top.

You can tell a lot about someone by how they invert soil - Vicky

The instruction was to dig out random areas but that didn't stop some GoodGymers from getting quite artistic with their inverting. Ben created two very neat connecting squares, whilst James went for quantity over quality and had dug out the biggest patch by far, if not the neatest!

The task was soon complete and the final ask was to spread the seed around on top of the patches we had just dug out, before trampling them down. We then set off and picked up the Mmms en route to a fitness session on the other side of the bridge

We used the seating area next to Rowntree Park to do a series of exercises followed by a quick dash up the stairs and a sprint round to do it all over again. Mitch was like a man possessed, completing 6 full sets, with Jane not too far behind as our leading lady

It was then time for the brief jog back to CVS complete with a few nore wall sits along the way!

Tonight was a very exciting night!

We had a great turnout for the last group run of January and smashed our January Challenge target.

We had two tasks going on. Rich led a group to St Chad’s scout hut with Clair bringing up the rear. This is what they got up to-

10 intrepid GGs, less hungry for fame, headed a little further over to St Chad's Scout Hut where they were set to work by Christine and Aidan clearing brambles. David pointed to a patch he'd cleared 18 months earlier that had run wild again. Clearly the task that keeps on giving. Nevertheless with a few secateurs and a couple of barrows we'd made a bit of a dent in the undergrowth and a sizable pile of prickles for the unwary. We then headed over to Millthorpe School to meet the others and the film crew for the fitness session.

The other group headed over to Wild Things Forest School where we were met by ITN news who wanted to do a piece about goodgym. We were kept busy shifting logs, big and small, spreading woodchip and breaking up stuff. This was all filmed along with interviews with Ed, Amy,Nick and Leanne from goodgym, and Emma from Wild Things Forest School, who all talked about how wonderful goodgym York is.

At the end of the session both groups joined up for a tabata session - 20 seconds of hard work with 10 second rest. This included the usual exercises but was adapted so the group got to can can, as requested!

We finished by running back to base waving at the camera as we passed. When we arrived back we were well rewarded for our 700m run with not one, not two, but three lots of baking, courtesy of Babs, Carl and Paul Kelly.

We now need to wait a few weeks until the ITN news is aired and we will all be famous!

6 keen goodgymer's met on an pleasant tuesday evening for some soil inversion and wild-flower sowing. After a quick demonstration from St Nick's Maeve, and the realisation that yes it is really is as simple as it sounds... we got to work!

Some honest good work was done tonight with Nikki not letting herself have a biscuit break until her square was complete and a PK fitting in an extra row even when we were all finished up.

Great work on the turfing gang - now you all deserve a biscuit or five!

A hardy bunch of GG Yorkies helped out local running club York Knavesmire Harriers once again at their annual Brass Monkey half marathon. A large contingent were on a water station and had to contend with cold fingers in thin plastic gloves 🥶 A few of us were marshalling at the start/finish and out on the course, cheering and ringing the cowbells. All were very much appreciated by the 2000 runners.