Jane from our Goodgym team had signed up before we even knew about this event!

MyTime carers are a small local charity supporting young carers.

A bit from the website: With an educational approach driven by charitable action, our mission is to level the playing field for young carers by providing them with the support, friendship and opportunities that every child deserves. There are an estimated 700,000 young carers in the UK.You're a young carer if you're under 18 and help to look after a family member with a disability, illness, mental health condition or drug or alcohol problem.

It was an absolutely hideous weather day, as the marshalls arrived the rain was pouring in and attempt made to keep the marque up! Thankfully after 5pm, before the run started, there was a break in weather overall to allow the event to continue.

Let's hope the charity can put on many more events going forward!

No sign of Ciara as runners bundled into Daveena's cafe around 6.20pm ready for another night of it!

Great to welcome back from holidays Jane and Patricia who both only got back in the last 48 hours from exotic locations (well Iceland and Eastern Europe...!)

It was also super to see Ali join us again tonight after a few weeks break - Ali is very much part of the Goodgym family here and has been missed! Nicola you are definitely rocking that Goodgym top!

Briefing was a little earlier at 6.25pm due to the longer run with a quick warm up on the garage forecourt before heading up North Road. Marie led the group on the up along with Tim who is looking pretty strong at the moment!

The only way really was up, North Road followed by Ringwood Road and onto the School off Herbert Avenue. It was the first time we have visited Manorside and it was great that the on site manager, Jay lives next door to the school to greet us at the task!

Jay had a skip ready and a load of different waste to be collected from various parts of the area to all go in it. Splitting off into sections there was a team on plastics. Turns out they were pretty long - I have seen the footage and Ali you really did get the 'long' straw when you carried it over! Sian took a serious view on the task in hand - and jumped quickly into the empty skip, attempting to ensure all items were placed in order. That was forgotten around half way through when bits of carpet, leaking containers and old toys were getting launched at her feet!

It was pretty dark at the school but random items from various places were all getting thrown into the skip - although on reflection we cold have done with some thicker gloves for a few items. One small casualty was Robert and his finger but it was still attached on leaving and no signs of blood so all good I hope!

Jay let us into the school to get cleaned up, although sign of the hard work and earning of our stripes in mud! The half an hour was already up but the skip was full and all items inside it. Jay was a happy site manager and I hope we can support the school again in the future.

Thanks to Patricia for taking the back marker post - it was good to be on the down on the way back - such a wind chill had appeared so we kept moving to return back to base for a quick stretch!

Tonight we also had an open social for anyone who wanted to come - so onto the local Sloop 8 of us went! We will be making it a bi-monthly or so affair so Easter will be the next one!

Ps Thanks to Liz for extra photos including the return of the random Kettle!

It was a great turn out as 19 of us huddled into Daveena's cafe at 6.30pm tonight.

It was so lovely to see two new faces join us - Sarah and Ella. So fab to have you along ladies!

Sarah is in the process of setting up a new run group that we will fully support here at Goodgym Poole. It is Run, Talk, Run. The concept is that a group meets for a 5km run (or a 2km walk) to have a chance to chat to others to improve their mental health. It will be on a Monday in Creekmoor so spread the word! We hope we can work together with the group in the future. As we all secretly know - our mental health is really improved by feeling part of the community at Goodgym and even more so when we feel we are making a difference in our community as well as looking after our health. We all have our own 'why' for coming to Goodgym and what it offers us! (What's your why?)

Onto tonight's run - A quick warm up on the forecourt before taking on the mound of opportunity that is Fernside Road! Onwards to Ringwood Road and another opportunity! We found the small path that leads to Dorchester Road and it was a chance for a bit of form coaching. Each person had to think of an area of form they need to work on and run the distance (with acceleration / deceleration) working on that form. So perhaps standing tall or using those arms or just working a bit of head up. After 1 repeat, the scores were in. Either we are all terribly British or not trying hard enough as scores of 5/6 were given to themselves! Well practice makes perfect and after 3 of them the scores were more of an 8 so on the right path.

Onto the school where we have been over the past few months with painting, gardening and even moving a library of books around! Tonights task came with the promise of stickering and in a bizarre way this had been a real draw! We were met again by the dedicated Mrs Armstrong (Head Teacher) and Mr Thomas (Deputy) with a big stack of stickers with labels for books for a new reading programme. Sounds simple enough! However as we all quickly discovered, there was no order on the sheets so each time we had to go through the lists and try and find a book in the entire library with often little idea where it actually was! Well this has got to be our most frustrating task to date - it was a bit of a needle in haystack for some of the books! Elizabeth suggested another way to try it - call out authors on the shelf and like a game of bingo we could match to our sheets. This worked for a few but it was still not moving very fast. In the end we settled for calling out popular authors or books and seeing who could help. Sadly we left the school, with many sheets barely touched as we could not find them! Nicola topped the leader board with 8 books found and stickered! Tim was heard loudly saying he was 'looking for bad girls' which I hope he found before we had to go, whilst in the depths of despair at lack of progress, Richard was looking for a book on euthanasia! Fiona who has hidden knowledge and background - knew a fair bit about how libraries run so was more helpful than many of us wondering aimlessly looking for a random book we had never heard of! Time ticked on and Sarah asked me if we had to stay till they were all done - It would have been a very long night!

We decided to give it a end point and took our lack of satisfaction of not completing out into the fresh air, for a quick run back to base. We left on the promise to return if we can help further! Leaving behind Mrs Armstrong and Mr Thomas scratching their heads at the system that had been created!

Tonight was Poole Goodgym's first flyer drop!

It was great to welcome Andrew to our Tuesday runs, he joined us on Sunday, having been brought along by Christine, for our starter session and was back already - having already run this morning!

We also welcomed into the group, Anthony, Maria' husband, great to have you along Anthony!

Another new person (!) to join us finally was Sarah. We know it is pretty tricky you making it down to us, so pleased you could finally make a session! Hope you can join us again in future.

It felt bitter out there tonight so a warm up was in fact a run to start to get us all going. Richard was on a bit of a mission and kept us moving in the direction of Oakdale, passing Oakdale Runners along the way! However note to teach Richard how to Hopskotch - not dance! :)

Great to have Nicola join us for only the second time in 6 months or so, we hope to see more of you in future!

Just a note about Dorset Reclaim - They provide furniture for those who need it as low prices, they also make items and recycle old furniture to sell on the waste - eg wood chippings! None of us were fully aware of all what they do so a leaflet drop is really beneficial to spread the word! Go and check out the warehouse if you can!

Onto Stanley Green road and into two teams who were given equal amount of leaflets. 7 people per team, 1 team each side of road! It sounds simple, but there are a lot of side roads, empty spots of no houses, flats you cannot access and Closes that run into another Close! (Got that?!)! Onto the loop that is Christopher Crescent, despite a few moments when we lost one of the groups, a full circuit was done with all side roads and Preston Road.

Along Stanley Green Road again when leaflets was moved around till piles were less - Left and Right sides all gone now as we worked as a full team - finishing along Palmer Road till all leaflets were finished!

Sadly we don't know how many that was as leaflets had not been counted but let's say several hundred! Phew!

Learning points - long roads are best, have a leaflet count first and look at how we can compete a bit more - In the words of Patricia, we are all winners tonight!

It was great timing as we could head back to base for 7.50pm having run pretty much continuous for 7km+!

Home for a well deserved cuppa I'd say!

What a change from last week!

It was dry, crisp and even a little icy tonight as we all met inside the cafe, those that came last week just a little smug against those that bailed due to pretty horrendous weather! (Tim you had that look!:)

First off - Great to be joined by a fellow runner Marie who is new to Poole but not new to Goodgym! Marie has run some good deeds already up in London so we are really pleased she has looked us up here in Poole. We hope you come again soon to join us all!

We were really pleased to be able to return again to St Mary's School - each time we have had great tasks and we had no real details of this one so it was hotly anticipated!

But first there was 30 mins for a run and some warming up to be done! Onto the back streets of Heckford Park for some running! Having found a nice dark block - we got to go round it a few times. Job Done! All about adding those little bits of speed in! Sarah then took us around the dark back streets of Poole till we appeared at a pitch black alley way she assured us was our way to the school. Thankfully she was the local of these parts and we appeared just outside the school a few minutes past 7 where Andrea was waiting for us having taken a shorter run / walk.

This week we were met by Mr Simon Thomas, acting Deputy Head of the school. We were delighted to hear that we were in fact working in the library tonight to move books. It sounded simple - empty all books off shelves, move cupboards, put books back on shelves! Just with a little rule to follow - the books must go back EXACTLY in the order they were originally in! Two teams were formed and it was clear thatSian had found her calling with her organisational skills! 4 shelves to each bookcase and each bookcase was a triple case. A couple of tables to place books on - stacked high, low and to the sides. It appeared chaos but 5 mins later, shelves were empty and cupboards going back against the wall. 10 minutes later than that and books were back on shelves! There was a few moments o f 'which pile' and 'was this left or right' followed by '...are you sure?' If Mr Thomas was fearing for his next liaison with the librarians he did not show it! Two triple bookcases moved and books back on it. It was a brain teaser as well as a physical task! A final little bookshelf to go (which nearly got jumbled up with the others) and the room looked very different. The plan was to create space for a whole class to come into the library instead of just 10 or so in a small area. Pushing the book cases back against the wall create a huge bit of floor space! It was task complete and ready for the librarians and TA's to make it their own again tomorrow. With 2 ex-teachers in the group, those that sent there kids to this school and those that hope to - it was a great to help a school again, especially one like this!

Quick piccie before a heading towards our infamous Birds Hill. Quick check it wasn't slippy and there was time for a few hill sprints. Richard showing his strength up the hills leaving the rest of us behind him...although Robert as ever giving it his best shot whilst Elizabeth showed us what good form was all about.

Nicola was happy to have achieved her desired mileage as part of her 2020 challenge - and a bit more, it was time for home!

The school have asked us tonight if we can help with stickering! Well, we are quite looking forward to it. We will be back in two weeks to sticker some books!

Great task tonight and made enjoyable as ever with great company!

So this is Christmas and what have you done?...

Well quite a lot actually!

We have hacked away tress and bushes, pulled weeds, cleaned windows, painted fences, mopped floors, sorted out growth in pathways and pulled away ivy. We have planted 3000 bluebell bulbs and picked litter from public areas. We have amazed so many task owners with what 10 or so people can do in half an hour and always with a smile and a laugh amongst us.

What a fantastic goodgym we have built up here in Poole!

But whilst all that has been happening something else has happened on this side that no of us knew was happening till it did - a group of people were becoming friends, good friends! We started to get the same faces week by week, the same smiles, chatting people, laughs and jokes being told. The result? A bunch of friends who now attend Goodgym Poole. June 25th was our first task so we have completed 26th Good Deeds as of tonight here in Poole - half the year of tasks!

It was just over a year ago that the role of Goodgym Poole Trainer was offered to me whilst 26 pregnant, really unsure if it was a wise decision taking on a project during my Maternity Leave especially one that involved me having to run at least one a week! Never one to to turn down an opportunity, I thought I would give it a go. Well it was absolutely one of my best decision to say Yes!

Tonights task summed up Goodgym so well. We ran to St Mary's School where we had once again the lovely head, Helen Armstrong. She lives in Dorchester and is on the final week before Christmas, but stayed on to give us guidance about what was needed. In her words - this is what she does! No wonder this school is doing so well with a dedicated head like this!

We arrived at school and the caretaker had planned for us two walls to paint, dust sheets down and paint rollers ready! As there was so many of us tonight, it was half on the paint, and the other half of the runners were great at just finding things to do! Helen found us some extra cleaning materials so the windows were cleaned down and chairs and tables wiped down as well - no guidance needed, the team just get on with it!

Expert painter tonight goes to our newbie, Jason, who was great on the old paint brush! (Great to have you along Jason

Back straight to base tonight as we had mince pies ready!

Nikki surprised us by bringing out cups and huge flask of warm mulled wine - amazing! Whilst we huddled under the canopy at the back of Daveena's, a huge sleet shower battered down, it felt quite biblical whilst sipping a mulled wine! We had a great variety of mince pies and even a little homemade flapjack from Sian to add into the mix. Thanks to Robert for the idea of mince pies on the final night!

It was kick out time at 8pm and it was like being in a pub having to move everyone out onto the road so lock up can happen. But that is amazing as everyone was chattering and wishing a Merry Christmas.

I have to say a massive thank you to everyone that has joined in with Goodgym Poole this year.

Biggest surprise was, after the run I was handed a massive bottle of Good Gin! I am really touched by the lovely words and present so thank you to everyone involved. I will say however this is only possible due to you fantastic people, giving up your time to do a good deed or two, making everyone feel welcome and creating such a great atmosphere!

So Goodgymers - go grab Christmas by the Baubles, jingle till you tingle and have an amazing time with family & friends!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!