It seldom ceases to amaze me what a group of GoodGymmers can get done an hour. As you can see from the before and after photos we definitely blitzed S2R's courtyard this evening. Initially looking slightly sorry for itself following nearly six months of lockdown neglect, by the time GoodGym had finished with it the yard was de-weeded and ready for when local mental health charity S2R open their doors to clients again this week.

Thanks and well done to tonight's crew comprising, David Bilton, Wendy Redmile, Tom Elcock and Lisa Waldron. Thanks also to Byron from S2R for being there and sorting out the tools.

An entirely new task for the Huddersfield GoodGym crew this week, with a job helping to keep our town centre tidy. Andy Goff from Kirklees Council want some assistance weeding and pruning the various planters situated around the town centre, and for the less horticulturally inclined he'd brought along some litter pickers and bin bags.

With eight GoodGymmers, a clear plan of action and a lovely sunny evening there was potential get a lot done, and we were soon stuck in. Whilst Kati Law, Louise Galvin, David Bilton, Zena Whalley, Jackie Cork and Lisa Waldron on got stuck into the planters, Ben Godfrey and myself got busy with the litter pickers....I do love a litter picker!

In a busy hour we managed to tidy up quite a few large planters and collect about half a dozen bags of rubbish, leaving the town centre decidedly tidier than it had been. The strangest discovery of the night had to be a Mr. Potato Head happily residing in one of the planters!

Thanks to everyone for your efforts this evening, good to see Lisa return to the group after her initial visit on our launch night nearly two years ago!

After weeks of planning and arranging it was simply superb to finally get out and get GoodGym Huddersfield running. And what a stunning night it was!

With sunshine to start and a full moon to finish, even the weather gods were supporting GoodGym Huddersfield last night! Needless to say, they weren’t to only ones, 26 eager runners and a number other guests (including the Mayor of Kirklees) turned out for the launch at the Stadium Health and Fitness Club. We made the most of the late September sunshine, doing the launch speeches and photographs outside before heading off on the 2.5K run to Dalton for our first ever task.

Growing works are a small Huddersfield charity who promote wellbeing by providing opportunities for local people to get outside and grow stuff on their various allotment plots. Their Dalton site has been expanding rapidly, and the Huddersfield GoodGymmers were very happy to help out there. Rachel and Sue of Growing works had been busy setting up loads of interesting tasks for us to do in the 45 minute work window. Sawing firewood, trimming back edges, sifting soil, preparing growing beds, and shifting compost all ensured the GoodGymmers stayed active, kept moving and remained warm as the sun went down and the headtorches came out. There was even time to check out Growing works' brand new allotment loo (of which they are rightly proud!)

I'm informed by Sue that the there is always plenty of stuff to do on the Growing works allotments and I am sure GoodGym Huddersfield will be returning to help out again in the future. If you would like to find out more about the fantastic work Growing works does in the local community take a look at http://www.growingworks.org.uk/

Buzzing from a bit of hard labour the run back was even quicker than the run there. Another 2.5K but this time with a hill effort up Ridgeway, just prior to the final downhill of the night back to our start point at the Stadium.

Well done and thanks to all the GoodGymmers who have helped make Huddersfield’s inaugural task such a success, especially those who were attending a GoodGym group run for the first time, including Karen Redgewick, Chris Green, Louise Galvin, Jenn Flaherty, Pauline, Andy Loyd, Natalie Sampson and Andrew Cooper. Special thanks also to our GoodGym friends from Barnsley and Sheffield who popped over the hills to help support GoodGym Huddersfield’s first run.

Last night’s activity goes to prove that Growing works….and so does GoodGym!