14 Ran to Interact to clear the ground for some digging

Our friends at Interact charity had an emergency. They had the offer of a digger at the weekend but had loads of things to move so that it could be utilized. Obviously, Goodgym came to the rescue and we ran down to Moulsham mill to get stuck in to the task.

First we had to move the excellently painted pipes we had endorsed with our art work last week, a job that was quickly dispatched and we moved on to the heavy items.

the Plank

We moved several scaffold planks from the garden area round the side of the cottage. the ground is being cleared so that it can be dug up and prepared for turfing. the garden is really starting to take shape and is going to look great!

its a Brick session

After our planks we moved on to the bricks, and moved 2 pallets of bricks from the ground using the wheelbarrow and some buckets. they were then re-organised onto another pallet at the front of the cottage. Breeze blocks were also moved and stones both big and small were carried. Even a few of our favorite Kerb stones were lifted across the garden.

Can you dig it?

Just for good measure we ended on some digging to extend the path past the pond in the wildlife garden.

An excellent job quickly dispatched and we set off across the fields, following the river in a nice scenic run, making the most of the lighter evening.

Next week we will have a longer run to Farleigh's Hospice to help with their garden area. we will be bagging sand and if we have time distributing hard core so that they can lay a base for the paths between vegetable planters. look out for more details on the facebook page!

11 painted the ideas hub and ran around the city

We met in the ideas hub to complete our work on painting the panels around the walls and around the stairs. this should be the last session for a while as we have run out of paint! But we have done an awesome job with only a few small edges to complete the job.

• Painting by numbers *3 sessions at the Ideas hub *5 pots of paint *11 goodgym painters (ok 10 and me!) *18 wooden panels

After a clean up we set off on a loop around the city with the group splitting into two as we headed to BBC Essex, once reunited we ran across to Waterhouse lane and a few speedy chaps set off on another extra loop whilst the rest of us ran back through the park.

A quick stretch and we chatted about the news, hopefully see a few of the crew at Parkrun on Saturday, and i iwll try to update the facebook page on the social!

A big shout out to Lucy who brought Thomas along so gets a pair of red laces, and to Jack who was painting almost as fast as he can run!

12 people ran to Gt. Baddow Scouts to clear their leaves.

A dozen Goodgymmers met at the ideas hub for the last Goodgym Chelmsford session of 2016. A big welcome to Lucy who joined us for the first time! After a quick catch up we walked across to the park to do a warm up, and it is great to see some excellent coordination on the arm swings. Once a little warmer we set off along the river and through an alternative subway for a pic, before arriving at the scout hut.

Gardening re-leaf

Some had assumed that leaf clearing would be a fairly short task, presumably everyone was looking forward to extra gym work, but on further investigation we discovered that there were probably more leaves than blades of grass! Gloves were distributed along with 6 different types of rake and lights were set up, so we got stuck in and soon had a huge collection of bags full of leaves from all round the grounds.

in the long run

We decided to split the group on the way back and make sure some of the speedier guys and girls had a good work out. with some taking the same route back, the others set off on a magical mystery tour. My distance estimation usually being so accurate, I may have added on a little more than intended but we all met back at the meeting point and ran the last stretch back to the hub together.

The last stretch

Once we had all arrived back we had a stretch whilst we discussed the session and tasks for next year. Do let me know if you have any ideas! We have a painting job for a week or two once we return in 2017 for the interact charity at Moulsham mill, and are sure to return to the farm at Hylands school before too long.

I hope you all have a merry Christmas and a great new year!