Firstly a big welcome to Steph, Beth and Vicky with particular thanks to Steph for the use of her surname in the report title! Great to have you join us - Vicky looking fab in red.

We love helping the Foodbank and so the news and welcomes whizzed by. Races and charity events coming up as well as our big Parkrun takeover with GB Bootcamp.

The night had a nip in the air but the rain did not arrive. We warmed up on the move and took a lovely jog along the River Colne as the swans built their nests.

Once at the Foodbank Mike met us with the usual enthusiasm and tireless commitment to feeding families in crisis. It was time to clean and the team set about moving furniture, vacuuming the carpets, cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and importantly the food storage area was swept and mopped with style.

Mike told us about the work the Foodbank does as the busiest Foodbank in Essex. He also mentioned that they are fund-raising to be able to buy their own building to avoid rent costs.

After the applause and thanks we ran off back to Leisure World to Head, shoulders, knees and pegs. In a tense final Alex came out victorious. See social media for a clue as to what the game entailed.

Well done all and see you next week...or at a Parkrun somewhere!

On Wednesday evening 19 runners, volunteers and good community-minded folks headed out into the evening to Litter Pick in Castle Park.

We met at Leisure World to hear an exciting debrief about the Colchester Half Marathon which took place on Sunday. A good number of our Goodgym group got themselves out in the beautiful (and warm) sunshine to complete the half marathon, with PBs being smashed left, right and centre. Well done everyone who took part and a huge thanks to those who came to cheer us all on. Sophie has decided to review her energy snack of choice after a few people reported struggling with the Percy Pig heads.. but we all appreciated the effort and sentiment! We also heard about some folks setting new goals for their running. Fantastic!

With Earth Hour coming up this Saturday (8.30.. turn off your lights for an hour) we joined Goodgymers all over the country in an environmentally themed task and took our litter pickers to work on our park. We were given an area to focus on and split up into small groups to tackle the challenge. Sadly, whilst beavering away, a member of the public approached one of the small groups and acted aggressively towards them, resulting in one of our long-standing and experienced members being hurt. This was a real shock to all of us. Thankfully the injury was not severe and the staff at Leisure World were fantastic in offering first aid and notifying the relevant people of what had happened.

It was also a moment where the Goodgym family jumped into action! It was great to see everyone pulling together to support the group members involved and reaffirmed, yet again, what a fantastic group this is to be a part of. Whether you've completed 1 good deed or over 100, this is a group of people who will step up and look out for each other. As Ian said, he won't be put off.. So let's keep going, keep each other safe and keep doing good!

Once we were all safely inside Leisure World Chrissie did a varied workout for us involving a range of core exercises which got our hearts pounding and a few muscles aching. We bid farewell, hugs were shared, and we look forward to our onward mission of providing positive input to our community.

16 enthusiastic Goodgym runners took to the Colchester streets last night to keep our town centre blooming beautiful!

We met at Leisure World, our usual Wednesday evening hangout, and were really pleased to welcome Chrissie on her first Goodgym run! Chrissie has recently completed her run leading qualification and is looking to become an active member of the group! It was great to see a mixture of old and newer faces as Tav delivered the weekly news, which included reports from Saturday's successful taster session and upcoming events such as new tasks and international women's day.

Before we set off we warmed-up our bodies whilst Tav warmed-up his brain trying to number us off into 2 groups in random order. We headed out into the evening towards the High Street, taking a slightly longer route via North Hill to get our hearts pumping and our legs working. The group then split into our 2 assigned teams and made our way to different parts of the town to tackle the planter boxes. Our task was simple, to tidy any litter, deadhead where needed and to make sure the plants were firmly in the soil following sad reports that people were removing them.

We then headed off to Firstsite for some fun and games. Team 2 arrived first and Helen took to ensuring that we were kept busy and warm with a few exercises. Once we were joined by the rest of the group Tav gave us simple game to play involving a ball and remembering people's names. Well.. I say simple, but it's fair to say a few of us struggled to grasp the concept. Following a practice round the idea was to complete the throwing and catching sequence twice through as quickly as possible before the whole team moved on to a relay. Team 2, led by Alex, strategised the most effective way of completing the game as quickly as possible (the phrase 'that's so cheating' may have passed Tav's lips).

The relay came down to a race between the final runner from each team, and despite Emily having a significant head-start, she was still worried that speedy Tav might catch her heels!

After the task some of the group headed to Three Wise Monkeys for some food, drink and socialising with a small group accompanying each other back to Leisure World.

Next Wednesday we're delivering leaflets for St Helena Hospice. We look forward to seeing you then!

*Tonight we stepped out to help one of Colchester's most well known and essential charities - St Helena Hospice. *

The evening started, after a few document checks, with a look on the Heroes Leader-board with Katherine Rose, Hannah Grinham and Ella on top of the Kilometers...but for how long?! There was a quick mention to Jules who had become a member too. Unfortunately some of these heroes could not make it tonight which means the leader board will be getting exciting! Also Emily White is top on good deeds having visited her new 'coach' twice this month.

A big welcome to Michelle on having a great introductory session. She got stuck with the task and smashed the Balkerne Hill reps.

I explained our task and the location and off we went to warm up. We lunged, sumo-lunged, penguin walked and squat jumped towards our partners with big high fives. Thinking of what walking and warming up ankles could be called proved hilarious but unrepeatable...

Ian dutifully back-marked and we ran into the night under the moon which was shining at 97.5% and in the Waning Gibbous phase. Photo opportunities knocked as we ran past the roaring weir, pushed ourselves up Balkerne Hill and then split into two teams. The new build area and the old build area soon had cheerful Goodgymers spreading the news of St Helena's calender of fundraising events on their doormats and in their letter boxes.

We were done and reconvened after a few photos with the car park artwork in the background. Across the bridge Balkerne Hill was about to be reduced to a mere mole-hill. Having offered the less steep option the group enthusiastically opted to training on the steeper slope. Everyone completed a full, three quarter, half and quarter uphill sprint with a decent recovery downhill and some stretching. Check out the Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for photos and giggles...get tagging yourselves.

With our breath back we went to deliver the final few leaflets in the Dutch Quarter, posed for photos at the weir and headed back to Leisure World. Our energy was well spent and as usual it is such a pleasure to run with you all. The good was done and the fitness effort was 100% (unlike the moon)!

We stretched in the foyer and chatted about the upcoming events. Alex told the group about his amazing challenge of swimming the Channel and the fundraiser he has in April for Team Angus. WoW!

See you next time.