32 GG Yorkies split into two teams for a mass of mostly raking activities across the city!

After welcoming one brand new runner to the gang (give Issy a cheer!), we made a very exciting announcement.

GG Yorkie of the Month!

This new monthly prize will go to someone who has made a big impact at GoodGym; whether it's through participation, reaching a goal, organising an amazing event or something we deem special that needs recognising.

Our first ever monthly winner, October 2018's GG Yorkie of the Month goes to...... Katie Kelly!

Katie has been a member for a while but has become very involved in the last month, racking up loads of good deeds across group runs and missions. She didn't let being late from work stop her at a mission, lifting chairs and tables in a super smart skirt. Katie has also been one of our chief walkers, helping to make our group sessions friendly and accessible for everyone. She also took one walking group on a very extended walk to one task, not because she was lost of course but because they needed lots of exercise...well done Katie.

My group of leaf gatherers at Clarence Gardens

We had a simple task to bag up as many leaves as possible in 40 minutes. The bagged leaves were to be taken to Greenfields Garden (half a kilometre down the road) where they were to be mulched and used as compost.

Armed with big green scoopers and rakes, the group split into four teams and started bagging. Everyone quickly learned not to attempt to drop a full double scoop into the bags because inevitably the leaves will just go everywhere and be back on the floor.

Iain suggested we load up the van with bags and race him up there to unload, instead of running individual bags up the road. This was a much better plan since the bags were both spiky and numerous.

We had to tie little knots in the bags before loading them into the van but there were definitely a few instances where an untied bag got passed over the fence and only one person knew it was untied...

With the van absolutely full to the brim, we raced Iain down the road and formed a human chain ready to count the bags out. The human chain was slightly more spread out at the van end as Ellie and Jenny ran tiny shuttles to keep the flow going.

50 bags exactly!

It was a good haul.

Becky's report from her debut as run leader!

We had an 'exciting' journey there, as we witnessed the aftermath of a bike accident. 3 fantastic GG Yorkies (Bec, Mel and Tim) volunteered for an extra bit of good, walking the injured party home and making sure she was safe and looked after, before racing on to join the rest of us at the task. She was very grateful.

Where do you work? I want to buy you flowers!

Meanwhile Mitch aimed to speed up the journey for the rest of us, by switching his head light to green and causing minor chaos at traffic lights.

Eventually the rest of us arrived at the task, and having waiting for Mitch to test out the slide (obviously it needs checking for safety, very kind of him), got started.

We began by raking up grass cuttings on to tarps, then dragging them down to the bottom of the field to spread. Cue 20 minutes of frantic raking, hauling tarps and distribution (frantic to stop us from freezing rather than because there was too much to keep up with).

Finally with sighs of relief (or chattering from cold, it was hard to tell) we downed tools and finished with a game of'Follow my Leader, leading winding paths round the grass with each leader picking a form of motion, e.g. doing lunges, skips, duck walks, etc.

We began to head home, ably aided by our back markers, who decided to proactively sprint past us, presumably on the basis that then everyone would have to get home faster.

We're fast back marking group, we're not here to get left behind - Tim

Finishing with our usual sprint up Micklegate, we arrived, tired but proud, back at base - and got to scoff loads of chocolate given to us by a mission recipient!