Famous Five go down to the river...

We gathered at the Mercury for the task brief from Tav, and a quick discussion about running news. Bob is planning ahead for next year's half marathon, so if you're also considering it - you'll be in good company! We took a meandering route this evening, taking in a sweep past the college, a duck under the tunnel, a poke along the river and a rummage in the bracken. Notable finds on our litter pick included two socks, numerous drinks cans and bottles, vaping paraphernalia, cigarette butts a plenty and a plastic spoon. Join us next time for fun, fitness and doing good!

This weeks' dedicated group of volunteers gathered for a community litter pick, led for the first time by me! as a newly trained run leader. We set out to restore the park’s beauty, making it a cleaner and more pleasant as the summer evenings set in.

Fresh off my performance in the Colchester 10k, I tried to bring the energy and leadership to the task with a little warm up. We were also thrilled to welcome a new member to our team, Kerry. Kerry, shared exciting news about an upcoming trip that has everyone eager to hear about her future adventures. Her positive spirit and eagerness to contribute are a wonderful addition to our group.

Our team worked diligently, scouring the park and surrounding areas collecting four(ish) bags of litter. Following the litter pick, some of us enjoyed a jog through the now pristine park. Always nice to get out in warm evening and make a positive impact while enjoying the beautiful outdoor spaces Colchester has to offer.

Thank you to everyone who participated, onto the food bank next week!

It was an evening of first good deeds, hill runs and battling litter warriors on the footpaths of Balkerne Hill and St Mary's Fields. Not to mention the happy return of Denise and credit for the report title!!

So a big welcome to Daisy for her first good deed with Goodgym, making Colchester a bit tidier and doing some powerful fitness! (Enjoy Scotland)

The evening started at The Mercury Theatre where we set to grab a few discarded cigarette butt's next to the Hole in the Wall pub and head down the hill. The mowers had been out which means that litter gets shredded and harder to pick, but the pathway from Sheepen Road to St Mary's field had (unfortunately) the usual amount of litter, much of which was frustratingly out of reach. Find of the evening was a pannier, chucked on top of the brambles which between us we managed to grab and bin!

To finish up, we got warm with some dynamic stretches and a did some progressive hill running/sprinting!

Good job all and enjoy your week!

On our first ever Monday evening task we hauled in two large bags of litter, including an old discarded food processor!!!

It was awesome to see Sophie back and immediately getting stuck into picking litter out of bushes and off of pathways...but the snails grabbed the headlines of the evening. The one we spotted on a crisp packet was easily saved and put back into the vegetation, but on a dark evening one snail found itself in our bin bag! Our route took us down Balkerne Hill, around Sheepen Road and back up through St Mary's Fields and as we reach the top and Frazer began to tie up his bag, a little snail was making its bid for freedom from within it!! We helped the little snail out into the foliage and admired it's efforts - one of nature's cleaners saved on an evening where we made a small section of the city a bit cleaner. Well done!

So now the question is what do we name our new Goodgym day? Marvelous Monday, magic Monday or mega Monday? Or something else?

The pathways around St Mary's fields and Balkerne Hill had a good chunk of litter removed tonight. The damp weather and headtorches made the glass, cans and plastic sparkle in the undergrowth...easy to spot and we also found a huge patch of litter next to Matalan car park! Colchester Retail Park should start paying us!!!

We tied one bag up and headed around Middlebrough and up Balkerne Hill to fill another. On the litter journey we found a number plate and a hub cap...perhaps by the summer we will have the rest of the car?!

Wonder if anyone recognises the number plate?

Over the years Goodgym has only stopped for really severe weather, although I am sure some people would have still gone out in the storms, snow and wind!

Tonight was a frosty affair, with both the fact that litter picking often is a frustrating task and the low temperatures. Annabel summed up the strange feeling of leaving without totally clearing an area of litter but nevertheless we did make an impact. We often find strange things in bushes, but never have we found two helmets. A Hard hat and a cycle helmet.

We almost filled four bin bags just on a short stretch of pathway not helped by the bottles and cans being full of ice.

With the temperature dropping we tied up the bags, warmed up rapidly and had a short battle with gravity on Balkerne Hill.

Well done litter warriors!