This week for our group run we ran up the hill through High Town to our task on Hitchin road where community clean-up coordinator Kevin from ABCD Luton and some local residents had already got started.

A couple of road-side areas were overgrown with shrubs and weeds and needed cutting back and tidying up. On arrival our team were tooled up with shears, saws, loppers and brushes and set to cutting back and clearing up.

With our large team we managed to clean up a huge stretch of road and filled an amazing five big bags of cuttings which needed dragging up the hill to the point that the council was booked to collect from.

Before retreating back down the hill we took a few minutes to do a few rounds of walking lunges, crunches and squats in the park to round off an energetic evening.

This week a rainbow shone over our warm-up and the ascent up the hill to our task for the evening.

We were heading to the gravel sign that welcomes drivers from the M1 into Luton where some patchy weeds needed clearing. We also took some time to rearrange the black and white pebblrs to restore some clarity to the letters which were suffering from some blurred lines!

When the task was completed we headed over to Stockwood Park for a blast through some sprint intervals to build some power in our legs before heading back down to our finish point back in the Hat District.

This week we returned to a community garden on Bristol Road that we helped set up a while back. Since then a small group of people, including Gareth and Kev who met us there have been trying to keep control of the space but the brambles and weeds that used to be there were making a comeback!

Our team arrived on bikes and by running and walking to all pitch in and reclaim the ground from the weeds. 40 minutes later we'd make a bit pile of green waste.

We also topped up some of the raised beds with topsoil that needed shoveling into a barrow and moved down from the entrance.

This week was the final pre-season visit to 61FC for a last effort to smarten up this football club's grounds and clubhouse.

After a good walk/run/bike to the Kingsway Recreation Ground we met Richard and Cliff who had several tasks for us. We cleared up the rubble behind the clubhouse and added to a pile generated by nearby work to add a new footpath to the park. Meanwhile we had a four person ladder/painting team scraping the old blue paint from the fascia boards and painting them bright white instead.

While all that was going on we also cleaned up some chalky doodles on the walls, painted some of the railings gloss blue, leveled a mound of old woodchip on the grass and had a good sweep up around the building.

So many tasks but with a strong team we got it all done in time to enjoy some strong orange squash and Quality Streets to fuel our journey back into town.

This week we had two tasks on offer again as we continue to make the most of the good summer weather.

The walking group headed off to meet new task owner Rajab from the Safer Luton Partnership, supported by Kevin from ABCD luton who provided tools. The task was to clean up the communal garden at a sheltered housing block so that the residents can regain control and start looking after the place themselves and enjoy growing nice plants instead of weeds.

Meanwhile a combined running and biking team headed out to the distant Bradley Road allotment where previous clear ups have brought this allotment back into a tidy state nearly ready for new allotment tenants. Our task this time was to clean up the entrance area and the access road of the litter and fly-tipped bundles of tree branches to make the approach more attractive. bollards will be installed on the track to prevent.

When both tasks were complete each team headed back into town under the glow of a sunset rainbow 🌈 to complete the evening.

We used to think that we loved running, but tonight we weren’t sure,

And we couldn’t wait to do lunges right close to the floor.

But when we got to the hat fact’ry, right into the town,

The sun was still baking, so hot it was making us frown.

☀️

We’re walking in sunshine, 🚶🏽‍♂️woah,

Some running in sunshine, 🏃‍♂️woah,

And cycling in sunshine, 🚴woah,

And don’t it feel good?

☀️

We met with our new guys, and set off for something to do.

The runners were keen to get started but slowed down it’s true.

FC 61wanted us back for some painting

Come back any day, oh yeah yeah,

And once we had got there we happily painted away.

☀️

Woah yeah!

☀️

We’re painting in sunshine, woah,

A GoodGym team of nine, woah,

We’re starting to feel fine, woah,

And aren’t the posts good!

☀️

We did arrive, with lots of drive, the posts revived, that’s really real

We all did strive, snacks helped us thrive, we all survived, that’s really real.

☀️

Walked back without sunshine, woah,

We all had a good time, woah,

We’re cool now and won’t whine, woah,

☀️

And don’t we feel good?

😀