Tuesday 20th January
Report written by Kash
On a windy Tuesday night, six GoodGymers came together for an (unintentional) Winston Churchill-themed litterpick. Little did they know about what they'd find in South Ealing, where they ran from Ealing Broadway. Armed with litter pickers and bin bags from their allies, LAGER Can, they were determined that they would fight in the alleyways and on the streets, and they would never surrender.
The GoodGymers' main enemy was rubbish dropped along the alleyway splitting the South Ealing Cemetery into two, but, under a cover of leaves, the group found things that were hardly classified as litter. Next to a small collection of pots and vases, Conor found a bust of Winston Churchill, and Harvey discovered a toy British Bulldog! Or was it just a pug?
Rather than cigar butts, the team kept finding single-use vapes, which Churchill would surely disapprove of. Neither would he endorse the cheap beer cans and four laughing gas canisters which Harvey carried out of the alleyway for collection.
Walking through a lane of birches raised some questions about the white sheet-shaped deposits found in abundance on that stretch. Some GoodGymers would have sworn that it was paper (which, according to a quote often attributed to Churchill, was the enemy of action) or even wallpaper. Others, maybe better versed in dendrology, explained it was bark from the birches and didn't need to be collected.
The battle against litter ended on South Ealing Road, at the first available bin, where it was appropriate to leave two blue bags of collected mess. Those who hadn't tried it ahead of the group run had the last chance to taste Maria's home-baked coconut puffs that she brought today - what a treat! Having accomplished the task in about half an hour, half of the team ran back to Ealing Broadway to either catch a bus or a train or... run back to South Ealing.
Ealing
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