we were back this evening to tackle the planter we had made a start on a few weeks ago. At last attendance we had managed to clear a small corner and thought we may manage the same this time. That was before super Steph got to work with the rake - hacking out stacks of virginia creeper which made it easier for the rest of us to lop and chop. It looked so satisfying i had to give it a go! We managed to hack back nearly the whole planter which is huge! We are looking forward to coming back again to clear the last bits and start digging out the brambles

Before the main session this evening a few of us gathered to help clear the local area of surrounding rubbish. We decided to stay in the naturally lit area outside buzz bingo an area which gathers alot of rubbish. Wilson found a never ending hole of rubbish including a very cute reversible friend! Tarek and Ellie did a fab job as well and kept spirits high debating the complexities of litter picking and also bingo! We gathered three bags of rubbish which was a good haul.

Four early bird (6:45am!!!!!!) GoodGymers met up at Saints on Sunday morning to volunteer with the RunThrough crew for their Southampton 10km race.

It was lovely to see Claire and Phillip back at GG and Claire bought Leon along to volunteer with us. Thankyou for joining us Leon! (1 up) They were all sent off on the course to marshal.

At the Race Village Sarah and Wilson were on the desk handing out race numbers - which got a bit hairy as runners were still turning up after the race had started. Sarah then went on to hand out treats at the finish line and somehow managed to do crowd control at the same time while Wilson handed out the water.

We went 2up at the finish line as fellow GG'er Lauren came running across the finish line! Well done Lauren!

On a dark and blustery evening we were delighted to get together at the pub for a social and some Christmas crafting for CAMHS. Christmas for CAMHS is a project spreading some Christmas cheer for children and young people with mental health needs. The task was to create 50 paper chains with specified jokes on ready for the children and young people to enjoy. Fortunately Amanda and Stephanie raided the craft shops before they arrived so we had plenty of choice for our paper chains. Amanda and Stephanie set out carefully measuring the paper chains to size while Abby got to work chopping them up. Meanwhile I was entrusted with writing the jokes out because of my neat handwriting! It wasn't long before we had 100 paper chains and all hands on deck were required to complete writing out the jokes. A lovely evening and we hope those that receive our paper chains enjoy...and don't look too closely at the one wonky one!

I joined the lovely Friends of Peartree Green for another conservation session this morning. Phil had organised a nice spot of bramble clearance which is always a good workout. We were clearing out a few areas to allow some of the native wildflowers to flourish next year. They have three types of orchids and a whole host of fabulous fungi and wildflowers. We will be back next week for a spot of litter picking to keep the reserve as clean as possible.

Blue and I went to meet our canicross friends for a run this morning. Unfortunately, the car park we were meant to meet at was closed so we had to go to Balmer Lawn instead next to Brockenhurst “beach”. Well it turned out to be lucky we were there as there was so much litter including plastic bottles, vape boxes, tissues and bagged dog poo. We couldn’t leave it there for the ponies to snack on so set to work clearing it up while waiting for our friends. From one small car park we picked a whole bag for life of litter :(