Nick, Jen and Perrine got stuck in dragging out huge mats of floating pennywort- hard work, messy and stinky but well worth the effort. A great event organised by Amy Cipriani of CRT/ Restore the Soar Leicester. Still lots to do - keep an eye out for more sessions.

Four Goodgymmers Ian, Nick, Rob and Stu, along with new signing Perin, welcome Perin, went to help Project River Soar with clearing Floating Pennywort from the canal through Aylestone Meadows nature reserve. Paddle boarders Amy, Helen and Luke were picking every piece of pennywort and bringing it to the bank where we moved it away from the water along the towpath. A single leaf can quickly grow back into a new mat of stems and leaves that cover the waters surface and get tangled up with watercraft (which breaks bits off, they float down stream and form new mats of weed). It's been expanding very fast in the recent heatwaves. We also collected a bag of litter, and removed a lot of Himalayan Balsam, another non-native plant that is taking over along the waterway. Amy was great at explaining what we were doing and why, and what a difference we were making by clearing the plants away.

TBC

Nick and Jen Painting wooden sleepers

What started as a wet soggy weather day ended in beautiful blue sky sunshine. Nick and Jen joined a few other volunteers from CRT to tackle the pennywort that was starting to build up along the River Soar at Barrow upon soar. After a safety briefing it was all systems go: bounancy aids on and we were then climbing into canoes eager to paddle off. Before we could that there was the Barrow Deep Lock to navigate. Our timing wasn't best as we had to wait for four boats to pass through the Lock, going on both directions it took more than 40 minutes before we could ho through ourselves. Once through the Lock, it was easy to spot the patches of pennywort. Using rakes and hands we pulled what seemed like tons of the stuff into the canoe then disposed of it on the bank. After a few hours the section of river was cleared and we paddled back to base pleased with our efforts.

Five dedicated GoodGymmers rolled up their sleeves and teamed up with the Canal & River Trust to give a section of Leicester’s towpath a much needed refresh. Prepared with life jackets, gloves, litter pickers, and plenty of enthusiasm, the group tackled everything from clearing weeds to litterpicking along the water’s edge. They even added a fresh coat of paint to brighten up tired looking sleepers along the path.

What was a neglected stretch is now a clean, welcoming space for walkers, runners, and cyclists to enjoy safely. The before and after photos really capture the impact a small but committed team can make in just a single session working with Canal and River Trust. Weldone Jen on leading another CRT task running smoothly and a big shout out to Hemankshi on your first session, fantastic effort! I do hope you enjoyed it and try another session soon.

Weldone everyone that took part!

Jeanette, Gillian, Samuel, Nick and Sam joined the great team from CRT on their work boat. The mission was to collect trash from the canal. 17 bags of rubbish collected. The usual footballs floating on the water got snaffled plus a chair, children's bouncy frame and lots of plastic bags! Mission accomplished.