Little by little we pick all the litter you ever threw down...well tonight we did not get a monster haul of litter, but that is a good thing right?

A lovely bright breezy evening of chatter on a summer Goodgym day...great! Our route took us down North Hill, through the Dutch Quarter, into Castle Park and to the skate park and we focussed on the tiny shredded bits of litter mostly as well as cigarette butts. There was lots of fun news about new jobs, fascinating hobbies (like sign language choirs) and travel adventures which made the evening fly by.

We rounded it off with a little circuit in lower castle park, squatting, lunging and press-upping in short bursts.

As always...well done and see you at Junior Parkrun.

Just as Colchester Castle is built on the foundations of the Temple of Claudius, Colchester’s community is built on the foundations built by volunteers. And so the setting for a celebration of volunteering (National Volunteers Week) was apt and special.

We renewed acquaintances with old friends from Essex Wildlife Trust, Community 360 and St Helena Hospice and also made new friends for future partnerships with East Anglian Children’s Hospice and Colchester City Council Deputy Chief Executive Lindsay Barker.

And the old walls of the castle were treated to a short speech by Mayor John Jowers who was accompanied by his wife and Mayoress, Sue as well as Colchester Choral Society entertaining us with some soothing tunes. Overall a lovely evening sweetened by free Prosecco and snacks and made amusing by sitting next to some skulls and bones.

Monday is an important day to set the tone for the week ahead, right? It's pretty good with a 360° view of the city and the community!

Today some hard working and essential organisations and charities went to recruit volunteers and network with each other.

It was a great chance to make new connections and reconnect with old acquaintances.

Friends and partner organisations from Emmaus Colchester, Firstsite, St Helena Hospice, En-Form and Community 360 were present as well as Citizen Advice, Headgate theatre, Alzheimer's Society, Manningtree Foodbank(in disguise) and The Essex Family Support Service.

I wonder if you agree that volunteering is essential and adds a lot more depth to a CV. It is social and fun and at Goodgym we hope it becomes part of your routine and not a chore. Helping others is great for your mental health and all the dedicated people today shared the aspiration to be inclusive, eco-friendly, respectful and represent Colchester at its best.

I did my weekly round of welfare calls to elderly and isolated individuals living in and around Colchester. I checked on their welfare through ensuring they have enough food and prescriptions, and if Community 360 can be of any more assistance. The individuals I speak to are happy to have the calls and chat to someone to take their mind of the global environment. I look forward to speaking with them next week.

On Thursday I spent the morning telephoning my group of vulnerable individuals, to check on their wellbeing, make sure they had access to their prescriptions and food, and have a general chit chat! They were all pleased to speak to someone to take their mind of their problems and loneliness as a result of Covid19. I am looking forward to speaking with them next week to see how they are!

I have been volunteering as a telephone welfare call and befriender for 1 week and have been contacting elderly and vulnerable individuals in colchester by telephone to check on their welfare and have a chat! Social isolation and loneliness has been a huge problem with COVID-19, so telephone calls have been making a huge different to those who need to speak to someone. I will be doing the calls every week for 6 weeks.