7 of us hit the streets and parks of Colchester to remove as much litter as we could. Great to see Ella again, and sorry Vanessa we didn't find you a suitable souvenir!

5 GoodGymers met at the Mercury and headed down towards the Meanwhile Garden outside Firstsite under strict orders not to pick any litter up on the way. We couldn't resist however when we noticed a whole load of blue roll and paper blowing about (presumably a split recycling bag) and made a swift improvement to the precinct.

We were pleasantly surprised that the Meanwhile Garden had much less litter than last time we were there, and we were even helped out by a member of the public who was enjoying the garden and wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

We headed down East Hill, this time taking our time to chat and pick up bits on the way and then finished off clearing the area around a children's play park near the river.

Top points for interesting finds go to Haidee and the abandoned jacket and Vanessa and an abandoned Octopus. Lovely to meet Ian for the first time as well.

There's no task next Tuesday, but we will be at the Junior Park Run this Sunday, and then back in town Tuesday 2nd June to clear the planters ready for summer bedding.

Four Goodgymers scoured the town for trash this evening, on a beautiful if rather chilly April evening. We headed east, via the Meanwhile garden in the cultural quarter, towards East Bay. We found lots of grot in the bushes and across the grass near a children's play area, and felt a warm glow of satisfaction from cleaning up the area for all the park users. Notable finds included a strawberry, a felted pumpkin, and a toaster. Wildlife encounters included trills from a Cetti's warbler, sleepy swans by the pond, and a curious fox, checking us out.

3 GoodGymers met to tackle some of the litter in our city.

We were amazed at the number of cigarette butts we found and wondered what would need to happen to stop people leaving them on the ground.

I like to think we helped people on their way into town work this morning feel a little more positive about their town, and that fewer animals were harmed by litter last night.

As well as being productive I found it a very educational GoodGym, learning a lot about East Anglia and education from Vanessa and Ray!

This Sunday we are helping out with the Junior Park Run and then on Tuesday we are delivering leaflets for Mind. Sign up now if you can!

A chilly evening in Colchester was brightened up by some litter picking action around the streets and past the college by six goodgymers. We received some thank you's from passers by, chatted about all kinds of things, and admired the local runners doing reps up the hill. This weekend, whilst drinking tea and eating biscuits indoors - do an hour's birdwatch for the RSPB. Sign up to the task on the website - the perfect goodgym mission!!

Two heavy bags of litter were gathered up by two Goodgymers in an hour, during a quick pick around the neighbourhood. Highlights included - seeing another local litter picker out busy gathering trash as well, and collecting a hat, tie, and sock, amongst the usual red bull cans, sweet wrappers and drinks cups.