Wilson and I joined a gang of volunteers at a task organised by Final Straw and Portsmouth Uni as part of a project to reintroduce native oysters to the Solent.

Over 3 days, volunteers scrubbed 10,000 oysters to remove bio-hazards and pollutants, before the oysters will be introduced to the sea at Eastney to grow and reproduce.

We made new chums while scrubbing and learned new facts about how vital oysters are to marine health.

A novel and fun way to spend the day!

Final Straw encourage volunteers to create Borrow Bags which are offered as an alternative to plastic in local shops in Emsworth.

I upcycled 10 tote bags which had logos from other organisations, and used appliqué, ribbons and embroidery to cover or adapt the old designs, and then added the Final Straw label.

I incorporated exercise into my task by walking to deliver the bags to the Final Straw office.

The Emsworth walk was previously planned to be a chocolate tub drop-off. But with Final Straw withdrawing from the scheme, and the switch to Greene King's Tub to Pub, we changed the plans for our walk.

4 GoodGymers, with 4 in training, walked from central Emsworth to Nore Barn Woods.

We litter picked the perimeter paths and the adjacent beach.

There was plenty to see and experience. A great way to get out in the fresh air on a cold afternoon.

"Eh-oh!" Goodgymers have lots of tubby lovers - that is, their friends and colleagues love a tub of chocolates at Xmas time!

We collected stacks of the colourful plastic tubs, for shredding and re-forming to be used "Again, again"!

"Big hug!" to Sinéad for her mountain of plastic tubs from friends and colleagues.

We switched our donations from Final Straw (who are not shredding this year) to Greene King's Tub to Pub. Some GoodGymers took a trip to the pub to drop off their tubs. The rest will be delivered on our Emsworth outing later this week.

As long as the single-use plastic gets a second-use, we're happy to say "Tubby bye-bye"!

It was great to get back to good deeds after Christmas gatherings and travels.

Give a cheer to all the GoodGymers who took time in their Christmas / New Year lull to do good and prevent rubbish from returning to the sea.

Welcome to Stephanie visiting us from GoodGym Southampton, and well done to Laura and Samantha who both brought friends and children to join in the beach-clean.

Angela and Dave made sure they combined exercise with the task, arriving on foot.

Well done to Jane and Richard who are both already signed up for multiple GoodGym tasks and fitness activities for the January Challenge.

And to Abby who fitted in a good deed in between her global adventures.

We collected plastics, glass, metal, fishing line and scraps of fabric, both from the beach and along the roadside.

A satisfying haul by all the Final Straw volunteers!

Mel and I joined a small army of Final Straw volunteers to litter-pick the Tipner shore line at low tide.

While we nattered and caught up on our news, we filled our bag and bucket twice over, collecting mainly small pieces of plastic, polystyrene & fishing line.

Many of the other volunteers were still beach-cleaning along the full stretch of the shore as we completed our two-hour stint. But even as we left, there were already loads of full bin bags of rubbish and recycling.

Such a satisfying task! Final Straw will be repeating this one again soon, with a skip to collect the large pieces of debris.