This week our group run was a team-up with another group of volunteers from the Luton Someries Rotary Club. They look after a garden patch in Wardown Park that went a bit wild in past years but has been brought back under control thanks to their efforts.

We ran out from the town centre to find Jan and her team of volunteers getting the weeding done. Our first job was to dig some holes and plant the new plants. A second job was to dig out a clump of sedge which had got a bit out of control. That turned out to be the biggest job as it really didn't want to move. Resistant to forks, spades, sawing the roots it really wouldn't budge.

Community spirited passer-by Hafsa stopped to see what we were up to and joined in with the gang, helping to transform this patch into a flowery feature for the summer. Good on you Hafsa! It's lovely when people compliment our activity and amazing when they join in 💪🏼

A quick break for squash and some Jammy Dodgers and we tried again to have a go at the sedge, summoning the tiger energy in turns to hack away at the roots with a spade and in the closing moments of the session, we secured victory and ripped the clump out of the ground!

Tidying up we helped carry all the weeds and cuttings to the car park for later disposal and bid farewell to Jan's team as we set off for a lap of the cricket pitch and finish our 5km distance for the evening.

5 Goodgymers joined the Friends of Peoples Park team on their monthly litter pick.

No big ticket items to report...the regular litter picks are keeping the park in good shape and hopefully are encouraging users to be more mindful about their litter 🤞

Around 13 bags collected to keep the momentum going followed by an unplanned upper body workout as we lobbed our bags into the cage on the council truck!!!

7 Goodgymers came to support the Friends of Leagrave Park with their monthly litterpick. 2 Trolley's a tent and 14 bags of litter from the team collected in just over am hour and a half. Great work team 👏 👍🏻 💪

The nature of Leagrave park was getting set for spring, with the irises peeping up in the marshy areas, blossom on the trees and ducks checking out nesting spots. So, it was the last chance to get out there with the litterpickers and stash the trash in our bags before it all gets hidden under a new leafy green blanket.

24 bags, plus a trolley and two bike tyres, were the total haul of the team today, leaving the river, the hedgerows, the paths and fields of the park bright and clear of unsightly rubbish and ready for a spring with hopefully similarly bright and clear weather for a change!

It might have also been a certain Area Activators 500th good deed! Plenty of cake was harmed in the making of this good deed 😄

This week's group run took us to Manor Park for a litterpick. The river Lea runs through this park and was the focus of our efforts as there was a lot of litter collected in the bushes between the road and the river, and quite a bit washed up on the river bank from recent high waters.

With a small team of 4 we collected an impressive 12 large bags of rubbish as well as a buggy and a hubcap from a thorough rummage in the bushes.

Leaving the area looking satisfyingly cleaner and ready for spring nesting 🦆 🪹 🕊️ without all the litter, we finished our session with a well-paced run back to our start point.

The last Saturday in January saw 5 Goodgymers team up with Kevin from ABCD-IN-LUTON and Friends of Leagrave Park to tackle yhe first community litterpick of the new year. We accumulated 20 bags of rubbish and got a glimpse of a beautiful King fisher on the banks of the river Lea. Well done to all that took part.