Five goodgymers returned to Hockley Port to continue the field clearance work today.

I arrived early at the task, just in time to find Fiona, who was having some trouble finding the location. She wasn’t alone as our first timer, Edgar, also had to take a tour of the local cul-de-sacs before finding us.

We met Hussein on the site, who explained what we could help with today, as they had used the space for Eid celebrations on Thursday. So there was a lot to clear on the field. He also pointed out the Japanese Knotweed in the corner that we cleared the first time we joined in, which had already regrown to around six foot tall. A sign that there really is a lot to do to get this site at its best.

Ryan began by raking the ground where we had previously cleared the huge brambles, while Francesca picked litter from around the site and I cleared the space of bricks, loading them in a trolley to pile them in the corners. With the field itself looking a lot clearer, we all picked up rakes and began to move the remaining brambles towards the fence separating the site from an industrial estate. We piled them high in front of it to give a bit more privacy before they work on something more permanent and attractive.

As we began to feel a few spots of rain after two hours of work, we decided that we had achieved enough. So we decided to take a selfie and go our separate ways. In good time too as it soon began to pour down, getting me a little soaked by the end of my run home.

It was great to have a new member of the group today. We hope you enjoyed the task Edgar and we can see you again soon.

Two GoodGym super heroes returned to Hockley Port for our third community mission to clear brambles around the football pitch. We saw that NEAT and their volunteers had cleared another great chunk of brambles last week, so we got underway on what would hopefully be the last section to clear. Using secateurs, hedge trimmers and rakes, we attacked the thorny brambles for the rest of the morning into the early afternoon. Louise not only cut and dragged the weeds away, but also got into the undergrowth to shift away rocks, bricks and rubble. As we got ready to leave, we had reached the important milestone of a clear line through to the path at the front of the field. The piles of brambles behind us were burned away in no time as well. A great sign of progress as we joined in with this task a fortnight ago in the far corner.

Five GoodGymers met for a second day of helping The North Edgbaston Action Team clear a field they've acquired which is to be used by junior football teams and other activities. Yesterday, the guys had done a great job of pulling out the brambles and we carried on with the job.

We didn't complete the job but made a lot more progress today, which is even more impressive considering we did it all without power tools, and managed to clear away a lot of the brambles. As you can see from the pictures, I had a lot of fun with a rake - hence today's pun!

We have some way to go yet, but we are making excellent progress and it will look great when it is all pulled out. The guys from NEAT were telling us that they'll be using this space to plant some flowers and vegetables, and we hope to continue being involved with this task!

3 GGers met up after a long hiatus to help clear an overgrown football field for the NEATly named North Edgbaston Action Team. Several members of the NEAT team had made an early start and gave us an idea of the incredible plans they had for the area, with activities ranging from archery to boot camps to overnight camping.

Everyone got involved, with Louise busy litter picking around the brambles while John and Liam got on with moving all the cuttings into piles ready to be burnt. As the hail came down the fun really began, with small fires started, aidly helped with the addition of some petrol!

Looks like this task will be ongoing for a while so it would be great to get GG more involved!