On a literally freezing night in Brum we had 4 hardy GoodGymers who did some good, followed by a good old old school GG Brum workout!

We set off on a litter pick around the JQ with Morwenna finding a frozen sock hence the pun!

After walking for a good while, we were all pretty cold so it was time for a run. We took a route around the JQ finishing in St Paul's Square ready for some circuit work!

This is what we did a lot of pre-pandemic so it was great to have it back! We had mountain climbers, squat jumps, tuck jumps and finished with the dreaded wall squat! Everyone worked hard, Eve and Morwenna mentioning they would no doubt feel it tomorrow and James getting warm enough to strip down to just a t-shirt!

Once done it was a nice steady jog around to 1000 Trades. Great work everyone :)

Tonight the fearless five headed out on our traditional festive run in Bournville taking in the famous Christmas tree! This year however it was quite frankly disgusting weather! Very heavy rain and squelchy feet didn't stop us doing a 6km run around Bournville culminating in the famous tree.

Well done to John for his longest run!

We also took in the neighbourhood lights and the air ambulance tree which is up every year to raise money.

Well deserved pints and burgers were needed as we evaporated.

Tonight, was the GoodGym Xmas do! We did a litter pick around the Jewellery Quarter. Before being greeted by carol singers in 1000 Trades.

We then headed to Cathedral Square for more festivities.

To fast forward before we even begin, we were super excited to find a bucket stating ‘The A Team’ - it really was a great night of teamwork at Friends of the Earth!

Hugh had previously joined us on a litter pick in the JQ and he was so helpful and welcoming, standing in and showing us the ropes as he stood in for his colleague. Eve and Annie checked through the job list and the three of us rummaged through the stash of materials brilliantly positioned behind the bike rack, all ready for us to crack on!

While Eve and Hugh swept up piles of leaves and twigs around the side of the building, Annie took a bag and picked up some litter on surrounding streets - returning with lots of support to trim trailing ivy off the silver birch, ensuring it looked nice and tidy!

The space was soon looking pretty clear and we just had some weeding to do out front. Kept us warm having plenty to do and we could feel the warmth and festive vibes from The Warehouse Café too!

Special thanks again to Hugh, who offered a spontaneous helping hand as well as guiding us to compost bins and sharing all sorts of useful knowledge! And Eve rocked up to run and do a good deed after spending a busy day away on work - r e s p e c t all round!

Friends of the Earth is always varied and fun, a lovely team and we usually learn interesting stuff too - this week’s was no different and we can’t wait to be back helping out in the new year!

We had a lovely time delivering leaflets to support a community event in Stirchley. Our wonderful Amy is now on the comittee for Stirchley Community Market, volunteering her time to organise the market. It is on the 7th December and you can sign up to volunteer!

Special well done to Eve and Liam who ran around 5k to get to the task!

We did several streets, Amy and Chris did loads of businesses too. Afterwards we all went to the pub for well deserved drinks!