It's amazing how much you can do in 30 minutes, Mumtaz, Laurence and Rowan headed to Bolton Solidarity Community Association to support with a site tidy up and a sudden downpour certainly hurried things along somewhat.

After a short, 1 mile run over from our meeting point at The Sir Jason Kenny Centre, the three of us blitzed the litter that had gathered in bushes, hedgerows and the various corners around the outside of the community centre and collected four full bags in just 30 minutes!

An awful lot can be done in a collective 90 minutes of effort, squeezed into just 30 minutes, especially when getting rained on!

This week we headed to a shared community garden in Bromley Cross to continue clearing some overgrown weeds, brambles and the branches from a fallen tree.

It was really satisfying to see that since we last visited, around 6 weeks ago, the garden is now blooming with long forgotten tulips and lots of other shrubs and flowers.

Laurence and Rowan were joined by Maryam who has lived across the road from the garden for more than 60 years. She regaled us with stories of the garden over the years, enjoying reminiscing about times gone by. She mentioned how people have started to notice the difference in the garden too.

Between us we opened up the space to bring in more light and space for the beautiful plants and trees to grow and we are all really excited to see the garden in full bloom over the coming weeks.

Last night’s session saw us head over to Breightmet with a clear mission: tackle a well-known grot spot near St Catherine’s School that’s become a magnet for litter. It didn’t take long to see the scale of the issue, but armed with gloves, bags, and a bit of determination, we got straight to work.

We focused our efforts on the stretch leading down towards Newby Road, an area particularly affected, and over the course of an hour put in a proper shift. By the end of the session, we’d filled six bags with rubbish - everything from general litter to some more stubborn, long-forgotten waste. A solid, visible impact in a relatively short space of time.

We had a really positive response from the local community and we spent time chatting with residents who stopped by, many of whom were grateful to see something being done about the area. There was real curiosity too- people asking about GoodGym, how it works, and how they might get involved, as well as interest in the local volunteer opportunities and Volunteer Vaults in the area. It’s always a good sign when a task not only improves a space but also sparks conversations and connections.

Despite the progress, it’s clear there’s more to do here. This wasn’t a one-and-done job, but very much the start of reclaiming the space. The good news is - we’ll be back. With more time and more hands, we can continue to turn this hotspot into something the community can feel proud of again.

Great effort all round, well done and thank you to Laurence for joining in!

We headed back to support the brilliant Bolton Lads & Girls Club at their Spa Road facility this week.

It was great to see the site thriving with young people inside and out and really satisfying to know we were contributing to creating a more welcoming environment for everyone by litter picking the main entrance area.

We finished off with a lap of nearby Queens Park - a great night all round! Thanks to Laurence for joining in!

Our latest community mission took us to a communal garden in Bromley Cross that had become overgrown and was in need of some TLC.

Over the course of 90 minutes Laurence and Rowan set to work removing a fallen tree, cutting back brambles (which fought back hard!), clearing weeds and pruning some of the trees and bushes.

Almost immediately the garden was looking like it had done in its glory days!

A real highlight was being joined by Mariam, an 84-year-old resident who lives in the cottage opposite the garden. Mariam's husband had built the garden walls and taken great pride in the garden many years ago and it was a real pleasure helping bring it back to life. Mariam shared vivid stories of her life and the area’s history, speaking fondly of a time when her toilet was located in the garden, recalling how she would wear a miner’s helmet with a lamp if she needed to go out during the night. She also recounted her years working in the nearby mill and shared early memories of wartime in Bolton.

Mariam even joined in with the garden clearance and was delighted with the progress we'd made in such a short time.