This week was all about chalk stream restoration and what a fantastic experience it was! Joining with Abbey People and the Greater Cambridge Chalk Stream Project, GoodGymers got busy at Coldham's Brook helping to restore this rare habitat. 💧

As well as the activity itself, we learned a lot about the ecological value of chalk streams. The porous chalk allows water to seep through quickly, removing organic matter and sediment, which results in very clear, very clean water, and supports a unique array of wildlife. 🌿

Our sessions involved:

• 🗑️ Litter picking - collecting bagfuls of rubbish, unearthing a lot of metal piping, complete bikes and shopping trolleys, and even a bag of Hindu deities (I will try and find their owner!).

• 🧹 Clearing - raking the banks to clear brambles and nettles, creating natural protective barriers.

• 🌿 Seeding - sowing a mix of marginal plant seeds along the banks of the stream to promote biodiversity.

• 🪜 Fencing - installing temporary fencing to protect the area while it establishes.

Catherine also rescued a toad from a near-miss with a rake, making sure it was safely returned to some vegetation on the bank edge. 🐸

EcoNick joined all 3 sessions this week 💪 " There was a serious amount of rubbish to clear from 10 til 2. The next session there isn't for a while so we needed to finish it. It was a really good workout, shifting mangled shopping trolleys. Looking forward to getting in the water more next week, and far far less rubbish!"

The project continues next week the more serene Hobson's brook.

Our last push for the Cambridge City Foodbank winter appeal, delivering the final batch of letter packs across Cambridge.

Learning my lesson from last time (that it is quite hard to run for miles with 10kg of leaflet packs on your back) we had less of a group run and more of a group cycle with Caroline cycling furiously across town to meet me in Newnham and finish the leaflet delivery we started last month. Michele delivered a large batch of packs to houses in the centre of Cambridge, and all in, we distributed another 500 packs.

Earlier on in the day, Nick (top UK recycler) had been at it again with the litter picking, keeping the streets of Cambridge clean ♻️

Litter picked and leaflet packs delivered, we headed for a "quiet" drink. With the music pumping, there was a tactical switching of bars before any moves came out. As always, in the company of GoodGymers and with some much needed laugher, the social was a fantastic way to end the month!

For this morning's task we spent our time helping Abbey People at the Margaret Community Orchard. Our aim was to clear a path to find a hidden pond. Nick and Harriet donned their gloves and picked up shears and loppers to take on the thorny task of cutting down a forest of brambles. We managed to clear a path to a rather malodorous pond. Nick valiantly endeavoured to clear debris from the pond. The sun came out to reward us and we were serenaded with some lovely birdsong.

Alongside our weekly community missions, GoodGymers in Cambridge have been out doing good across the city, helping the local community and pushing us closer to our January Challenge target!

Nick cleared litter from some of the worst hit areas. Not only did he clear it, he sorted the recyclables to ensure they were disposed of responsibly and reported fly-tipping to the council.

Michele did an extra leaflet drop for Cambridge City Foodbank covering another two streets on a daily walk.

Catherine took a plastic tub to a Greene King pub in support of Macmillan Cancer Support.

Great work team 🙌

This weekend, a group of goodgymers helped out with parkruns all around Cambridge!

At our first Brook Leys parkrun of 2026, Catherine and Caroline had an early start to set-up the course. Beginning with signage around the lake, the duo then set up the start area and got creative with some cones to set up a 2-way system at a tight corner. They even bumped into some of the Girls That Jog at the start line 💪

All this served as a good warm-up to then run the course together, with Ross and Nick joining for even more goodgym representation 🪧🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Over at Fulbourn Hospital parkrun, Harriet had a full roster of volunteers to coordinate, and the session was a complete success! 🏆

As is becoming somewhat of a tradition, the group enjoyed pastry treats and some hot drinks to warm up afterwards 🥐☕️