We were once again joined by Alan from Natural Basingstoke for a great session where we went out to Lyford which NB are trying to rewild.

This involved dead-heading the flowers from the Golden Rod plants which aren't native and try to take over areas. Always nice to be outside and there was plently of wildlife out and about.

It was a race against time, but it was a very good session led by Tazmin who was joined by a host of regulars in Sammi, Evelyn, Christine & Yazid

We changed it up last night and combined litter picking with creating a scarecrow for the Dashwood Manor scarecrow competition!

This was an opportunity to show off the great work that we do as a team so we wanted to emphases the litter picking we have done by accessorising with litter found on the day.

We split into two groups, Sammi who brought a lot of the materials for the scarecrow and Evelyn who brought all the newspaper to use as filling worked together to build the base of the scarecrow.

Meanwhile Christine who had come equipped with some great litter found throughout the week, Yazid, Tazmin and I went out litter picking to find litter to add. We were very successful finding lots of bottles, a belt, plenty of small bits and topped off with a purse!

Then we all came together and had the process of naming our gorgeous scarecrow, after some great suggestions we landed on Na-Trash-A. To end the night we ate the delicious brownies baked by Tazmin and Yazid had a little dance with Na-Trash-A.

Can't wait to win first prize tomorrow!

We had a really nice time yesterday joining BVA and Walk N Talk for a mental health walk.

Meeting at the War Memorial Park Christine for her first session with GoodGym beat us all there and was chatting with Jude from Walk N Talk when we arrived.

The purpose of the session was to get out and enjoy a walk while meeting some great people and some conversations about mental health. We got straight into it and I had a great conversation with Sammi & Dan from BVA about mental health, particularly after a long week of work. While Evelyn had a nice long conversation with Jude.

We then went down to Blackdam Pond where we must have seen every duck in Basingstoke!

I think we have a new contender for weirdest bit of litter that we have found in our time here in Basingstoke with a whole number plate!

We had a great time litter picking last night, it was beautiful weather for it and the vibes were high. Lily & Sam joined for their first session and got straight into the swing of it fitting in really easily.

As always Sammi, Yazid & Tazmin were in great form providing plenty of laughs.

In all we collected 4 full bags of litter around the Queens Mary area, we also found some delicious plums which I enjoyed!

We had a great crew at this weeks session, vibes started high with the music going and setting off from the Social Club.

Luke was back for his second session and it was lovely seeing everyone else as well!

We were super productive filling 6 bags of litter from around Kings Furlong up towards Brookvale, unfortunately we didn't find any underwear for national underwear day, but we did find a cache of moldy bread, empty engine oil and a shopping trolley which Yazid naturally got into.

Last night we were back to our roots and did our first litter pick for a long time, and more importantly got back in the playground!

While it was a hot day it thankfully cooled in the evening and there was a great breeze to make it overall a very nice evening.

We had Luke join us for his first session and he immediately fit right in and had a great work effort.

We left the Social club with Sammi & Tazmin down towards the King of Wessex where we were meeting Yazid and picked up litter on the way.

We are starting to get famous in the area as we were recognised and thanked for all the work that we do. From the King of Wessex we went up the hill down to the school and then under the A30 towards Kingsmill.

While we collected plenty of rubbish Basingstoke is looking very tidy and we went long stretches unable to find any rubbish.

We were back at one of our favourite place in Basingstoke this week!

The Dwelling Place is a amazing space providing secure longterm housing for 5 previously homeless people.

This was our second session there, the first session was a complete clear out of the back garden and with that and other work since the space has completely transformed into a blank slate.

Last nights session was the beginning of the rebuilding. We did a lot of carrying from tiles, wooden sleepers to half a tonne of sand. We finished this by laying out some of the sand in preparation for the tiles to go down.

All in all it was a good workout and very satisfying seeing everything that has transformed.

Another great session done! We like spending time down at Eastrop park as it is such a beautiful space!

This week we went from Basingstoke Sports and Social Club to Eastrop Park where we met Sandra from the council. After a bit of stress where we couldn't find all the tools we have previously used we got together everything we could and split into two teams.

Charli, new member Nathan and myself went and did some litter picking and while Eastrop Park is always tidy we were able to find a good collection of rubbish.

Meanwhile Sammi, Evelyn, Tazmin, Yazid & Yeun made the best they could with the available tools and did a lot of clearing of weeds and dirt tidying up beside the boathouse!

We were also joined by Pajinder who saw us volunteering and joined us along with having his daughter providing morale support! Was so nice meeting him after he moved to Basingstoke yesterday! Look forward to seeing you at future sessions.

We were able to make a really nice difference in the space