Last night eight runners ran 2km to help the Chatsworth Residents Association tidy up the litter and cut back the bushes from outside the residents assisted living flats.

The first signs of the warm weather of spring we saw on Monday evening were washed away by the wet and chilly evening of Tuesday night, but we were still able to enjoy the added hour of sunshine after the clocks changed at the weekend. It is so good to be back to doing GoodGym in the daylight!

We gave a very warm welcome to Emily who joined us for her first GoodGym task. We warmed up and then broke into two groups to run and walk to the task, arriving at very nearly the same time! Josi met us on Chatsworth Road and showed us what we would be doing. It is a small patch of land with thick shrubs which, after closer inspection, were hiding a wealth of tin cans and beer bottles under their branches and roots. Armed with garden shears, Emily and Conroy proved very skilled at pruning some of the overgrown bushes back so that everyone could use the litter pickers to dig out shiny treasure from underneath. Although they were destined for the bin, the satisfaction of retrieving them from the tangle of roots and branches was very rewarding. We tidied up all the green waste and the litter bags were collected by the bin men just as we were finishing up.

Satisfied that the area was looking a lot smarter than when we started, and Josi delighted with how quickly the transformation happened with the power of many GoodGym helpers, we headed off to our monthly social in BoxPark for some tasty food and a catch up.

Sign up for our task next week when we will be helping out in Croydon