We didn't think last night's task of removing fly-tipping from the Rawthorpe estate was too much of a raw deal.....it was a tough one however!

It’s always good to get a visitor from another GoodGym area, and last night Tom Elcock from GoodGym Leeds made his way over here for an evening with the Huddersfield crew. He joined regulars Kati Law, Ben Godfrey and myself for the 3K run up to Rawthorpe Community Centre where we met GoodGym friend and Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing Officer Sharon Donaghy.

We always like Sharon’s jobs because she is so efficient and organised. Prior to our task Sharon spends time scouring her patch identifying and listing all the household items the local residents have left outside their homes. When we arrive she gives us a list of locations and we simply run around removing the refuse and making the estate a much more pleasant place to be.

Last night saw us shifting the usual array of broken chairs, tables and mattresses along with some larger items including a discarded dishwasher and a gas oven that had obviously become surplus to the owners requirements. As you can imagine the workout comes not just from the run, but also moving these bulky domestic items into neat piles by the side of the road to collected by the estate caretakers in their truck the following morning.

By the end you of the session we had collected a good 30 items of varying shapes and sizes, and Sharon once again pronounced herself very happy and grateful for GoodGym’s help in keeping her patch clean and tidy. With a sense of satisfaction we ran the remaining kilometre or so downhill back to the Stadium confident that once again GoodGym had in some small way made Huddersfield a better place to be. Well done team....great effort!