I think all of us GoodGymmers were secretly praying that some divine influence would come and remove all the rubbish from Rawthorpe Recreation ground, but alas it is not to be. There is so much litter this task will be an ongoing one for some time yet. On our last visit about a month ago we managed to accumulate some 27 bags of waste from a small area of trees and bushes which surround the field, and last night we were back again for another go,

Once again numbers were suffering due to the Easter holidays and just 3 GoodGymmers met at the Stadium ready for the run and the task. It was good to see Meg Deacon back for a second visit and regular Ben Godfrey who is always keen to get stuck in to whatever task is on the GoodGym menu.

With fewer people the run up to Rawthorpe was rattled off pretty swiftly, 3K or so by a slightly circuitous route giving us opportunity for a chat and to get warmed up before the real work commenced. Arriving at the rec it was obvious to see which area we had cleared a few weeks previously, and after a quick re-tidy to collect any bits of newly accumulated litter, it was back to searching in amongst the vegetation for drinks bottles, lager cans, crisp packets, in addition to some other rather less pleasant items.

Litter picking, whilst possibly not the most appealing of tasks can be quite physical, lots of walking, bending and squatting certainly makes you feel like you’re having a good workout. It is also a job where your efforts have an immediate impact. It is easy to see the fruits of your labours, if slightly frustrating to think that our good work will slowly be undone by careless people continuing to drop their rubbish on the rec.

Following 30 minutes in the bushes we turned our attentions to the main field and spent a further period clearing litter from there and the adjacent children’s playground. After an hour of effort it has to be said that the rec certainly looked better. I felt slightly wrecked from the effort myself, but pleased that another GoodGym job had been completed and Rawthorpe Rec looks a little prettier as a result.

As a reward we took the longer route back to the Stadium enjoying an off-road run through Kilner Bank in the evening sunshine. Thanks to Ben and Meg for their efforts last night,hopefully we’ll have some more GoodGymmers back on the job next week.