This Sunday was the monthly clean up event at CREOS, which also means, the monthly GoodGym Haringey Beat The Hill challenge!

CREOS is a lovely space hidden in the heart of Crouch End. It is a haven for wildlife and nature, it is full of friendly locals (and even friendlier dogs!) yet it remains a peaceful sanctuary, too. CREOS have a welcoming team of dedicated volunteers who know their stuff about the area, so when a lone GoodGymmer turned up she was warmly welcomed and promptly put to work with the rest of the clean up team.

Woodchip, Litter Pick, & Dog with a Tennis Ball

First she joined a group of three men shovelling a large pile of woodchip into wheelbarrows. The woodchip was taken into the woodland to replenish the woodland paths that had become swampy and muddy from the recent wet weather of winter. There was much run-chat during this task, about how CREOS was a beautiful place to run through, especially after testing your mettle on the many hills that surround the space. There was also a wonderful Boarder Collie with a tennis ball, who would continually drop the ball at one of our feet, and wait patiently until we took the time between shovelfuls of woodchip to kick it for her to chase. The tennis ball was accidentally kicked into the grounds of the cricket club at one point, an event that we all reacted with perhaps a bit too much of a tragedy response to, but it was all okay as we got it back in the end. Dog with a tennis ball aside, we managed to lay a fair stretch of woodland path with woodchip by the time the task was over. The lone GoodGymmer spent her final 30 minutes helping the litter picking team of volunteers, roaming around the woodland gathering up the various litter that people had chosen to disregard there. It is always so sad to see such a beautiful place of nature being used as a rubbish tip by some people, so to clean it all up again was most rewarding. There was even a prize for the most interesting piece of litter found, some of the contenders were; car number plates, a babies bonnet, and a flag of Dominica.

Beating the Hills

As the lone GoodGymmer was, well, a lone, she beat the hill herself, and ran the 7.5k back to her home Borough of Hackney, proud to have been representing GoodGym at such a beautiful place. Usually, there are more GoodGymmers getting stuck into the graft at CREOS, however, we had many of our runners away running races this weekend (stellar performances, too, I must say!) so there was a smaller GoodGym presence than usual.

Free Food!

CREOS have clean up's on the third Sunday of every month. They are a very friendly group of people and always welcome new volunteers, plus there is a free lunch for you after the task, so it is well worth joining in. Great company, beautiful surroundings, local nature & wildlife, AND food - what's not to like!