We met up and discussed the latest football results (2-1 Chelsea being second to 3-1 Ipswich). Ben became the responsible adult and said we should set off to make Fay's target time of arrival. So we did!

Speeding down the high street it was lovely to see the christmas decorations out just in the nick of time - they get turned on in mid-November. We posed with them to ensure Fay was rage filled. Martin may escape as he is still basking in the glory of leading the quiz team to glory on Sunday.

Arriving at Hearing Help, Sallyann and Fay weren't even there! They shortly arrived in matching red jackets after we asked the lovely Sarah what we were painting.

In the fading light we gave the old painters a new lease of life. Hopefully they look ok in daylight! Andy actually had a use for once, shining the headtorch while nattering and not doing any work. Who knows. And hopefully Ben didn't get too much paint on the ground...

We headed back over the new bridge to base and parted ways after confirming Parkrun volunteer date later this month! Come along!

A crack team of determined GoodGymers overcame adversity to clear two bags of litter from the streets of Chelmsford.

Richard braved a squeam-inducing injury he sustained a few days earlier, Fay shook off illness and Jen battled through traffic to join the group.

The runners met Fay by the river where we started our litter picking duties.

As the night got colder and darker, Jane and Andy made everyone jealous with plans for breaks in warmer climes, while Martin wondered if there were any GoodGym groups in Scotland. Apparently not.

After finding the south of the river surprisingly tidy, the group crossed a bridge so new that it doesn’t appear on Google Maps’ satellite view and struck litter gold around the Meadows car park, with cans and bottles carefully extracted from hedges.

Good work everyone!

Rain all day stopped play at the church where some painting was needed. We met at the gym hoping the clouds wouldn't follow through with any more of the wet stuff and set off for a pre-litter picking jog.

Andy explained he was picker extraordinaire after his festival volunteering at the weekend, which Jane watched with home comforts although I do understand you could buy a ticket for your chair if you wanted to bring it with you.

Sallyann proved she should have been a hostage negotiator after getting exactly what she wanted for upcoming retirement. Maybe it's not too late to retrain. Leah didn't let the chain link fence stand in her way and aggressively retrieved junk that people were clearly tossing into difficult spaces for fun (why?!).

Fay will be available for any eligible bachelors to try on the abandoned flipflop over the weekend but I'm not sure that it will guarantee a marriage proposal, possibly some Marriage's animal feed given the location.