We set off from the Showroom (which was much busier than usual thanks to DocFest) eager to take the high road to Burngreave to engage in some trashy behavior. There we met Malcolm and his team of Pitsmoor Pickers who were waiting for us at the junction of Andover St and Richmond St. Our job for the evening was to clear Somerset Open Space and the immediate vicinity of any rubbish. It turned out that there was quite a lot to pick up. Some notable finds were: a mattress, lots of large Nitrous Oxide canisters, and a few bike wheels. There was a little bit of drizzle whilst we were wombling away, but this didn't dampen our spirits.

After an hour of persistent picking we headed back to the Showroom to stretch off (and watch one of the documentaries being showcased there). I was unexpectedly thrust into the driving seat at the last minute for the session tonight. Therefore, I had not planned any fun fitness activities.

Tonight a great group of GoodGymers ran to help Common Thread, a group who promote ethical fashion through clothes exchanges. They are made up of sharers and repairers who enable the swapping of clothes.

Upon arrival at their base on the corner of Union Street and Charles Street we were met by Jess and her team of other volunteers. We had a brief introduction to the project and then she outlined what tasks there were for us to get stuck into. The two main jobs for the evening were making signs and placards promoting reducing, reusing and recycling clothing, and piecing together old clothing rails, discarding the dud ones.

James and Rachel took on the job of rail assembly, delving into the depths of the building via a rickety old lift to search out hidden iron. The railing components were taking outside of the building to allow room for construction. Most of the rails were complete and functioning- each component of a full set was marked with a symbol so that if parts got muddled up in future, the correct bits could be easily located. The sets were then tied together with old bike inner tubes, a great bit of 're-cycling'!

Meanwhile, everyone else was making signs promoting the ethos of the initiative with various puns- right up our street! There was a list of phrases to be painted on to old bits of cardboard box pieces. We have some very creative, talented artists in GoodGym Sheff it seems.

After all was said and done, we said our goodbyes and headed off for some box-jumping activity in Pinball Park.

Swimming up a post industrial river is no mean feat when you are a salmon, trout or grayling. All these weirs get in your way of making it to the spawning grounds in the nice gravelly upstreams; and thats no exception on our local Don river and its tributaries.

Thankfully, fish passes have been built on the weirs.

Where there's a weir, there's a way!

But these must be checked regularly for obstructions; Leaping to the task were a (s)t(r)out team of GoodGymers: Rachel, Michelle, Cat, Celine, as well as Helen whose first GoodGym deed it was! Welcome Helen!

We were joined by Matt from Charity DCRT who shared his knowledge of all things weirs, fish passes and local wildlife with us, including the sand martins and the nest box in Kelham island - I'd never noticed that before!

Observing wildlife never fails to lift my spirits - it's always amazing to notice it on your doorstep, even in our urban environments. Giving wildlife a little care is even better! Join us on our next weir watch!

Thank you for all the fish (passes)...

5 Goodgymmers ran up to Durham Ox and met up with David. He handed all the tools to us and explained the tasks. Mainly clearing the cycle paths, cutting off shrubs and bushes that are in the way. Also litter picking, sweeping and clearing. Later Simon Heller came to volunteer too. Lovely to see a familiar face again and I ended up in the pub with him. Bad Gymmer with a glass of small red wine but very enjoyable.