Charly and Ben met up in Manchester city centre to embark on a litter picking trail through some of the green spaces in Ardwick 🌳

After a short run to Gartside Gardens, we made a lap of the park, picking up litter as we went. In the high winds, lots of apples 🍎 were scattered around the park from a couple of apples trees 🌳 After filling a sack of rubbish 🗑 and enlisting the help of locals, we moved up to the Hanworth Close allotments, where we found lots of discarded clothes, condoms, butchers dog food, and lots more besides.

More was to come, with the narrow ginnels, alleyways, and footpaths containing some fly tipping, including rugs, pillows, and several Barbie figures, but also the normal plastic bottles and tin cans 🥫🍶🧴

A final collection in the Groom St and Grosvenor St areas gave another few sacks of rubbish, making sure to empty any bottles that still contained liquid.

7 full sacks plus several other large items collected in all. Good collection from a few green sites, particularly following storm Floris.

Laura and I volunteered at Fletcher Moss parkrun event number 258. 476 runners and walkers completed the 5 km course on a pleasant August morning 🏃‍♂️🏃🏼‍♀️👣Lots of buggy runners and dogs! 🐶🐾🐕

Laura was park walker. Ben, ably assisted by Juno, helped with the pre event course check & set up, then marshalled at Mount Fletcher (#3). We had a small contingent of cheers and clappers to encourage the participants back up the slope for their second lap!

22 volunteers helped in all 🦺🌳

Stefanie (plus Greg) and Ben dropped into the Shakespearean Garden in Platt Fields Park to help set up for their National Open Garden Scheme open day and Fallowfest 🌳🍃🌱

Aided by the garden volunteers, we successfully managed to clean and dust down 49 chairs for the seating in the human sun dial square, where a harpist was playing for part of the day.

We managed to set up some of the plant stall, borrow several tables and benches from MUD for use on the cake 🎂 stall and the sketchbook stall, put up 3 gazebos plus a big marquee along with Gavin from the council, and generally help out to ensure the site was ready for a flurry of visitors at 11am 🎪

There was also a mobile piano 🎹 shed that needed moving into place that was played throughout the day.

At the end of the day, while England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 were playing in the Euro final against Spain 🇪🇸, there was also some clear up to put gazebos away, benches and tables folded and stored, and the chairs put back under cover for another day.

Sounded like a popular and successful event from Kattie with the cake stall sold out and a busy event. Happy to help out for a local, community-run group 😀

Divya and Ben joined Gordon, Dan, and Colleen (sp) for the monthly weekend volunteering session with Ardwick Climate Action 🌳

Today, we were clearing the site near the Mancunian Way of weeds, rubbish, and clearing the planters in preparation for their Britain in Bloom 🌱🍃 judging in early August.

Divya and Ben both weeded the area leaving the site clearer and topped up some of the raised beds, while others litter picked and cleared areas nearby. Juno also helped out by keeping watch and raising morale throughout the 2.5 hr session 🐕🐶🐾

Good clearing session and we'll certainly be back.

Despite the stormy weather and circulating thunder ⛈️, Peter and Ben rolled up their sleeves for a strenuous weeding session at Gorse Hill Studios 🌱

Along with Rachel, Cathy, and Duncan from the Studios, we were tasked with removing as much ivy and weeds as possible from the border. It was no small task and with the thunderous background, we set to work with loppers choppers, saw, and secateurs ✂️

We unearthed a lot of roots, rubbish 🗑 tennis balls 🥎 and a broom end (we initially thought it was a hedgehog 🦔). We freed the planted bushes and a rose bush and left the area in a much better state than we found it. Meanwhile, the compost pile is now huge and Rachel measured out the pond area.

Well hydrated with a cup of tea, we also blitzed some weeding at the allotment, watered the polytunnel plants 🪴, and planted cucumber 🥒 and more squash 🎃 in the garden. Job well done all round 👏 💪

Juno, Gosia, and I helped with marshalling and some of the clear up at Stamford Park parkrun event number 442. We were tasked with the final corners that take the 5 km route along Darnton Road.

140 runners and walkers completed the route. Definitely one to run at some point.