This evening we found a few surprising things that people had dumped, fly-tipped and tossed into the bushes around Abbey Fields. Along with the usual wrappers, bottles, dog poo in bags and take away cartons we cleared up an iron - but an armchair and a set of pots and pans were to big for our sacks unfortunately.

Five goodgymers headed out in the darkening twilight to make Colchester a bit cleaner. Five bags of rubbish collected including a very wet shoe!

Hoping our litterpicking efforts encourage a tidier population!

Well done goodgymers, our first session in our new community led format. It's a team effort, come join us!

Collected five bags of rubbish in total - helping the wildlife and green spaces to breathe a little. Lots of odd items, but plenty of the usual suspects. Spotted a few butterflies, a great tit and some ducks on the river.

Famous Five go down to the river...

We gathered at the Mercury for the task brief from Tav, and a quick discussion about running news. Bob is planning ahead for next year's half marathon, so if you're also considering it - you'll be in good company! We took a meandering route this evening, taking in a sweep past the college, a duck under the tunnel, a poke along the river and a rummage in the bracken. Notable finds on our litter pick included two socks, numerous drinks cans and bottles, vaping paraphernalia, cigarette butts a plenty and a plastic spoon. Join us next time for fun, fitness and doing good!

This weeks' dedicated group of volunteers gathered for a community litter pick, led for the first time by me! as a newly trained run leader. We set out to restore the park’s beauty, making it a cleaner and more pleasant as the summer evenings set in.

Fresh off my performance in the Colchester 10k, I tried to bring the energy and leadership to the task with a little warm up. We were also thrilled to welcome a new member to our team, Kerry. Kerry, shared exciting news about an upcoming trip that has everyone eager to hear about her future adventures. Her positive spirit and eagerness to contribute are a wonderful addition to our group.

Our team worked diligently, scouring the park and surrounding areas collecting four(ish) bags of litter. Following the litter pick, some of us enjoyed a jog through the now pristine park. Always nice to get out in warm evening and make a positive impact while enjoying the beautiful outdoor spaces Colchester has to offer.

Thank you to everyone who participated, onto the food bank next week!

It was an evening of first good deeds, hill runs and battling litter warriors on the footpaths of Balkerne Hill and St Mary's Fields. Not to mention the happy return of Denise and credit for the report title!!

So a big welcome to Daisy for her first good deed with Goodgym, making Colchester a bit tidier and doing some powerful fitness! (Enjoy Scotland)

The evening started at The Mercury Theatre where we set to grab a few discarded cigarette butt's next to the Hole in the Wall pub and head down the hill. The mowers had been out which means that litter gets shredded and harder to pick, but the pathway from Sheepen Road to St Mary's field had (unfortunately) the usual amount of litter, much of which was frustratingly out of reach. Find of the evening was a pannier, chucked on top of the brambles which between us we managed to grab and bin!

To finish up, we got warm with some dynamic stretches and a did some progressive hill running/sprinting!

Good job all and enjoy your week!