Litter Saint Nick and his Litter Helper visited the junction between Windmill Lane and Greenford Road to bring presents to the kids of Greenford. They were shocked that instead of well-behaved youngsters, they discovered traces of naughty adults along the road and in the planters behind a bus stop. The evidence of the misbehaviour in the area was linked to the local off-license shops, takeaways... and pharmacies?

The two summoned their magical blue bags, litter-pickers and hoops and rolled up their sleeves to make an example of how the neighbourhood for well-behaved children should look like. Litter Saint Nick and his helper collected four bags of rubbish and a wealth of knowledge about which liquids the local mischiefs like the most.

Have you been naughty this year, leaving your litter on the street? Watch yourself! You don't want to find a bag of your rubbish from Santa in your stocking, do you?

After meeting the Friends of Grove Farm and LAGER Can members at the usual meeting spot, Anna was on hand to provide litter pickers and some bags for the rubbish and litter collection. The group divided into two teams to work along the different paths through Grove Farm, picking up the leftover rubbish. Working along the main road, it was definitely clear that someone had a Bounty craving, with many wrappers found along the same area!

Working our way into the fields of Grove Farm to clear more rubbish dropped in the sides of paths, the team all ended up at the front entrance of the site, to help clearing the fly tipped rubbish.

After bagging up the large items and collecting additional litter around the area and at the sides of the main road, the team wrapped up for the photo… And with a total of 32 bags collected, another great achievement by the team!

The first Grove Farm litterpick of 2024 brought a surprisingly large group of volunteers, despite only one degree above zero in the morning. Anna from Friends of Grove Farm was a solo leader of the session, not sharing the responsibilities with Mike who couldn't make it. She proved she had everything under control and seemed to be everywhere at once!

Miriam was the first to show up at the task, while Runners Sevan and Kash covered an 8 km uphill run. Lizzy came a long way for her first-ever litter-picking session, already sporting her bright red GoodGym top! She made a wise decision and grabbed a hot drink from David Lloyd. The rest of the GoodGymers were freezing their fingers despite wearing double gloves, brrr! ❄️

The clean-up covered mainly the lane between Sudbury Hill station and David Lloyd car park. We occasionally ventured into the bushes to pick up hidden bottles and cans. We had a good reason to do our best to dig them out of there - Anna brought bags for recycling she had from LAGER Can. The nasty brambles were trying to stop us at every step. We are planning a revenge in two weeks. Come and join us!

Sunny morning, quiet streets.
Is it time for litter picks?
3k run for Sev and Kash,
6k for Steph to find some trash.
Acton Gardens needs a hand,
So we joined the residents' band.
Aga and the volunteers
Could have burst into tears,
Seeing a fly-tipping deed,
But she chose to take the lead,
Show GoodGymers all that mess,
They will sort it with no stress!
Collab time with LAGER Can?
With a team much more gets done!
Smiling faces, lots of fun,
Exercise for everyone!
If you had quite shortish legs,
You could have done 3k steps*!
After an hour with the litter,
Coffee made our morning sweeter.

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* Disclaimer: You could do 3k steps if you were Kash 😉 Steph and Sevan with their long legs did 2.5k steps - but every GoodGymer did 2 km of walking on the litter pick alone. What a great, active start to the day!

It's been a while since the Ealing GoodGymers ran along Grand Union Canal further than Bixley Allotments to get to a task in Southall. Sevan and Kash were surprised at how much muddier the towpath got just after the allotment. Steph Ducat always runs from the other side, so he knew exactly what to expect: not only puddles but lots of fly-tipped rubbish too! Michelle opted for a brisk walk to the task through the streets, so she missed the muddy bits but was ready to face a different kind of mess: the litter!

Cathy from LAGER Can, organiser of the litter removal events, brought rolls of blue waste bags and 21 litterpickers for the volunteers today! Armed with the borrowed equipment, the GoodGymers joined Jess, Keith and 27 members of yet another group to make a big difference in the landscape of the canal around N Hyde Bridge.

Who was the other group? We met Gurdeep and other volunteers from Shah Satnam Ji Green ” S ” Welfare Force Wing - or Green S Welfare UK for short - an organisation founded in India, with 60 million registered members worldwide. That's a real force! Their service to the community includes: cleaning common spaces, planting trees, donating blood and serving food. Speaking of food, Green S Welfare UK brought hot fresh samosas, chai and biscuits for other volunteers and made sure that everyone was offered refreshments!

Interesting findings:

• Diya lamps
• Lego bricks
• Spaghetti spoon
• Spanner
• Lingerie
• Car battery
• Makeup kit
• Hello Kitty handbag
• Some hardly used, soggy trainers

Interesting events:

• Delivery driver dropping excess food for the birds in the canal
• Swans getting physical

We are not sure whether those swans were making love or war, but we are certain that the large group of volunteers made a huge difference today. The whole event gathered 60 bags of litter and 70 of unbaggable rubbish. Many hands make light work!

If you can't see the photos inline, try this link instead

GoodGym were once again on hand to help clean up Grove Farm, with this being their last litterpick before Xmas. The grey morning weather may have put off some, but Kash and Sevan tried their best to dodge the puddles on their way to meet Mike and Anna.

"You're going to need a towel and a canoe 😵"" - Mike

Alas, the GoodGymers didn't find a canoe and Mike didn't supply one, so they needed to find their own transport. As Mike led them into the woodland, they collected more and more litter with Kash getting into the Xmas spirit as Litter Claus. The lesser known relative of Santa Claus is known for delivering empty cans of fizz and chocolate wrappers to badly behaved children.

As the ground underfoot got muddier, Mike continued onwards, promising ~~Kash~~ Litter Claus that there was transport ahead that would carry her around Ealing borough on Xmas Eve. Eventually, they arrived at a mattress in the woods. It was no ordinary mattress claimed Mike, it was actually a magic sleigh 🛷

The sleigh was pulled out from the tree cover onto one of the muddy paths, where Litter Claus and Mike loaded it up with waste bags and took the controls. It slid down the slope, but didn't take off. That was a bit of a blow for Litter Claus. It must've run low on magic while sitting in the field, which meant that all of the litter collections and gifting would need to be done on foot this year.

Mike, Anna, Sevan and Litter Claus spent the next hour walking along the main route into Grove Farm, finding the best cans, used wet wipes and lumps of flytipped rubble for the naughty children of Ealing. Maybe some of them are the ones who dumped the litter in the first place 🤔! Some desirable gifts were found too, like a mini Mini and a suitcase ready to head off on an exotic break.

By the end of the session, Grove Farm was a much cleaner place for the local residents to enjoy. As an extra bonus, Litter Claus had built up a good stock of blue sacks which she has squirrelled away, ready for the big day 🎄