Our group run this week had a unexpected twist as our 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️ and cyclists 🚴‍♂️ 🚴‍♀️ headed out to the task at Ferndale Allotment.
After meeting at our usual rendezvous point, and briefing the team on the evening task, we headed off, runners, cyclists and walkers. As the walkers got near to the task site, there was quite a commotion. The runners and cyclists had stopped as they had witnessed a car accident (thankfully no-one was hurt) and had called the police to attend. After checking the team were all ok, the walkers headed to the allotment to start the litterpick task while the others stayed to give statements to the police 🚔 🚔. Once all back together at the allotment, the team had a successful tidy up on the plots we were asked to tidy and the communal areas and then we all headed back to town. Interesting evening and the first time statements have provided by Goodgymers to the police on a Luton Group run. Great effort everyone.

We had a team of eight join up with the other friends of People's Park to carry out a thorough cleanup of the park.

Weeks of nice weather had attracted lots of daytime park users who left all the usual litter scattered around the fields bushes and trees of this large site. There was also a fair bit of evidence of a night time economy, as well as the fly tipping of a few random items, this time a push chair, a freezer drawer, a walking stick and a children's ride on car thing were the main features of an impressive haul of 16 bags of rubbish!

All seemed normal on this week's group run as we headed up the hill to the giant Welcome to Luton gravel sign on the hill by the motorway. 🛣️

But on arrival we found an unusual guest waiting for us. It was a member of the BBC Three Counties Radio team with the news that we have been nominated for the Three Counties People Awards! Our task was given a lovely boost as we were asked to record some audio about GoodGym, what we do and why we love it. In between planes roaring overhead we all got a chance to say a bit about ourselves and also wish BBC 3CR a happy 40th birthday, ready for the celebration in a few weeks.

All of that showbiz stuff aside we also managed to weed the gravel, sort the black and white pebbles back into their right places and get the sign looking great again and welcoming all the drivers and pilots on their approach to Luton!

Beautiful spring sunshine welcomed us as we gathered at the Green Flag to launch another round of the monthly People's Park litter pick.

Splitting up and roving around the park we collected all the litter dropped by recent park users enjoying the warm weather.

The trees in the orchard also got a thorough watering with those on that task getting lots of steps in by having to walk watering cans out from the nearby houses and across to field to the trees and return for refills.

When our time was up we returned to the flag with our collected bags to count them up: 14 bags in total, not bad for a morning in the sun 🌞

Building connection meeting new people growing stronger Inside and out improving fitness while making real difference

This week our Group Run took us up the hill to the sunny Ferndale Leisure Gardens, an allotment space that had been underused for some time and needs the old plots clearing out of all the old junk collected by past tenants to make inviting open spaces ready for new tenants.

In this visit we tackled a tough patch that we couldn't deal with last time. There was a pile of something buried under thick brambles. This time we brought some clippers to cut away the bramble and gain access. It was a pile of corrugated metal roof panels, old windows and wooden pallets among other random buckets and broken spades and old hose pipe.

With seven of us on the case we managed to extract all the junk and carry it up the hill to the entrance gate and sorted it into piles of wood, plastic and metal which will be collected for recycling.

We'll be back here again in a few weeks because theres plenty more plots that need clearing out!