Superb efforts from everyone who took part in litter picks across Portsmouth and beyond today!

Mel and Vicki kicked things off nice and early with a pick at Alexandra Park, although Jane was actually first in with her pick last night! Julie received plenty of praise from passers by as she cleaned up by Lidl. Laura and her dog, Woody, completed an early morning beach clean. It seems Woody was disappointed he didn't find any snacks, only food wrappers!

We've had a trolley retrieved from the chalk cliffs of Paulsgrove by Lucy and Duncan, a beach clean in Bracklesham with an accompanying sea dip for Judy and Val and a whopping 16 mile run with a cemetery litter pick by Andy!

Nia and baby Zoe headed to Southampton Common for their pick, whilst Dave and I took a stroll through Sherwood Forest to burn off a very unnecessary sundae!

Ness and Sinéad focused on the shoreline for their picks at Fort Cumberland and Langstone Harbour respectively.

We'll be back to normal next week with a visit to the You Trust in North End for some painting and decorating. Hopefully see you in person then!

The amount of multi-coloured beach plastic on Tipner shore seemed overwhelming for a solo GoodGymer. So, after filling 2 sacks with rubbish in double-quick time, I decided to focus on just one colour, so that I could feel a sense of achievement for the time spent.

Yellow seemed to choose itself 💛 - it was everywhere.

Now I guess I need to return to do another colour.

A warm welcome to Aditya (Adi) today his first Goodgym task at Victoria Park. We were weeding the rectangular beds along the long path today, removing bind weed, fallen leaves and the odd small branch. In the shade and with a lovely breeze, we were a large group of volunteers and enjoyed plenty of chats. We replaced some of the plants that had been blown away by the recent high winds, and others that had been nibbled by squirrels. The colours are really vibrant at the moment, and with it being the first day of the school summer holiday, it was lovely to see families in the Park enjoying all the amenities. After refreshments, we went on our way. I enjoyed a 99 icecream from the van in the Park on my way home.

Today we were pruning, weeding and dead-heading the rose bushes. The combination of heat and breeze meant that it smelt delicious. The butterflies and bees clearly thought the same and were happily buzzing about. We really noticed the difference in tidiness once finished, and it was off to the Hub for a cool down, a cool drink and biscuits.

Five Good gymmers helped make up 17 crates today at the food bank. The time whizzed by with Lucy, Rob and myself out back, Fiona was on the front desk and Pat serving teas, coffees and cake.☕🍰 Lucy reminded me that this was my 50th GG task, where does the time go! 👕

On my way home from the mission I stopped off at North End Street Garden.

I gave it a much needed drink of water. Which seems much healthier than the drinks it appears to have been having. Beer cans removed successfully!

I then got myself a cold drink to enjoy after a lot of green finger activity post work!