8 intrepid GoodGymers made their way to a stretch of the Liverpool Loop Line, an old railway line that is now a popular route for cyclists, runners and walkers.

We met up with Keith, a volunteer from Sustrans who instructed us on the use of ‘Tree Poppers’ a clever piece of kit used to uproot tree sapling. Keith showed us how to identify Ash saplings by their black buds, as this was the species that needed to be removed as the area already has dense woodland.

Poppin' 'n' Loppin'!

We got to work popping out saplings while other used saws and loppers to cut the felled trees into smaller lengths that we used to make habitat piles away from the path for small mammals to nest in.

Shout out to Jo who competed her 50th good deed today, and along with many of our group, this was her 4th task of the day!

We always enjoy our sessions with Sustrans, they always come up with something interesting to do, we learn something new and get to use some impressive tools. We hope to join them again in the spring.

As part of the January Challenge 10 top runners enjoyed a bonus Group Run on a Saturday, working with Sustrans on the Liverpool Loop Line.

We may have met on a different day at a different meeting point but it was the same great people, doing good while getting fit. After a warm up in a church car park, we enjoyed an uninterrupted and car-free 2km down the green way known as the Loop Line, which forms part of the longer Trans Pennine Trail.

After our short run we were met by Sustrans coordinator David who provided a clear safety briefing and set us off with a variety of tasks. Sadly there was a lot of litter, with random items including bedding, a baby bouncer and two buckets collected by our dedicated pickers. There was also a lot of dead wood, which we cut and sawed to transform into a hedgehog house and then a hedgehog mansion! David entertained the group with facts about our lovely woodland friends. And he told us the (TRUE) story of England's prehistoric elephants (no, really!).

A big shout out to first-timer Fran - you did great, thanks for getting stuck in. We hope you'll run with us again soon. And also to Anne who joined us from our north west neighbours GG Stockport.

With the luxury of daylight on our side for once, we spent a full hour at the task and the Sustrans team was really impressed with what was achieved in that time. Hopefully the hedgehogs will be equally impressed ;)

Thanks to everyone for who gave up their Saturday morning to get fit and do good. As I write, these extra good deeds take us back to second place in our division but we're still a long way off hitting our January Challenge target. If you want to help us reach our goal, join tomorrow's Community Mission led by Pauline at Sefton Park. Then sign-up for Monday's Group Run and invite a friend, colleague, sibling, stranger at the gym... to join us too.

P.S. Kudos to Emma for the pun!