Today’s activity at the cafe went very smoothly with an early finish. We were happy to welcome a new goodgymer at the cafe to help with setting up and cleaning up of the Newns building.

8 if Luton Goodgyms finest came out to support the Friends of Leagrave Park along with Kevin from ABCD-IN-LUTON for the first litterpickof 2025. The members from the local community made the numbers up to 14 attendees and as ever we found an eclectic mix of rubbish 🗑 in the hour and a half we were there. A bread basket, a tyre and the rear windscreen of a car to go with the 24 bags of rubbish we all collected, but for me the most interesting find was a bollard from a local car park. it was heavy but I managed to move it to a place it can be collected by the council and returned to its rightful place. Shockingly Omar found a knife which Kevin from ABCD-IN-LUTON has dealt with in the appropriate manner. Great effort as ever team. Well done 👏

Well it wasn't one and it wasn't a million but it certainly felt like it.

There were actually 4 GoodGymers who attended the January Jobs Fair in the Mall, and little did we know as we helped with the set up just how popular the event would be. Staged in the centre of Luton Point, Omar, Gill and Ali helped the employers to set up their stalls with tables, chairs and banners. And then were were stationed by the entrance to the cordoned off area to support people registering their details and completing the online attendance form. Before we knew it there was a huge crowd of job seekers all keen to talk with the representatives from various NHS and care sector departments. We were expecting to see about 100 to 200 hundred people, but the queues kept on growing and it felt like there were a million. It was just over a thousand in fact (but always room for poetic license). Derya had to finish the task early and handed the iPad back to Omar who did a stirling job of gate keeping. Ali was as enthusiastic as ever as he supported Matt with all sorts of tasks and helped to managed the registrations. Gill helped people with their enquiries and was also on hand with a QR code supporting people to fill out registrations on their smart phones. Its was a long morning, and definitely a physical task as we were on our feet constantly. Matt form LBC was effusive with his praise for GoodGym as he said he didn't know how they would have managed without us. "You're all one in a million!" were his parting words.

On a slightly chilly Sunday morning, three dedicated GoodGym members, including new member Derya on her first task, joined up with the Wildlife Trust at Blows Downs. We tackled the job of clearing scrubland, cutting back brambles, and undergrowth to support the conservation of the area.

The hilly terrain made it a bit of a challenge, but we all got stuck in and worked together to make a visible impact. It was great to see Derya involved in her first mission with such enthusiasm, and we’re excited to see her on future tasks. Well done to Omar too who despite initially getting lost finding the group quickly made up for lost time by single-handedly flattening a whole overgrown area in no time at all!