Oops… the World and his Wife descended very early on the beach today, so that us Goodgymmers combined with a few Bournemouth Ploggers decided to stay well clear of that crazy area. And yet there was still plenty enough to litterpick: a sink (?), a wrench (yay, for being useful to Harry) and two bicycle frames were among the unusual stuff. For the rest: yes, butts (!!!), cans, bottles, tissues, sweet wrappers…. The chine, the viewpoint, the car park and some surrounding roads were scoured by the nine of us. Plenty picked, lots sweated, so a cool drink and icecream in Keith and Lea’s garden was very welcome. Thank you everyone for turning up on this crazy “walk over the heads beach” day. I will try and be more careful when planning our next litterpick!!! Council has been informed of the flytipping pile, 🤞 they have time to remove it!

Three Goodgymmers , Roger, Keith and Lea, got together with Nick from Diverse Abilities to move wood from one shed to another shed… A short task so we could start on the next one: removing hemlock, which is poisonous, from the Forest School Garden. We also attacked brambles and stingy nettles. Unfortunately the stingy nettles attacked back, ouch!!! After a water break we finished by watering the garden and removing weeds from the swing area. BTW Nick was pointing out lots more jobs he has in mind for us. Hopefully the turnout will be a bit better next time.

Four Goodgymmers, Roger, Keith, Lea and Sylvie, together with three Bournemouth Ploggers, Gemma, Katherine and Tom, got together to do another beach and surroundings litterpick. Armed with foldable (!) litterpicks, a wonky litterpick and “ordinary” litterpicks we set off, not before we got our gloves on and binbags ready. Keith’s first find was proof of a good party at the top of the chine: a canister with nitrous oxide… nope, not in the binbag, not in the bin, dutifully dropped off at the beach office. And the needle found in the car park: properly disposed of as well! Dangerous job, litterpicking!! Unfortunately no amazingly interesting finds this time, just the usual bottles and cans and, of course, again zillions of butts, making our designated “buttgrabber” Lea ecstatically happy… yeah duh!! Durley Chine being renowned for its deserted pooh bags did not live up to its reputation… i.e. we didn’t beat the still standing record of 24 poohbags. Agily Tom and Gemma climbed over fences to reach lower down places. Why of why people, do you throw your rubbish into bushes, down cliff sides etc. The “leave no footprints” message has obviously not reached everyone yet. But with seven of us going round, there was plenty litter collected, so that we could sit down for a well-earned cuppa afterwards. Thanks everyone for your hard work.

Three Goodgymmers, Roger, Keith and Lea, got their litterpickers out to see what they could find this time. Well, Lea being the designated “buttgrabber” lost count of the zillions of butts she had to pick up around all the benches. Keith and Roger scoured the path down to the beach from the top of the Tropical Gardens. Then on the beach itself… The recent rain and stormy weather had certainly washed up an abundance of nurdles, so at the end of our task the binbags weren’t overflowing but full of horrible tiny bits and pieces! And unfortunately there were no amazing finds, just ordinary boring rubbish, but at least it’s in the bin now and no longer on the beach! With binbags emptied in the big bin on the prom, and three litterpickers, including one wonky one, put to the side, we went off for a coffee! BTW the binbags are ready and waiting for next Saturday, hopefully there will be a few more of us?!?!

Millie, Sophie, Emma, Harry, Eleanor, Daryl, Roger, Keith and Lea all got together at Langside School where Nick had more tasks for us to do. Cham, new to Goodgym and to all of us, managed to find us and was raring to go. Sylvie arrived “a tad” 🤪 later…. To summarise today’s task: we were cutting, grabbing and tossing! Cutting A LOT, sweeping A LOT, grabbing A LOT, and the best part of it: tossing A LOT!!! The taller than tall hedge at the front of the school was attacked by the strimmer together with Harry and Daryl, with Cham sweeping to his heart’s content. Millie, Sophie and Emma got busy cutting back the rosemary bush and the garlic…making the air fill with lovely smells. At the back Keith started off cutting back major bushes on the edge of the playground. He was joined by the front squad and later on by Sylvie. Oh and not to forget about Roger: our ACE jetwasher, attacking the dirt on another classroom. As photos show: we got an awful lot done; very much appreciated by Nick who rewarded us with some sweet smelling bathbombs. What a Lush smell 🤗 And… Eleanor was proudly showing off her 50 good deeds tshirt! 😃 Thanks everyone for all your hard 💪 work!