16 amazing runners ran 3km to clear dead trees at Vanbrugh Pits!

A slightly smaller group than usual this evening but it didn't stop us doing maximum amounts of GOOD! We headed to a new task at the top of Maze Hill in a nice little conservation area called Vanbrugh Pits! Some people have run through before but to others it was a new discovery and a nice little wildlife haven nestled on the side of Greenwich Park.

After a photo with our shiny new GoodGym flag we headed on up the hill and met Joe who is the Chair of Greenwich Wildlife Advisory Group. He explained a bit about the area and the many species that have been recently thriving and it was our job to help clear some trees to encourage even more biodiversity!

He had been working with a few volunteers earlier in the day to cut down some gorse and other small trees, and it was our task to clear it to the road for the council to hopefully collect tomorrow!

Before we knew it, it was dark and the head torches came out! Side note: If you haven't got one, I definitely recommend picking one up, it will be a big help in tasks throughout the winter where light is scarce! You can pick one up for less than a fiver in Decathlon I think so well worth the small investment!

After we had cleared all the trees and dead branches to the road, we then started cutting down more trees and clearing the area further. Because these trees grow so much and so quickly, they provide a lot of shade so the plants underneath it can't grow as much which can therefore potentially lead to the loss of some wildlife.

30 minutes later and we were pretty much done! We hauled the last few twigs and branches to the pile that now resembled a decent sized bonfire! AWESOME!!

We took a final photo with some extremely professional looking headtorch lighting and then off we went, down the hill and back to the uni for a stretch! We said our goodbyes to some of the group whilst the rest of us headed for some yummy pizza at Franco Manca to finish off a lovely evening!!

A few reminders of things coming up...

GoodGym Super Saturday is happening THIS WEEKEND! There are community missions up and down the country and all over London. We have even listed one in Greenwich for you to get stuck into so if you're around on Saturday morning and have a spare hour or two then get yourself down to Clothes For Causes charity shop to help them get ready for their new shop launch! And in case you didn't know, you don't need a DBS check for Community Missions, you can just go along whether you are mission verified or not! You can see all the listings and more about the day here.

We are also heading to Hilly Fields Parkrun on Saturday morning as well so please join us if you fancy running up some hills! Or you can volunteer of course!

Great work this evening everyone! Joe was so pleased with what you all achieved in such a short space of time! See you next week!