I joined Friends of Lesnes Abbey and Woods for their monthly litter pick, where ten of us braved the heat.

Three volunteers stayed to scour the ruins area which was pretty quiet today.

Seven of us branched out to Knee Hill and the woods area which was quite cool and shady. We speeded around the route and collected a few bags of rubbish each so it was a successful couple of hours.

At one point we was greeted by a field mouse who wanted to lend a hand with the litter pick 🐭! We also found a thermostat - the heat didn't need to be turned up today 🥵.

We came back together and did a stroll back to Chestnut cafe where it was an order of cold canned drinks all-round as we sat to cool of in the Monks Garden before heading home.

We'll be back again next month - we'd love to have you along for a lovely chatty morning in nature which really makes a difference.

This morning saw me back as Run Director at Bexley parkrun unexpectedly as this week’s original RD had a last minute change of plans.

A shortage of RDs who were otherwise engaged, meant me stepping forward to occupy the role.

I am staying local as I’m off to see Gorillaz at Tottenham Stadium this evening. Nothing I might add in connection with the recently approved Go Ape in Danson Park!

Fortunately, the volunteer roster was already full so a lot of the organisation had been done.

Just over 400 participants, ran or walked resulting in another successful parkrun.

What did you do last night?

We spent a lovely hour in nature, building bug hotels for Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School.

Seven of us headed to the school, where a stack of pallets and bricks was waiting to be transformed into new habitats for insects and other tiny residents.

Working in two teams, each took on a hotel of their own. We started with an upturned pallet and filled it with leaves, twigs, fallen branches gathered from around the grounds, plus a haul of pine cones we’d collected and brought along. Once each layer was packed, we set bricks at the corners to act as spacers and repeated the process. By the end we'd created the bug equivalent of two multi‑storey skyscrapers!

Afterwards we enjoyed a slice of battenburg cake (I know, when was the last time you had battenburg!) which rounded off the session very nicely!

It was a really peaceful, enjoyable task: gentle activity, plenty of fresh air, and lots of good chat. And best of all, the new habitats will support the school’s eco learning curriculum, giving pupils a chance to explore and understand the wildlife right on their doorstep.

Next week it's something completely different when we visit Parkview Care Home where they always have something lined up to keep us busy, with their lovely residents lending a hand. Sign up here.

Peter and I signed up to help at Eltham Park junior parkrun.

Peter was one of the two timekeepers and I marshalled the first base.

When the tailwalker passed me I could step down but noticed there were queues for barcode scanning so got my phone out, fired up the app and helped scan the 184 finishers.

This was their second highest attendance, just short of the 188 record four weeks ago.

It's brilliant being part of the hi-viz team that makes it all possible - if you're looking for a fun way to get into volunteering, the parkrun community is a great place to start.

A monumental milestone was achieved in the UK this morning - parkrun celebrated its one millionth event! And GoodGymer Graham was part of the party as Run Director at Bexley parkrun.

Graham reflects on the role of volunteers:

This awesome achievement has been reached by a significant contribution, rain or shine, from volunteers, sometimes referred to as parkrun hi-viz-heroes.

There are numerous roles you can play each week, including timekeeping, marshalling, handling out finish tokens and scanning barcodes so each and every runner/walker will receive their finishing position and time after the event.

Who are these volunteers?

At Bexley parkrun, we have young persons doing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, runners willing to give up a run and non-runners who simply like to be part of the parkrun family and use volunteering to achieve this.

There are “milestone” t-shirts to be earned for volunteering 25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 times. Obviously, if you are a GoodGymer, you can earn two credits - parkrun and GG - in one morning 🌟🌟!

If you fancy joining in for a fun experience, register with parkrun to get your parkrun ID, and then look for volunteering opportunities - your offer will always be appreciated. A full list of roles and responsibilities can be found on the website.

Volunteering is not restricted to Saturday mornings as a number of junior events take place on Sundays.

Go on, take a look and see you soon.

I was RD again at this morning’s Bexley parkrun which saw 510 finishes including a number of first timers and tourists from other events.

Some nice comments afterwards as to how participants enjoyed the run and Danson Park ❤️.

In the evening sunshine, four of us met in Danson Park, having walked and run there. Marianna came with her daughter, and they brought Jay along too – perhaps our new canine mascot 🐾?

We kicked things off with a 10-in-10 fitness session; ten back-to-back exercises, one minute each. High knees, butt kicks, lunges, squats and more got us moving and chatting about how Jay came to live with Marianna, Martin's adventures in Thailand and Fraser's election to Deputy Mayor of Bexley.

For the main event, we headed into the surrounding streets, delivering leaflets to promote a sports festival taking place in the park later this month, organised by Danson Watersports and Bexley Mencap.

It was lovely when a local resident came out to say hello. He'd been been at the Big Paddle Clean Up last week and recognised our red T-shirts on his smart doorbell as we approached his front door!

As we walked up and down driveways, we kept a wary eye on the heavy grey clouds gathering overhead. We hoped to avoid the rain, but with only a handful of flyers left to deliver, a loud clap of thunder signalled the inevitable and the heavens opened. We were soaked through in seconds, but in true GoodGym style, we finished the job.

Here's hoping our efforts help attract plenty of people to the event.

And fingers crossed that the weather is a little kinder for our group task next week. We'll be finishing off the bug hotels that we started building at Holy Trinity Lamorbey School. Why not join us?