After a very busy Swindon parkrun (with a good turn out from GoodGym Swindon!), eight of us carried out a Community Mission at Lydiard Park ahead of Earth Hour; a Global campaign coordinated by the WWF to raise awareness of environmental issues. Our task was to help the Park Rangers repair the bank of the lake in front of the majestic Lydiard House.

After a short instruction briefing from one of the Rangers, we armed ourselves with shovels and a punner and set to work 'humping and dumping' (!) clay. Charles, Emma the 'Trainer', Jo, Kirsty, 'Sandy' Sam and Sharon shovelled clay into wheel barrows, then wheeled the muck from the Rangers compound, to the lake where 'Crazy Legs' Emily used the punner to squish the clay between the grass and the wooden retaining bank. Although the work was exhausting (Charles pointed out we had walked 3km with the wheel barrows that morning!), and the weather was warm, everyone 'mucked in' (!) to get a good job done. A couple of the quacking local residents swam across to say hello, making sure we were doing a good job! Hopefully they were impressed?!

Simon the 'Gardener' joined the crew for the final delivery of clay, after 'closing down' Swindon parkrun and sorting the 563 finish tokens. Hopefully our efforts will help the Rangers ensure the bank remains safe for many years to come?

A sunny, Spring day at Lydiard Park gave us the perfect backdrop for great photo opportunities, even if one of the Rangers managed to miss getting everyone in shot for the group photo!

A huge thank you to everyone, at Lydiard Park, who gave us a warm welcome and a great task to get our teeth into! New friendships were made with the Rangers; hopefully we will be able to go back for another task in the future?

Would you like to join us for our next Community Mission? On Saturday 13th April 'Sandy' Sam will be leading the group to Swindon Night Shelter's New Hive in South Marston for some lifting, shifting and sorting; don't delay - sign up here today!