Litter picking with Canalside Community Trust ๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿ—‘๏ธ๐Ÿšฎ

We will be helping to make the canal and Fountainbridge area cleaner, safer, and more welcoming for everyone.


Location
Edinburgh Street Food
Leith St
Edinburgh
EH1 3AU
Date and time
17:45 - 19:40
Tuesday, 18th of August 2026
Who this task will support
Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust
The Union Canal at Fountainbridge is a special place. Redeveloping the land here is a chance to retain valuable wildlife corridors into the city while highlighting the rich cultural history in an attractive area for recreation and leisure. We formed in 2021 by combining Re-Union Canal Boats (youโ€™ll have seen their big purple boat!) and Fountainbridge Canalside Initiative.

Delighted to share that our 2nd ever group run will be teaming up with the Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust to help spruce up the canal paths and surrounding area around Fountainbridge with a community litter pick.

Our meetup point (the same every Tuesday) will be Edinburgh Street Food, where there will be a secure bag drop and the usual 15% discount on food and drink waiting for us when we get back.

Our route will be around 3km each way and will be at an inclusive pace.

Once on site, weโ€™ll be supporting the Trust by tackling litter hotspots along the canal towpath, nearby streets and parks. Gloves and bags provided but do feel free to BYOG (bring your own gloves), as this may mean we can increase the cap on numbers who can attend. We have some litter pickers to use too, but not enough for one each.

The Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust is a brilliant local organisation working to protect, enhance, and activate the canal area as a shared community space. Their projects bring people together around environmental stewardship, heritage, wellbeing, and local action โ€” and our help contributes directly to that ongoing mission.

This kind of task has a real impact: cleaner paths mean safer walking and cycling routes, healthier habitats for wildlife, and a more enjoyable space for the thousands of people who use the canal every week.

If youโ€™d like to read more about the Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust, you can visit their website: https://www.fountainbridgecanalside.org.uk (fountainbridgecanalside.org.uk)

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Measured in 6 outcomes of mental wellbeing GoodGymers were found to have a positive change across all 6 with the boost in life satisfaction the same as observed in someone who escapes unemployment to 6 months of employment. Specifically, the findings show participation in GoodGym:

Increases life satisfaction by 21% Increases worthwhileness by 17% Decreases mental distress by 21% Decreases loneliness by 12% Increases belonging by 27% Increases connectedness by 16%

Who's going

  • Dave Entwistle
  • Annabel Bates

Discussion

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Edinburgh

New to GoodGym?

This is a GoodGym group run, where we run to help a local community organisation and then run back.

New GoodGymers are welcome to GoodGym group runs - no one gets left behind. You're unlikely to be alone, hundreds of new people sign up every week.

Find out more

Location
Edinburgh Street Food
Leith St
Edinburgh
EH1 3AU
Date and time
17:45 - 19:40
Tuesday, 18th of August 2026
Who this task will support
Fountainbridge Canalside Community Trust
The Union Canal at Fountainbridge is a special place. Redeveloping the land here is a chance to retain valuable wildlife corridors into the city while highlighting the rich cultural history in an attractive area for recreation and leisure. We formed in 2021 by combining Re-Union Canal Boats (youโ€™ll have seen their big purple boat!) and Fountainbridge Canalside Initiative.

Sign up by 5:00pm on Monday 17th August so we can let Dave know who to expect.

Walkable

You will be able to join a group walking to the task if you'd prefer not to run.


Edinburgh Street Food
Leith St
Edinburgh
EH1 3AU


Dave Entwistle
Led by Dave Entwistle

GoodGym Area Activator for Edinburgh


What to look out for

Age Restriction

GoodGym welcomes anyone aged 18 or over. If you are under 18 then you will be unable to participate in any GoodGym activity

Make sure you've read our general guidelines for safety when running and at a task.

This is a standard GoodGym group run. If you're worried about any aspect of the session, contact us.
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