A good turn catches the slow worms

On a warm March morning eight great runners ran to tackle trash in and around with the Malago Greenway Community Project.

After meeting at Roll for Soul and welcoming the our newest member Ellie we took on the 2 mile run there. We were greeted by a group of locals all dressed in their high-vis jackets and armed with litter pickers and the project leader Raluca. Raluca took us through a health and safety briefing and and handed out some fetching vests, pinchy grab sticks and bags. She explained that our task was to take on the far side of the river. So, armed with our tools and a shopping trolley to cart around the heavier loads, we took onto the challenge. We had one hour so we could really get stuck in.

It soon became apparent that the area we were clearing was popular for fly tipping, and not the funny kind where you push over flies while they are sleeping but the bad kind where thoughtless idiots decide they can't be bothered to dispose of their waste in a responsible way. We spread along the area and got stuck in filling bag after bag. PB Snr found a particularly tough spot where rubbish head been dumped and subsequently half buried with plant growth and soil. After digging deep through the pile of trash I even found a bike!

Other interesting finds included Paul Red lifting a bag to uncover a nest of slow worms (otherwise known as Anguis fragilis) and Fi found what appeared to be some kind of communication device worthy of a budget science fiction movie.

We got loads done and were rewarded at the end by a table of cakes and snacks. After clearing the final bits of trash to the designated areas we headed back. This involved 2 gentle miles and some stretching. Thanks for all your help today guys, it was a fantastic way to spend a few hours on a Saturday and you can see we really made a difference. See you all again soon.