A very unsettled afternoon turned into a bright and warm early evening as I met Tousif and joined him running around Brookvale Park. We had enough time to run for a mile around the lake before meeting Ben at the task.

We met with Erdington Community Volunteers and local residents to carry on with a clear up of the access way between two sets of terraced houses. We were told how much had been cleared the night before and what was needed to continue to make progress. Much of the space had been completely inaccessible and lots that they had cleared had been taken away by the council. There was still an absolute wall of junk heading further up the road, they think it might need a digger to clear.

Tousif set off quickly with a rake to pull up lots of the weeds and vegetation covering up the pathway below and I joined him pulling up weeds. Ben joined the residents taking some of the rubbish down from the junk wall and piling it up to be taken away.

After an hour, it felt a shame to have to go, as there was clearly far more to do. But this is certainly one of the all hands on deck tasks that we come across which looks like it will never be completed, but will soon make a big difference through the power of numbers.