Don't forget your toothbrush....

GoodGym volunteer and TaskForce member Tracey joined Rachel for a session to help maintain part of route 6 of the National Cycle Network. Between them they brought along; secateurs to trim back some low hanging foliage, a litter picker with hoop and bin bag and some old cloths with cleaning spray to clean up any signs.

Luckily, the sun was shining and the pair did an out and back route to an area just on the outskirts of Pride Park parallel to the train station. They didn't need to clean up any signage as this was all looking good so it was mostly litter picking a bit of pruning.

The duo were grateful for all the cyclists thanking them for their efforts, it's great that this route was being so well used by cyclists, runners and people out for a walk.

Two bags of rubbish were collected including a toothbrush and playing card as some of the more interesting finds amongst the huge amount of cans and plastic bottles the pair collected. Tracey has a collection of toothbrushes from litter picking which she uses for some cleaning and maintenance jobs and finds them handy to keep a stash of.

A very close encounter was made with a little hedgehog, the pair made sure it got back in the undergrowth and off the path safely before continuing to collect litter on the way back to the start location.

Thanks to Tracey for coming along and celebrating a GoodGym milestone with Rachel and for the seriously thoughtful, handmade goodies.

Keep an eye on the GoodGym Derby calendar for the next session where we're helping to maintain the National Cycle Network.