Easter Monday perfectly celebrated; surrounded by bluebells, white bells, daffodils and tulips! We made use of our work free day continuing the great work already done clearing and tidying The Devonshire Practice garden.

Paul distributed a few tasks between us.

Sarah pruned the bay tree, shaping it beautifully to allow more to be planted underneath.

Tracey continued to tidy up all the debris from around potentially the oldest cherry tree is Portsmouth, which really opened up the space making the garden look even bigger.

Aaron and Rosie cleared rubbish and prickly pyracanthus cuttings disturbing lots of yummy wild garlic smells!

Whilst Paul effortlessly pulled up some plants no longer needed and took to the massive challenge of controlling the ivy on the back wall and keeping the neighbours company, checking they were okay with what he was doing.

We had a short biscuit break, Rosie had bought to celebrate her 100th good dead. Then back to it with more pruning, cutting back, digging and clearing.

We were amazed at how much we managed to achieve together in a few hours, brilliant team work!

Well what a glorious sunny day for our virtual Beach Clean ….. and for Maxine’s birthday yay with her celebrations starting with the beach clean! Find her birthday message amongst the photographs attached. Beautiful sunshine and the tide was out which meant everyone on the beach found it easier to make space for others, and we were able to pick up rubbish that might normally have been covered by water – win/win. Lots of reports of non-Goodgymers also out with their litter pickers which is great to see. There were varying amounts of rubbish found, but with the usual interesting finds and items of clothing of course – all listed below:

• Duncan & Lucy visited the path north of the creek at Foxes Forest. Managed to collect a full bag of recycling and a 2nd of rubbish. Not enough space to pick it all up, so definitely a place to go back to.

• Eli & her better half (her words) walked from Coffee cup to Southsea Marina and managed to find a kayak seat, boat cleat and a stick covered in anti-fouling

• Jen and Alice visited Tipner where they saw Vicki & John. In true Goodgym fashion they found a sock and most interesting find was a scatter cushion from a sofa. Too much rubbish to carry home on the bike and struggled to find a bin. Another place for a litter pick re-visit. Alice thought it was definitely sunny enough to request an ice-cream, and fortunately for Alice, Jen had some posh lemon sorbet in the freezer when they got home – happy days!

• Jo and India started at the Briny and headed west to Clarence Pier. Some good finds between the rocks and bits near the concrete ledges and near Mozzarella Joe’s. India wanted to dive into the Southsea Castle moats as loads of unreachable rubbish behind the fence. Most exciting thing found was a snorkel mask. Jo also managed to pap Tim out for his run, in the shade with the sun behind – apparently that’s his ‘best’ side (according to Tim 😊)

• Jo & Kat met up and headed to Milton Lock well wrapped up for the cold but were warm once they got there. Found an item of clothing immediately (a sock) along with ear bud sticks, pieces of shoes, buff, plastic, cans and a comb. Had to empty out their bags into 1 large one and then head back to continue as they found so much - they also found part of the Kings Theatre pantomime poster. Heading for a walk along the shore line, they spotted a man and a bike sat amongst the mud flats. No idea why.

• Judy & Val started at Emsworth Marina and included a marvellous 10k walk as well as doing their litter pick around the Marina area! Not too much rubbish and mainly dome fishing line and food/sweet wrappers caught in the seaward.

• Katie C-R waited for low tide so that she could visit the area in front of Salterns Harvester and walk up towards the Memorial. A few plastic cups, cans, other plastic bits. Most interesting finds were a plug in a socket, and the bottom part of a garden parasol which doubled as a bag carrier for the rest of the pick. 10/10 for re-cycling!

• Lynn made her way to the Hovercraft landing area and Clarence Pier area. Found mostly bottles and cans and just 1 mask.

• Maura & Mel started half-way between Eastney and Coffee Cup and walked East with Maura showing Mel some new parts of the beach not previously seen, including the nudist beach! No nudists out today even though it was sunny, just lots and lots of dogs and their owners. Saw a few swimmers and someone about to go out on their paddle-board – the sea was sublime. A couple of horses with riders enjoying the low tide over on Hayling beach in the distance. Found a pair of tights, a plastic sunflower spout from a child’s watering can, a pair of sliders, and something rubbery, but not recognisable!

• Maxine found lots of buried rope and plastic bags. Tons of plastic lids and some other oddities like a glass lens and rusted metal which is definitely unsafe for kids and dogs! I hope she’s now enjoying a lovely day with family, friends and cake (this at least doesn’t need to be virtual)!

• Rachel – Prom edge of the beach. Too many clothes layers, but good to feel the sun. Lots of plastics and wrappers.

• Rosie and Aaron were behind the RNLI Lifeboat station Ferry Road. Lots of polystyrene, bottle tops, boat and fishing bits, including a net and obligatory pants! And a little heart (see photos) ahead of Valentines day next week. This is a particularly bad spot for rubbish, so if anyone is looking for an area for future litter picks, this is the place to go!

• Vicki & John were at Whale Island/Stamshaw with the bonus of seeing Jen and Alice 😊. Collected a pair of specs and what looked like a piece of jet-ski or bike! Just a few items of re-cycling * Paul stayed local and picked either side of the footpath linking devon rd and hilsea Station. 1 hr of continous collecting which only managed two thirds of the length of the path. Lots of thank yous and the bonus of finding a £1 coin too!

Summary of places to re-visit for litter picks: Whale Island / Tipner Ferry Road and area around the RNLI Lifeboat Station and Hayling Ferry Foxes Forest and north path creek area

Our initial plans for a pick at Whale Island this morning had to be amended due to our local Covid Regs, but always a group to find the positives we changed our mission to a virtual pick, so many more GoodGymmers got involved!

Val, Judy and GoodGym Mascot Tess had a lovely sunny and frosty morning walk, litter picking, along the beach from Nutbourne to Prinsted.

Catherine didn't find much litter around her new neck of the woods, but showed us a photo of a fisherman's Christmas tree!

Lynn also found a Community Christmas Tree local to her whilst she was out and about this morning.

Lots of other local beauty spots and beaches were covered in Portsmouth and Southsea, whilst Lou, Yvonne and Pip covered Stokes Bay over in Gosport.

As well as the usual cans, bottles and crisp packets, enough accessories were found to decorate a snowman! Hats, gloves, buttons, the works! Those out early had to battle against frozen litter and icy puddles.

We've had a big impact on the local environment today, well done everyone for keeping motivated together, even when we're apart.

Aaron noticed a load of rubbish by the boats at the end of Ferry Road on the way back from sailing at the weekend. So after work today we rushed out the door before the sun went down and collected a bag of recycling and three bags of rubbish from the shore. We collected a rather battered old welly, loads of bbq meat packaging, lots of small bits of plastic, fishing gear, bit of old rope, a small plastic soldier, a sock each and recycling.

12 GoodGym-ers came together on a Saturday morning to provide some extra pairs of hands for the Groundlings theatre following the recent break-in.

We were happy to help out with one of our favourite tasks, painting! Instead of the usual walls and benches, our more artistic skills were put to the test to help produce the some of the stage props; a lovely mix of clouds, leaves and rainbows!

We split up into two main groups; there was a production line cutting, shaping and painting the green leaves (for the magic beanstalk perhaps?), and those with the more advanced painting skills took on the rainbows (red-and-orange-and-yellow-and-green-and-blue!) and the fluffy clouds.

After running out of drying space on the floor, and paint-free areas on our fingers, we left to rest up ahead of the running/ cheering/ recycling at the Great South Run on Sunday.

See you soon Groundlings, we are keen come back for the panto! (oh yes we are!)

Jack and the Beanstalk runs from 4th December to 5th January :-)