David Mansfield

This week we'll be heading off to Wigmore to help in a a bulb planting campaign to inject some colour into the parks and grass verges around Wigmore.

We'll be running the 4km distance to the grass verges outside the Tui building, where local volunteer Peter will kit us out with bulbs and tools, and we'll pop as many in the ground as we can before we head back into town.

This mission will help Nicole from TransitionsUK with their Aspire project, which helps young people with mild/moderate learning disabilities develop their independence with the aim that they can successfully live independently.

We will be joining their friendly evening social session at Ramridge Baptist Church to meet the young people for a chat, help out with a cookery session, and take a group out for a walk and an exercise session, maybe a jog around the park or a football kick around.

Nicole and the team were really pleased last time and this collaboration stands to have a huge impact on helping these young people transition to an independent adulthood.

Note slightly earlier start time This is just so the evening can flow a bit smoother around the walking and meal time.

The river through Manor park was recently re-naturalised from its former concrete banks. While nature gets itself re-established we're going to give it a guiding hand and remove the undesirable plants that have moved in under the instruction of Trevor the council's ecologist.

Expect nettles, long sleeves will be a good idea!

Wardown Parkrun is a weekly 5k event that gets 100s of participants, and it's all made possible by the efforts of a few volunteers who get out of bed extra early so everyone else can enjoy a well organised free event.

Help the Hi-Vis Heroes

We are going to give those regular volunteers the opportunity to take a break or enjoy some company, while we take on as many of the volunteer roles as we can and show all those runners what GoodGym is all about in the process. It's win-win for everyone involved.

All volunteers will receive instruction on their role on arrival.

You will need to register with parkrun so they can record your name on the roster.

If you feel like you'd be missing out on a run, why not join us for a group run to another task at Cowslip Meadow, immediately afterwards?

The Winsdon Hills are a Site of Special Scientific Interest thanks to being an important chalk grassland habitat mixed with scrub and ancient woodland that is home to rare plant, butterfly and reptile species.

As part of the Great Big Green Week, ABCD in Luton have organised a big cleanup effort that we will muck-in to help with, ensuring the area is litter free and nature friendly! Come and help, get some exercise and enjoy the views!

This will be a great opportunity for GoodGym to mix with other community groups, which is always good!