Last night four GoodGym-ers headed up the hill to Dads Lane Community Association to see how the renovations are coming along. Steve, Dan and the team have made amazing progress inside already and for now are focusing their attention on the garden, which will become a key part of the community space. Our job was to clear what was probably a literal ton of bricks from the back of the building, separating out reusable 'good' bricks and broken 'bad' bricks.

Jon (Jonny Four-Bricks) and Karin (Brick Astley) made swift work of shifting the pile while Miriam (Ice Cream Brick) and I (Bad Brick Good Brick Stanley Kubrick) ensured the good bricks were stacked in the most space-efficient manner to make the most of the storage bags, as well as pulling our weight with transporting. It was tough work and I expect there are some sore arms today.

There's plenty more to do at the community centre (soon to be renamed – watch this space!) so keep an eye out for more missions.

We somehow managed to avoid the downpours that had been drenching south Birmingham all day to head up the hill to Muntz Park for last night's litter pick. It's one of Brum's smaller parks (DYK we have over 500?!) but popular enough to yield two bags of recycling and one of rubbish in a short plogging session.

Jon proved invaluable on his first GoodGym Mission by carrying the heavy bags of recycling back down to Stirchley, while Miriam and Karin were champion litter-spotters, spying all sorts – including a fork – in the undergrowth. We even got papped by Laura, who couldn't attend the Mission owing to an injury but happened to be passing!

We also managed a bonus park-pick in Stirchley Park, with its street art looking extra vibrant in the fresh evening sunshine.

Check out the Happenings page for litter-picks in August – there are Community Missions coming up in Sutton Park and Highbury Park, plus more Monday plogs in and around B30.