A fresh Monday evening, a brand-new task for the team, and six brand-new GoodGymers too - what a brilliant combination!

Seven of us took part in this week's session. Three of us met at Bolton One and got the legs turning early with a steady 2-mile run over to Hacken Lane, while the remaining four met us on site, ready to get stuck in.

We were supporting our friends at Bolton Lads & Girls Club, helping give their busy Hacken Lane site a much-needed tidy-up. Armed with litter pickers, bags, gloves, and plenty of energy, we spent 30 productive minutes collecting litter from across the grounds. From stray wrappers to mystery objects hiding in the shrubs, nothing escaped the GoodGym treatment.

For six of the group, this was their first ever GoodGym session well done to: Sarah, Louise, Emma, Eve, Abigail and Sarah. Everyone mucked in brilliantly, chatted away as we worked, and made a big visible difference in a short amount of time. A massive well done to each of the new recruits - hopefully this is the first of many!

*Sarah said: *

It was my first session with GoodGym and I really enjoyed it. It was also the first time I have ever used a litter picker and it was very satisfying! It’s a great way to meet new people and help the community and I would encourage others to join and help!

With the site looking much fresher, the running trio wrapped things up with another 2-mile journey back to Bolton One.

Next Week’s Task

We’ll be supporting The Friends of Harwood and Longsight Park, attaching motorcycle-prohibition signs to waymarker posts. A hands-on, outdoorsy task with a clear purpose - and another great chance to make a difference locally.

👉 Sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/attaching-signs-to-waymarker-posts

See you next week for more good deeds!

The Sutton Community Centre was the destination for this week's task where we supported Bolton Wanderers in the Community by providing some TLC at one of their community venues.

Two of us headed over for a midweek spruce-up, and despite the small team, we made a big impact!

Before getting started, we stopped by one of Bolton Council’s Volunteer Vaults to pick up a stash of brushes, spades, and trowels - properly tooled up and ready to go. Once on site, we got straight to work clearing leaves, moss, and general debris from around the centre. After some solid graft, we filled three full bags and left the place looking noticeably tidier than when we arrived.

We’ll be returning in a few weeks for round two, so watch this space for more community-centre glow-ups.

A big well done to Mumtaz, who joined us fresh from officially completing her TaskForce training - congrats and thanks for getting stuck in!

Great work, team! 🌟

Last night’s group session didn’t quite go to plan… at least not the group part of it.

With no one signed up, I (Rowan) embraced the solo spirit and headed out on a lone plogging adventure around Bolton.

I started by running up to Queen’s Park in search of one of the brilliant Volunteer Vaults positioned in the car park. If you haven’t come across these before, they’re secure boxes stocked with litter pickers, bags, and other tools that anyone can use to help tidy the area. They’re a brilliant, accessible way to empower people to take care of their parks and green spaces. A veritable treasure chest for community action!

With my bin bag in hand, I made my way back towards Bolton picking up absolutely every bit of litter I could spot in the dark. And there was plenty. My route took me past Bolton Hospice, Bolton Lads & Girls Club, St Paul’s Church, Bolton General Practice, and finally Bolton Central Fire Station, stopping at each to grab cans, bottles, wrappers, and everything in between.

And as I went, I found myself thinking about something I’ve believed for a long time:

*people don’t drop litter where there isn’t any litter. *A clean space tends to stay clean; a messy space seems to attract more mess. So even one person, spending one hour, filling one bag, can help set a different tone for the whole community.

By the time I reached Bolton One, that one person (me!), one big bag of litter, and one determined plog had made a tidy difference to one stretch of road through town.

Here’s to next week - hopefully with some GoodGymers signed up!

GoodGym Bolton officially hit the ground running last night - quite literally - as our team of four pioneers came together for our very first group run and community task.

Huge credit to James, Mumtaz, Karen and Hafsa (who made the journey by bus and train) for being part of this special launch event.

Our destination was Bolton Lads and Girls Club, where we set out to lend a hand with a site tidy-up. The conversation on the way was as lively as you’d expect from a brand-new GoodGym crew - covering local history, favourite ever inventions, and the many virtues of the humble potato!

On arrival, we wasted no time and dived straight into the task like true Wombles of (Wim)Bolton, filling five big bags of litter in just 30 minutes. We tackled the bushes and entrance areas, uncovering all sorts of interesting finds - from a discarded wallet and a Covid testing kit to some truly vintage crisp and chocolate bar wrappers (we’re fairly sure there was an old Marathon wrapper in there - for the younger readers, that’s what Snickers used to be called!).

GoodGymer Hafsa said:

> I had such a great time! I litterpick a lot on my own but there’s something so much more enjoyable and special about doing it with a group. It’s such a great way to meet new people and build community.

GoodGymer James said:

> I loved being involved with the first goodgym session in Bolton. It was great to meet new people and to help out in the local community. Lovely way to spend the evening in the outdoors, being active and with some awesome people all doing some good!

A huge thank you to Bolton Lads and Girls Club for welcoming us and to our fantastic GoodGymers for making history as the first to don the red shirts in Bolton.

Next week, we’ll be meeting at 7pm at Bolton One before heading over to Sutton Estate Community Centre, where we’ll be supporting Bolton Wanderers in the Community with a site spruce-up.

Last night was more than just a tidy-up - it was the beginning of something special. Here’s to many more GoodGym adventures in Bolton!