On Sunday morning I joined the local residents for their first litter pick of the year in the area. A lot of the litter was at its worse around the riverbank edges which required some precarious balancing to as not to topple in and become part of the problem!

This was week 3 of the Tub2Pub challenge and we are still managing to find empty chocolate tubs. No... it's not that we're eating all these chocs, but managing to find empty tubs at work, with family and friends. Gill, Nuriya and Omar took a walk up to the Jolly Topers on Tuesday after completing a kitchen cleaning task. Ella collected a lot of tubs from her work and dropped them off at the Biscot Mill on her way home on Thursday. Laura was next , and took a trip to The Tawny Owl in Bletchley on Saturday after completing Park Run. And the final delivery was made by Abulrahman, Mohammed and Teklay who were joined by Omar, Gill and Nuriya in the park and walked up to Biscot Mill balancing their tubs on their heads - as an additional challenge to see who could walk the furthest before tumbling their tubs!

On Friday we celebrated four birthdays! Big thank you to Pastor Charmaine, Abim, Gloria, Bola and Susannah for helping everyone celebrate.

We had four birthday countdowns and lots of singing and dancing!

It was good to welcome a team of 8 GoodGymers to help the residents with the Lonodn Road Litter Pick. Despite the drizzly conditions, we had an interesting time making the lower half of London Road clean and tidy, and including the car park at the medical centre - which always gives us plenty to keep us busy. We filled a couple of bags each, and even found a television, a kitchen work top and a massive mirror to add to the pile of bags. The local team were so pleased to have us helping out to keep this major entrance road to Luton looking clean and welcoming. Well done team.

Despite the threat of rain in the forecast, Teklay and Gill were still keen to join another session with Groundworks at the overgrown plot behind Riverbank School. Today's tasks including chopping up some of the previously cut branches and getting them into builders bags. Then we managed to dig out a deeply embedded fence post before starting the job of clearing the ground ivy. It was a really good upper body work out and much more fun than being in the gym, especially when Teklay disguised himself behind a huge mound of ivy! (see photo)

This week’s GoodGym adventure took us back to the wonderful team at Azalea, where we helped wrap up the festive season and give the space a fresh new feel 💫.

🎅 Core task: Packing away Christmas! Baubles were boxed, tinsel was tamed, trees torn down and fairy lights were gently untangled and stored with care. Packing away decorations always leaves a place feeling tidy and ready for the new year!

🎨 Meanwhile, we grabbed brushes and added a fresh lick of paint around the radiators where radiator guards had been removed 🖌️

📦 Down in the basement store room, we sorted, stacked, and streamlined supplies, making the space more usable and organised.

🧹 Then it was time to vacuum the carpets of the tinsel and tree debris, leaving the place looking spick and span. We might not have worn capes, but we definitely brought the sparkle ✨.

🪜 And let’s not forget the stairs, so many stairs! Our quads got a bonus workout as we zipped up and down, clocking up steps like pros 📈.

🏃‍♂️💨 With the tasks complete, we hit the town for a run around and a steps-based fitness session to really work those quads! Who needs a gym when you’ve got GoodGym?

💖 Huge thanks to Azalea for welcoming us back. We love supporting the amazing work you do. And hats off to the team for bringing energy, elbow grease, and good vibes to every floor!

Congratulations to Fitsum for joining his first session with us, hope to see you again soon!