Last night's GoodGym mission was simple: head out into your local area and pick up some litter. As ever, there were plenty of interesting finds along the way!

Hannah turned a trip to take her little one to nursery into a mini litter-picking mission, collecting 15 cans, a plastic bottle and even a bit of a car.

Laura achieved a true litter-picker milestone by finding a discarded pair of pants. You're not really a seasoned litter picker until you've found some abandoned underwear!

Amanda got stuck in and filled a bag with litter from her local area.

Lucy combined her litter-picking efforts with a run, proving that it's perfectly possible to clean up and get your miles in at the same time.

Ellie wasn't able to join the litter pick itself, but she still got involved by sharing photos of some brilliantly creative bins in Sweden that had been painted to look like people.

Sarah picked near a petrol station and found plenty of disposable gloves to keep her busy and a 104 cigarette butts. Yes, she counted every single one! Her most amusing discovery was a rather rude note intended for a badly parked car, suggesting the driver might want to rethink their parking technique.

Wilson filled an entire bin bag and uncovered a Stella Artois glass, along with a pile of used scratchcards. Ever hopeful, she checked every one of them just in case there was a hidden jackpot... but sadly, it wasn't to be.

A huge well done to everyone who took part and helped make their corner of the world that little bit cleaner.

A great morning helping out at the Southampton Running Festival on Southampton Common with Run-Through. Philip and his son were helping with their local scout group on the baggage drop and out on the course. Wilson, Sarah and Stephanie were all marshalls along the course. Sarah had an ingenious trick to amplify her mobile phone soundtrack using a cone! Great to a family had brought their cat 😺 along for the run in their special backpack!

Today I helped out Mr S and Mr A with their garden. They provided some tools and I got heatwave ready with a bucket hat and dry-fit clothing (including my fancy black GoodGym T-shirt) to get going. The 30 degree heat provided warmth and a good load was strimmed away. the most creative part was using my Carmex chapstick (which had melted) as lubricant for my sheers. Amazing stuff.

This evening we headed back to a cooler Aldermoor Farm for a mammoth weeding session amongst the leeks, carrots and pathways.

The hour flew by as we worked our way through what felt like an endless supply of unwanted greenery. We were a keen team and so we stayed on for a bit of overtime, determined to make as much of a dent in the task as possible. As Philip very wisely pointed out, "With weeding, you can spend five minutes or you can spend five hours!" Tonight definitely felt closer to the latter.

We welcomed Matthew to his first GoodGym task. Between pulling weeds, he shared his thoughts on healthier pastry-making for pies, proving that GoodGym tasks are great for baking advice as well as getting jobs done.

We also unearthed two rogue self-seeded spring onions and three radishes, which went home with Sarah, though i think after the uphill cycle home she may wish we had unearthed a pie.

By the end of the evening we'd shifted a huge amount of weeds and left the growing beds and paths looking much tidier. There was still plenty left for another day, but eventually we had to admit defeat and call it a night. Some tasks are just bigger than a single session!

With the continuing heatwave Jill and the volunteers are trying to keep the garden alive as best we can. So Stephanie managed to drop off some much needed water to help. Then it was back on task pulling out the brambles who don't seem to die in the heat. So the garden is all ready for some rain when we are lucky enough to get some.

Good gym southampton carried out a waterside bat survey, as part of a national survey during august for the Bat conservation trust. This was a later task than normal, starting just after sunset. We followed the river for a kilometre, stopping every 100m to count bats We spotted close to 100 bats, so it was very successful! Just as excitingly, we also spotted a badger and an otter! We'll be back in a couple of weeks for the follow up survey, fingers crossed for more wildlife next time too!