Ashley, Pete, Rachel, Tracey and Gwyn welcomed back Becky for another GoodGym session.

Becky joined us for the YMCA sleep out so it was great to see her again and hear about what she has been up to. The group were in awe of Becky's recently completed ultra event in the Peak District where she took on 50km of tough terrain, a big well done and Becky was glad to be on a flat surface for the task, with no sign of a hill.

The group met task owners David and Pauline for another session clearing moss from the bridge and surrounding pathway at Derby's River Gardens. The task owners had a section they were hoping we'd be able to make a difference to and were thrilled that the group managed to get the whole area cleaned up.

On a mostly sunny evening (we were treated to a rainbow at one point), the group had views out along the river and saw lots of rowers. David and Pauline showed us where the narrowboat stops for people to embark and told us about how they were helping out serving drinks on it the very next day.

This is the sort of task where the results as instant so a very satisfying task for all the volunteers involved.

The group were also thrilled to finally get the handover of some litter picking equipment which the Derby Parks team at Derby City Council have donated, the hoops (modeled by Ashley and Pete) will be great during windier evenings to keep rubbish bags open when litter picking.

Thanks everyone for helping to make this area of Derby more presentable and to instill pride for local residents and visitors. Keep an eye out for future sessions which David is thinking will probably be in the spring now.

Ashley, Pete and Rachel met task owners David and Pauline to help clean the bridge at Derby's River Gardens. The team learnt that although the bridge is known as the Derwent Bridge it's official name is the Exeter Bridge.

David and Pauline were really pleased with the difference GoodGym volunteers made when they cleaned the steps at the River Gardens and were excited to have volunteers back to help with the bridge and monuments.

Armed with scrapers and brushes, the team set about clearing moss from the bridge and brushed this into the River Derwent. The group were grateful to be working in sunshine and to have such great views of the river and rowers on it.

David and Pauline helped out and were really impressed that the whole inner side of the bridge had been de-mossed...anyone up for an abseiling session to tackle the outer side of the bridge? The duo have a lot of local knowledge and told the group all about Derby's flood defense system before recommending a trip to the Forest for the Future which is a temporary installation that could be seen from the bridge. The group made their way to the forest to explore the area which has been created to encourage people to get green fingered in their own homes and to educate people on the benefits of urban forestry.

Another great session where it was great to see the instant results of what the team achieved. David and Pauline left with huge smiles and want to have help from volunteers again in a month or so, keep an eye out for a session to sign up to.

Ashley, Naomi, Lorraine, Gwyn, Tracey and Rachel joined task owners David and Pauline to clear up the steps at Derby's River Gardens. This was much needed ahead of the busy summer season when lots of visitors gather to the steps on sunny days.

The group were grateful that David and Pauline had brought along scrapers to remove moss from the steps, wire brushes to clean them up and brooms to sweep the moss into the river. Check out the great before and after photo that Lorraine took to show the difference the group made to the steps - what an arm workout for everyone. The group took it in turns to scrape off the moss and then remove it with a brush or be on 'moss flinging' duty to put it in the river.

David had a spot in mind that he wanted the group to aim to get to, cleaning up each step up to a certain point. He was thrilled when the group went far and beyond this point and was really happy with what was achieved in a short space of time.

David and Pauline showed the group some photos from the amazing Ey Up Mi Duck race which takes place on the river to raise funds for Sight Support Derbyshire. In 2019 more than 5000 plastic ducks took to the river to 'race' with awards on offer for first place as well as best dressed duck!

Thanks to everyone that came along and bonus points to Gwyn and Tracey who cycled to the task. David and Pauline would like to see GoodGym help out again on another steps cleaning session and will be in contact with the group with some potential dates.