Task Summary:

On Monday, 24 June, a dedicated group of GoodGym Liverpool runners gathered for a litter pick task around the streets surrounding Lark Lane. The litter pick was planned as part of our ongoing efforts to keep the local area clean and welcoming, especially following the recent Africa Oye festival that brought many visitors to the neighborhood.

Task Details:

Meeting Point: - The task kicked off with Sallyann leading the run from Hope Street, setting a brisk and energetic pace for the group. Other members met directly at the task location near Lark Lane.

Initial Observations: - Upon arrival, it was noted that Lark Lane itself had been freshly cleared, likely due to clean-up efforts following the Africa Oye festival. This allowed the team to focus their efforts on the surrounding streets, which still needed attention.

Activities: - The team split into smaller groups, each taking a different street or area to maximize coverage. - Armed with litter pickers, gloves, and bags, they meticulously collected rubbish ranging from plastic bottles and food wrappers to discarded cans and cigarette butts. - The new members, Hannah, Renata, and Lana, were enthusiastic and quickly got into the groove, learning from the seasoned GoodGym members. - Jo, visiting from Exeter, brought a fresh perspective and shared stories of similar initiatives back in her hometown, fostering a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose. - Heetu walked very slowly due to blisters developed during yesterday’s 34-mile walk but showed great determination and contributed significantly to the task. - Sallyann, who had been off for many weeks due to injury, made a strong return, inspiring the group with her leadership. - Ema was missed due to attending the Woman of the Year event.

Achievements: - By the end of the session, the group had collected 17 bags of litter, significantly improving the appearance of the streets around Lark Lane. - The task not only made a visible impact on the local environment but also strengthened community bonds among the participants.

Challenges: - The only minor challenge was coordinating the large group across different streets, but with effective communication and teamwork, this was swiftly managed.

Reflections:

The litter pick was a success, demonstrating the power of community action in maintaining public spaces. The involvement of new members and a visitor from afar added to the sense of community and shared responsibility. Heetu's perseverance was particularly inspiring, showing that even physical discomfort couldn't deter the GoodGym spirit.

Thank You:

A big thank you to all participants for their hard work and positive energy. Special thanks to Sallyann for her excellent leadership and to Jo for joining us from Exeter. We also missed Ema and look forward to seeing her at future tasks.

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Gratitude: The community expressed their gratitude throughout the evening. Residents and local business owners were particularly appreciative, stopping by to thank the team for their efforts. Their kind words and encouragement were a testament to the positive impact GoodGym has on the local area.

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We look forward to seeing everyone at the next GoodGym task!

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Photographs: Pauline, as usual, captured the event with her excellent photography skills.

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Next Task: Stay tuned for details of our next task, and as always, keep up the great work!

It was our first session of the season with Friends Of Everton Park. John had given us a slightly different venue and task for the first session. The Community Gardens is a hidden haven which is just full of plants. Its an amazing place that feels quite special when you walk in - not least as you know the hard work put in from all the regular people that tend this space week in week out.

The garden uses large raised beds which have been built using large thick substantial wooden planks however as happens the wood is starting to show its age and had started to rot in places.

Our task was to dismantle the raised bed - barrow the soil to the main soil heap and take apart the wooden frame being careful of the large nails that held them together- leaving the space flattened ready to be rebuilt.

As we were so many we had an over flow team working on a second raised bed and of course some friendly competition ensued. Lets just say the first team had more people more wheelbarrows and Jake who was running back and forth with the barrows and the second team had less people less wheelbarrows and a certain report writer who is renowned for chatting a lot.....

Our hour up and we had almost completed two raised beds - or should that be depleted? It was a really satisfying task great fun and company as always and lovely to be back in Everton again. Welcome to Tasha on her first task - look forward to seeing you again.

It was an early start for a group of GoodGymmers this fine Sunday morning as we came together to set up the Otterspool prom water station for the Liverpool half marathon. Three GoodGym members were taking part, Vikky, Roz and Emma, while Sallyann was running the Bath half marathon the same day. We were looking forward to cheering on our friends along with the rest of the runners, and got going setting up our tables either side of the route. As we prepared by unpacking crates of water bottles from a shipping container, opening the bottles and screwing the tops back on so they were ready to hand out, there was a growing sense of anticipation as we waited to see the first runners pass by. Not many of the leading runners wanted water, leading to the teams on each side of the path competing to hand out water to those who did and jokingly boasting about our bottle tallies. This was soon forgotten as we began to get steadily busier and were very quickly deluged with runners as the main body of the race passed by. Even though our stock of prepared bottles filled three trestle tables, it vanished very quickly and everyone was working flat out either unpacking bottles or handing them out. We were so overwhelmed that eventually we had to give up unscrewing them, something that has never happened before in our time running the water station for this race - there were 9 thousand runners this year, an increase of about 2 thousand on previous years, and it really made a difference! Despite how intense it was we kept up a cheer for all the athletes as they passed, and when we spotted Roz, Emma and Vikky we made sure to shout extra loudly for them. As the race drew to a close we turned our attention to our next big task - collecting up all the bottles the runners had thrown behind them. Charmaine, who happened to be passing by on a walk, got stuck in to help which was amazing, and even signed up as a GoodGym member later that day - a big thank you, Charmaine! With the extra help we powered through the clean-up and collected a staggering 52 rubbish sacks full of plastic bottles. We were all quite sobered to see the scale of plastic waste and are really hoping to see a more sustainable solution for next year's run. As for this year though, it was hard work but good fun and made enjoyable by the camaraderie and conversation of the GoodGym team - huge thanks and kudos to everyone!