Our first mission cleaning up the Glebelands Open Space in advance of a community gathering started at the corner of the Glebelands Indoor Bowls Club. Jacqui arrived first, beating me to it, soon followed by Fanny with a handy little helper in tow.

We scoured the bushes down the slip road and soon hit the jackpot along the fence along the David Lloyd car park. An unbelievable mess of litter, fast food, plastics, clothes, cans, bottles. Then - out of nowhere! - Paul arrived with Gus (who'd already litter picked a random tennis ball), bringing a second burst of energy. Jacqui and Fanny then had to leave, but - wow! - Richard arrived and boom! We smashed a few more sacks in the last 30min.

We carried the sacks, about a dozen canisters, some signs, a clothes frame and a baby car chair over the corner of the slip road, reported everything and trotted off into the sunshine with a good deed under our belts.

The area still has a lot more work to do, but we have to be careful, as we've been notified by ecologists that there may be important species living in the trash in some of the more overgrown areas. We'll be extra careful around the club house and take advice from an expert when we come back next week.

9 GoodGymers made a real difference at Kentish Town City Farm!

This lovely group — Caitlin, Deirdre, Emily, Giulia, Jacqui, Karen, Lydia, Matt, and Pritika — caught a well-spent and community-filled morning at Kentish Town City Farm on Sunday!

Together they got everything ready for the Farm's annual May Day celebrations!

💚 Karen and Giulia cleaned fences and took them up to the top field!

💚 Emily and Matt carried an animal cage up to the top field and almost got lost!

💚 Deirdre, Lydia, Pritika, and others helped carry tables a long way!

💚 And everyone hung up bunting!... alongside saying hello to the animals 🐷

Thank you, everyone! And thank you, Emily, for the photos and report!

A big thank you to everyone who joined our monthly “anywhere, any time” litter pick. Whether it was a lunchtime plog, a riverside tidy-up, or a quick local wander with a picker and bag, every bit helped.

We had members out and about clearing rubbish from local paths, waterways and green spaces — including a great River Quaggy effort where three bags for life were filled. It’s a simple idea: spot some litter, pick it up, send a photo, and help keep our communities cleaner.

Sally and I celebrated Earth Day with a litterpick i • Then it was off to the theatre. The litterpicker wasn't allowed in, but the staff took good care of it. Maybe they used it for a quick bit of litter picking whilst we were in there 16:36

Why litter pick? A very short sea shanty:

There once were some runners who cared for the land, With litter pickers firmly in hand. They cleared up the street, Made the neighbourhood neat, And sailed into May with a plan!

Thanks again to everyone who took part. Let’s go again in May — same idea, anytime, anywhere, solo or with a friend.

After a brief warm-up at the heart of bustling Ealing Broadway, five GoodGymers set off for a sunny run to Acton. Among them: a guest from Barnet, Jacqui, who came to celebrate Steph's 1004th good deed with the Ealing team! We couldn't keep up with Steph's tasking pace, and hadn't managed to update the celebratory red-and-gold cape, so our Frenchman had to fly to Acton with merely a "1000" on his back!

The mighty cape turned out to have a mind of its own, and - maybe aware of incompatibility with the extra 4 good deeds - tried to fly away before the runners reached Ealing Common. Luckily, Sevan backmarked the group, while Conor and Kash obliviously pressed ahead, so no capes have been left behind.

The running team stopped opposite Acton Park (known to GoodGymers mostly as a junior parkrun location) to meet cyclist Maria and runner Harvey. The mission brief was simple: post flyers through houses' and flats' letter boxes to promote Movement on the Mount - a programme supporting women facing challenges accessing exercise, for example, women with low confidence, caring responsibilities, limited income, or from diverse cultural backgrounds. The execution of the task was less straightforward.

The seven leafleteers entered the so-called Acton's Bermuda Triangle: a treacherous area around Birkbeck Grove, Mansell Road and Beardsley Way, where GoodGymers had been lost in the past during flyering tasks, especially after splitting and venturing to a nearby estate. Having covered that part of Acton multiple times since then, our team learned how to navigate those streets - but this time it led to overconfidence as we ventured into forbidden postcodes!

"W4... Hmm, isn't this Chiswick?"
"The leaflet says the eligible attendees are women living in W3."
"Uh-oh!"

Feeling like outlaws, we scrambled to get out of the Hounslow Borough, trespassing on Southfield Recreation Ground - also mostly within W4. It was a nice extra run, though! The route took us back to W3, but we landed in a primarily industrial area and had to wander around looking for residential streets. Eventually, we finished off the leaflets and emerged back on the main road in Acton.

A short run via Uxbridge Road took us to ActOne Cinema - not for the movies, but for a pit stop at their lovely, quiet cafe to celebrate Steph's milestone. Having refilled ourselves with light refreshments (and a box of popcorn on the house), we ran back to Ealing Broadway.

Next week's Tuesday session is at Cultivate London's plant nursery at Popesfield Allotments to continue tidying up the space - sign up here to join us!

Thanks to everyone who took part in our March Any Place, Anywhere litter pick and sent in photos. Great to see people getting involved in such a simple, flexible, feel-good community mission. Gus even helped me with mine this month!

Litter picking is basically training: walking, squatting, spotting, lifting, and improving your local area all at once. So why not get in training with GoodGym for April’s Any Place, Anywhere litter pick?

Do it whenever suits you, wherever you are. Please share and encourage anyone else who might want to join in. Let me know if you’d like to take part.

here’s a note from Jacaqui

Sally and I litterpicked enroute to the theatre again® . There was so much litter that we were still half a mile away once we'd filled our bags • Will take more bags next time .