Ah, February. The month of love, pancakes, and, if you’re a GoodGymmer, the relentless pursuit of litter in all its sneaky, wind-blown, occasionally baffling forms.

First of all, a huge thank you to all the GoodGymmers who took part in the great rubbish run of February! Armed with grabbers, gloves, and an almost worrying enthusiasm for picking up other people’s discarded nonsense, we tackled the streets, beaches, and green spaces in our localities.

For my part, I took on the sprawling expanse of Chesil Beach on a stunningly sunny day. The kind of day that makes you forget winter is still clinging on and convinces you that shorts might be a reasonable life choice. (They weren’t.)

Now, I’ve done my fair share of litter picking, but this time, the sea had outdone itself. Instead of the usual crisp packets and stray bottles, it had thoughtfully washed up a perfectly straight line of rubbish across the middle of the beach. It was like nature’s very own lost-and-found department.

Among the treasure trove: • An unopened Coke can (A free drink? A scientific experiment? A trap? The mind boggles.) • A builder’s helmet (Presumably from a very confident or very unfortunate seafaring construction worker.) • A mystery plastic cup with foreign writing (Possibly the remains of a transatlantic snack run? We may never know.)

If rubbish could talk, these items would have some stories to tell. And honestly, I’d love to hear them.

A massive shoutout to Kubilay & his daughter Asya, who took to the streets with the kind of enthusiasm that gives you faith in the next generation. Nothing says quality bonding time like removing litter from the pavement. Kubilay, you’re raising a legend.

And a big thank you to Katie, who bravely tackled her local village, uncovering hidden trash troves and—most intriguingly—a set of fly-tipped cushions. Because nothing screams “I don’t need these anymore” quite like launching your old soft furnishings into a hedge.

and Mel who went on a solo plog in her local area and said 'Happy to get a bag full of litter!' there you are bagging happiness you can’t get much better than that!

Onwards to March!

We did good work this month, but the rubbish never sleeps. So if you fancy fresh air, unexpected discoveries, and the deeply satisfying smugness of knowing you’ve done your bit, sign up for the March litter pick.

Thanks again, everyone—see you out there, grabbers in hand!

The days are getting longer and we'll soon be running sunsets, but the skies were clear for tonight's run to Shepherds Hill Garden and the stars out. Two of us set off from the Phoenix - Kubilay and George - and we picked up Lucinda along our steady 2.5km run.

We were met by Pat and Flora, two of the amazing custodians of the gardens, who handed out rakes, brooms, bags and a dustpan. We cleared leaves along the top path, nearby beds and benches to make the space safer and more attractive to visitors. Then we made our way down the hill to rake a grass bed that has been suffering from lack of light and too much leaf mulch.

With the leaves of our labour bagged and disposed off around the new dead hedges further down the slope, we then decamped to top, where Pat broke out the thermos and biscuits for a round of hot chocolate. We watched the stars and mused over whether that was Venus we could see up above (we're in the midst of a planetary phenomenon!) , before returning the tools to Pat's place.

Then the three of us walked Flora a short way home, before picking up our pace and trekking back home ourselves, safe in the knowledge we'd leafed no path unswept.

Three Goodgymmers came together for an afternoon blitz, fig-guratively speaking, to help tidy up a much-loved garden.

We quickly got down to bush-ness. Together, we rearranged pots, bricks and a table to help make the space easier to navigate. Kubilay and George set to pruning the fig tree, and then took af-fern-ative action on the shrubs around the back garden, clearing the old growth to make way for spring. Kubilay then gave the witch hazel a trim, while Daniel used his height advantage with the loppers to reach the high branches of a tree out front, creating more light for the house.

Mrs J said it was genuinely life-changing to be able to sit and enjoy the garden without worrying about all the jobs she couldn't do any more. It was great to see the fruits of our labour have such an immediate impact!