Ashley, Pete and Lewis stomped the streets of Derby searching for all things rubbish. A good haul of items was collected whist talking about how Lewis (Jason Bourne) would protect us if any trouble kicked off. Yet again, a perfectly great evening of laughs and chat whilst keeping our city streets clean.

Ashley, Mandy, Pete and David met at the church on the spookiest day of the year to dig holes in the graveyard. Several trick-or-treaters warned us not to turn into zombies. Our task was to dig a hole for a new walnut tree. Ashley set about digging a hole, occasionally asking passers by if they'd like to help; there were no takers. Mandy and Pete tended to the nearby trees finally collecting a large bag of trimmings. Mandy, or Alice as she'll be known from now on, fell into a large rabbit hole that miraculously we'd all missed for over an hour.

Mandy and Pete met David and John from St Matthew’s church on a glorious Autumn morning. We were also joined by a Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award volunteer.

In preparation for Remembrance Sunday the five of us soon got down to maintaining the area around the Remembrance cross. Plots were cleared of grass and weed, with the area looking much improved by the end of the session.

John told us about some of the people buried in the church graveyard - varying from mill owners, Falkland veterans and members of the French Resistance!

Super morning - we look forward to returning soon.

Ashley, Pete, Ellen and Rachel welcomed Mandy's new recruit Sue along for a group effort litter picking in the city centre.

After the group had gathered up all equipment needed for the session including Mandy and Ashley's professional grade litter pickers and Pete's which was a thoughtful Christmas gift, it was on to collect litter from the streets in some eco-friendly bags that were given to the group by the hotel that's the start point.

It was great to see Mandy again and welcome along her friend (and soon to be relation!) Sue and to see Ellen again who educated the group with some fascinating facts about the history of some of Derby's buildings.

Some interesting finds from the night included part of a toy crane and food packaging in the shape of a sombrero. Sue also found a few bones and part of a pigeon....possibly all connected, or once connected to be more accurate. A favourite find for doglovers of the group was meeting Zeus, a male staffordshire bull terrier, where a pit stop had to be scheduled in for some furry appreciation.

The group chatted to a passer by who asked about volunteering with GoodGym once they found out a bit more about the organisation and what our local group gets up to, hopefully a face we'll see again and thanks to members who had their GoodGym t shirts proudly on display tonight.

Thank you everyone for coming on a chatty catch-up whilst clearing the streets of everything from food packaging to hazardous glass.