A lovely evening for getting some extra steps in to tend Pam's allotment. Louise, Ray and Alex headed north via a meet up at the Mercury, whereas Stu and Helen took a short cut. We divided up the tasks, grabbed some tools and got stuck in. Louise made the plot look super tidy by strimming, Ray bravely tackled the prickly brambles which had popped up everywhere, Alex made a dozen trips to the water tank, and gave everything a really good drink, Stu weeded the vegetable beds, and unearthed a surprised beetroot, and a very tall chard, and Helen weeded the potatoes and corn. The allotment looked much better and Pam was really grateful for our efforts. Well done everyone 👏 👍

What better weather to spend a morning citizen science-ing to support our much needed wildlife. This time Helen’s keen eyes may have spotted a Brown Belted Carder. A rare sight indeed. Go you tiny heroes!

Met up in Castle Park to carry out another monthly bumblebee survey for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Lots of new flowers in bloom, and plenty of solitary bees buzzing about, but not that many bumblebees this time. All data will be uploaded to the BBCT website for their UK wide data set. If you'd like to get involved, set up your own transect near where you live, to contribute to this vital citizen science project, or join us next month.

After years of sitting, discarded in bushes, a full can of the amber nectar finally found freedom during our litter pick; discharging its sugary contents everywhere. At least the Yellow Jackets will enjoy lapping it up! 2 Goodgymers gave a much needed spring clean to a popular local area ahead of the Easter weekend. Most importantly the local wildlife doesn’t need to fend off some human detritus.

A lovely sunny evening for seven GoodGymers to support Colchester in Bloom by helping out at the allotment. This session focused on clearing out the greenhouses and tackling the overgrown beds through digging and weeding.

We were delighted to welcome a new member, Madeleine, to the group. Maddie got stuck straight in to the digging and weeding!

With a strong team effort, we made great progress, much to the delight of Pam from Colchester in Bloom, who was thoroughly impressed with how much we managed to achieve in one evening.

We’re already looking forward to returning to the allotment soon to continue the good work!

Two Goodgymers set out along busy pathways to litter pick. Our good haul seemed to include robber’s paraphernalia, including, getaway vehicle (bike), weapons (saw wrapped in tin foil), plenty of beer bottles (for courage) and a loot hold-all! Scene of the crime now returned to a more natural setting.

Three goodgymers met up in Castle Park to count bumblebees for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust's citizen science project. Bumblebees start emerging from hibernation around now, so we weren't expecting to see very much, especially as there isn't much in bloom yet, but much to our surprise, there were busy bumblebees in several sections of the route! We identified some queen buff-tailed bees, a few common carders, and even some worker white tails, which we will be recording on the BBCT website later. Congratulations to Luke on his first goodgym good deed, and for spotting so many bees. 🐝 🐝 🐝