7 Goodgymmers were very chip-er at todays task of spreading wood chip in the forest area at St Marys pre school

Tony was a magnificent sight standing atop of a pile of wood chip with his fish and chips in hand- it provided much nourishment for the task at hand

An hour in and you wooden believe the difference we made in the area. The weeds and dirt were covered over with a fresh batch of wood chip, making for a mu(l)ch more usable space for the school

The end of the task loomed and we said goodbye to our task owner Michelle and made our way homes

This GoodGym session was part of the annual Maidenhead United FC MacMillan coffee morning, a super community event involving a lot more than just coffee. As well as our litter pick there was walking football, a track session, and heaps of cake.

I was joined by Lisa, Tessa, Mark, Stephan and Helen. The 6 of us filled up 6 big bags of litter and could have filled many more. It can be a bit rubbish seeing how much litter is out there hiding in hedges and getting grimy in gutters but at least we made a small difference and our biceps got a good workout too!

We had a lovely sociable time, soaked up plenty of sunshine and enjoyed yummy cake. I also heard later that nearly £2000 was raised for MacMillan Cancer Support. Quite the opposite of ‘rubbish’!

The weather didn't play ball, so we had to change our plans from painting preserve on the fence to removing ivy from it. There's nothing that fazes GoodGym spirit though. So 11 of us went at the remaining ivy (we've removed a whole lot in the past) with gusto. Some also took out time to rake away the leaves and branches near the fence.

Special shout out to newcomer Paris for her first session with GG. Welcome!

Sophie, Jess, Amy and Sol met at All Saints church and set off on the 1km journey to Desborough Park. Sophie and Amy walked whilst Jess and Sol ran back and forth between lamposts and us, with high fives and Dad jokes to motivate them! Well done both on extending your distance by nearly double!

When we arrived at the park we met Viv and Helen (our task owner from Wild Maidenhead) who set us to work on digging up grass and weeds from a large wildflower bed ready for them to plant new items and create a bee habitat. Many hands made light work and there was a noticeable difference as shown in our before and after photos courtesy of Jess.

We were careful not to step in any dog muck and avoid tics, though the weather turned about 15 minutes before we finished so we set off back to the meeting location on the 1km (very wet and rainy) walk. Great effort everyone and hope you've all dried off now!

Tonight’s GoodGym mission in Maidenhead was a sandy one! While beach cleans aren’t exactly common around here, this one came with a twist—we weren’t cleaning the beach, we were removing it.

A couple of months ago, we helped create the pop-up beach for Norden Farm’s summer festivities. But with autumn creeping in and flip-flops firmly back in storage, it was time to bid farewell to the sandpit!

Shifting 13 tonnes of sand is no small feat—and definitely tougher than laying it out in the first place! But the GoodGym crew rose to the challenge. With teamwork, grit, and sandy socks, we helped the Norden Farm staff make a serious dent in the dunes. There’s still a bit left to tackle, but the bulk of the beach has officially been packed away.