Our knitters got down to business on this task producing a stack of hats for Innocent Smoothie's Big Knit Event.

Between them they have knitted over 40 hats!! These will be sent off to Innocent so they can feature on their smoothie bottles when their next campaign starts! Look out for them as you could get a local hat back!

Well done to everyone who volunteered on this beautifully sunny Saturday morning. There was a big turnout and spirits were high. It was also a great opportunity for us to raise awareness about GoodGym in the local community. Thanks to Sheila and Georgeta, who brought home baked cookies and yummy chocolates for us to share with the runners. Sorry we didn't have enough left for the volunteers as well!

Claire had an early start as she was on course check. She came back and gave the thumbs up to RD Kate, had time for a quick catch up with the rest of the GoodGymers and then headed off and ran the course again (her 218th parkrun!) Well done Claire!

Sheila also got her steps in this morning, walking to parkrun, volunteering as parkwalker and then walking home. She covered over 11km, and did at least 5km with a biscuit tin tucked under her arm.

Diya, Kanika and Sol were on marshal duty, helping point everyone in the right direction. They kept warm by cheering the runners and doing lunges. GoodGymer Anne-Laure was running and said she really enjoyed the cheering from her GoodGym friends.

Over at the finish funnel, Jess and Rosie were on timekeeping and tokens respectively. Fingers were freezing, but they didn't fumble! There were a whopping 480 runners and walkers, so they were very busy. Rosie kept warm by dancing in the sun.

Experienced parkrun volunteer Rachel was on timekeeping duty alongside Jess and she told me that Jess nailed it. She had accurate fingers and approached what can be a stressful job calmly and with a smile on her face. That's our Jess!

Amy and Georgeta were also busy barcode scanning, a lovely job as you get to meet all the runners and walkers - lots of familiar and friendly faces, who are full of endorphins, having completed the course.

Amy and Georgeta were also overseeing the cakes, as well as training two first-time barcode scanners, who wanted to wear the token buckets as hats and were easily distracted by the cakes...

Thanks to RD Kate and all the regular parkrun volunteers for welcoming us to the roster this week. See you again soon!

Last night we met at Oaken Grove pond where 2 volunteers from "friends of Oaken Grove" were already hard at work chopping down overgrowth and making a start on sludge removal. Jacqui from RBWM then brought us the equipment we needed to get going - it was a relatively simple task, relocate sludge from pond area to some overgrowth nearby. Simple but stinky, very stinky! All GoodGymmers that attended got stuck in (the mud), some with wellies in the pond area shoveling the sludge into buckets and others moving the sludge via wheelbarrow to the overgrowth. And repeat. A great upper body workout for sure! We came away rather covered in muck but it was good fun and an amazing team effort that made a real dent in the work that needs doing to the pond this year. We were also treated to a beautiful full moon and red skies which made for some nice photos. Well done everyone!

What a joyful sight to see so many red GoodGym t-shirts gathering for our group run/walk last night, and it was wonderful to be able to welcome newcomers Kay, Viv and Bernd.

It was a beautiful evening for our short walk or run along the pretty Thames tow path. 8 walkers set off first, with Nicola taking the lead. I warmed up and launched 4 runners with navigator Gillian at the helm, and then brought up the rear with 2 more walkers. We chatted about camping and it all felt very wholesome!

As well as the sea of red t-shirts, we were dressed in long sleeves and trousers, and Tony even had some special pirate boots, ready to venture into the nettley undergrowth and overgrowth at the South East corner of Battlemead Common.

Our task for the evening was to pull up more invasive Himalayan Balsam, which threatens native biodiversity if left unchecked, and seems to be getting taller by the minute! We know from previous sessions that this can be a hugely satisfying task, as the roots come up really easily.

Angela spoke for everyone when she said, 'This is my kind of weeding!'

Short roots, minimal bending down, and a saitsifying crunching noise as you walk (or jump if you're Nicola or Diya) on the defeated stems piled on the ground.

Battlemead seems an apt name for this area as it does feel like we are engaged in battle - albeit the jolliest, least lethal battle ever. We pushed forward on multiple fronts and gained much ground.

We also had one wounded soldier as Claire got a face full of nettles not once but twice! She was very brave and said a cup of tea and bed would sort her out.

We mustn't rest on our laurels. The enemy is growing stronger week by week. We found one plant already in flower. It had lovely, pink, sweet-pea like bells, whose prettiness is what got us into this mess in the first place, back when the Victorians introduced the plant to British gardens in 1839. (NB these are not the pretty pink flowers pictured with Juli. They are perennial sweetpeas, which are growing along the tow path and are not the enemy!)

We need to prevent the plant from flowering because according to the RHS, each flowering plant can produce up to 800 seeds. These can then be dispersed widely as the ripe seedpods shoot their missiles up to 7m away. If the seeds get into waterways then they can quickly spread even further. If any Taskforce members would like to list more balsam-battling sessions then that would be brilliant. There is still time to win at Battlemead!

Thanks to Yesim and Diya for photos.