10 GoodGymers helped clean up local streets and parks in lieu of GivingTuesday which is on 2nd December this year. GivingTuesday is a global movement that unleashes the power of generosity around the world — a day that encourages people to do good. While we are no strangers to doing good, GivingTuesday is always a good excuse to list a litter pick!

Sheila, Tessa, Kay, Kanika and Diya met at the Community Centre on a cold but sunny morning. We fanned out in different directions for maximum coverage. Jess joined in bringing her own litter pick. Georgeta, Angela, Viv (with Flora the dog) and Jen did their bit around their homes. 

There are 10 big bags less of litter on the streets of Maidenhead. Thanks team! 

Diya made an early start at the community allotment and was already hard at work when Sheila and Kay arrived. Diya cleared the bed of peppers, taking them to the composting area while Sheila and Kay cut plastic to cover the bed. We dug some well-rotted manure out of the bay (even Diya admitted it smelt sweet - well, almost!), which we spread on the bed and covered with the plastic sheets. We were joined at the manure bin and pepper bed by a very friendly robin, looking for any tasty treats we had uncovered, and there were certainly plenty of worms! As Diya went off to her yoga class, we weeded around the new figs

Claire, Kay and Sheila helped out at the community allotment on a lovely sunny evening. Kay set about watering the remaining crops while Claire and Sheila started tackling tidying up the pot storage area. Not an easy task! So many pots of different shapes and sizes. We found some unexpected items - 2 teapots and a pair of shears, and also disposed of a number of broken pots. By the end of the session it was looking a lot tidier (although not perfect!) and hopefully everything is more accessible. One of the other volunteers, Andrea, called in to give the big fig tree some manure and a good water - it was great to be there at the same time. Mei also dropped by just as we were leaving, but stayed to have a quick chat. I hope we can arrange to coincide for a bit longer next time!

8 determined GoodGymers met at one of our favourite venues, Nature's Haven to see what our taskowners Claire and Aleks had in store for us. While they borrowed Tony to consult on greenhouse construction, the others set to work on tidying up the shrubs at the back of the Community Centre. With forks, secateurs, spades and loppers we set about removing the Sycamore saplings, bindweed and snowberry bushes. We amassed a huge amount of green waste which we managed to stuff into the Green Bin with the aid of some special trampling by Tony. We were kindly treated to tea and biscuits afterwards, and we look forward to another visit soon!