On International Rewilding Day, the Friends of Ray Mill Island hosted an all-day workparty with 40 corporate volunteers from the Active Learning Group. Goodgym were invited to come along for the afternoon session and after sampling some cake from the Handmade Cake Company and our very own star-baker Rachel, we got straight down to work. Sheila K joined the corporate volunteers clearing the over-grown paths, followed by planting up an area with ferns, Tiarella and Periwinkle. Sheila A helped our local tree expert Martin Woolner put up painted signs which had been prepared by the volunteers in the morning, labelling the trees with their name. It took a bit of trial and error to work out how to hang the signs securely without damaging the trees. After a group photocall with the Maidenhead Advertiser Sheila A then joined Rachel who had been sanding one of the picnic tables. We set to work, treating it with preservative . A lovely afternoon, in some brilliant spring sunshine, and so much was achieved with an enthusiastic group of people

4 Goodgymmers met with Friends of Raymill Island to continue with supporting them to manage the Island.

This weeks tasks were more path widening, soil sorting, dry hedging and tool labelling!

Christine, Jess and Nivi took on the tasks of path widening by digging out the extra overgrown edges and then laying logs to mark the path. Whilst removing the soil and debris from the edges, they also sorted the soil so that the 'good stuff' could be used for planting things and the rest went to compost.

Meanwhile Elizabeth was tasked with marking up the tools owned by the Friends of Raymill Island so it's clear whose they are. She then joined Shoshan to help with the dry hedging next to the river bank.

We are very proud of our results and enjoyed the sunshine today!

Six Goodgymers joined other volunteers at Ray Mill Island to continue our quest to regain the path. It was lovely to welcome Sheila to her second Goodgym session and Mike to his first! And everyone certainly got stuck in, cutting back the undergrowth which was invading the path, cutting out the roots and retrieving the soil. We felt like the Time Team, when we uncovered the original stone edging which had been buried for years and gave us a good line to excavate back to. It was great to see such great progress being made

4 Goodgymers met with a small group of Friends of Ray Mill Island (including four mini Friends) for some family friendly Island TLC.

The main job of the day was to widen the main path running in front of the playground and cafe. This involved digging away the earth at the edge of the path and transferring it by wheelbarrow to the compost area. At the compost area a couple of volunteers sifted through the soil to remove roots. The mini friends enjoyed looking for the worms and transporting them in the wheel barrow to a safer place.

The path team then moved some logs and branches to mark out the new edge.

There were lots of squirrels taking an interest in our work with one particularly curious squirrel who befriended Jen and one of the mini friends.

Nivi and Sheila joined other volunteers at Ray Mill Island on the damp and cold afternoon. Our task was to plant up a couple of beds, one of which had been cleared and dug-over by Goodgym last week. We found plenty of fat, juicy earthworms, an excellent sign, and by the end of the session all the plants were in their places. Sheila quickly painted a couple of signs politely asking the public to keep off the newly-planted areas, and we were done!

I met with a small working party from Friends if Ray Mill Island (FoRMI) for a bit of Island TLC.

We cut back a hazel tree and rescued the branches to finish the dry hedging at a later date.

We moved onto cutting back other overgrown trees and doing some general tidying up. We took it in turns wheelbarrowing the branches to either the compost area, the dry hedge area or the children's play area for repurposing.

FoRMI meet from 1pm to 3pm every Saturday and would love to welcome more GG volunteers.

Sol, Melissa, Nivi and Sheila joined other volunteers at the Friends of Ray Mill Island session. We were continuing to work on the Nature Area. Sol and Sheila starting hacking back the box honeysuckle to create a through-route while Melissa loaded all the cuttings into a barrow and disposed of it in the compost area. Nivi worked with others , developing the stepping stone area. Sol moved on to cutting back ivy from the trees while Sheila dug up the shrub roots. The team was really pleased with the progress. As we left, Sol spotted a Robin harvesting some juicy worms from the disturbed ground. Glad to be of service!

Jess, Sheila and Nivi went to help other volunteers with the Friends of Ray Mill Island clearing a rockery of very well-established and deep-rooted winter heliotrope. The aim was to get every little bit of root out. Easier said than done! We dug, scraped and pulled, moving stones to find whole bundles of roots underneath. By the end of the session we had cleared a large area and revealed the feet of the 'Vintage Boys' sculpture

Thought I'd start this report with a tongue twister.

Wow! What an awesome task to celebrate my 500th Goodgym good deed.

My favourite type of task: outdoors, lots of digging, with the sound of water nearby and kneeling and sitting on earth. We moved tree stumps, cut back hedges, uprooted ivy, I even managed to use my secateurs as a trowel....although as I said on several occasions I was missing my trowel.

Once over the shock of Amy turning up with my favourite cake baked by the amazing Georgeta, I was absolutely delighted with my unique hand decorated trowel medal...it is the most apt, and best medal I have ever received.

There is so much work to do supporting Friends of Ray Mill Island in transforming this beautiful spot by the River Thames so keep an eye out for future listings.

Thank you to everyone involved in planning my 'surprise' celebration and in particular to Georgeta and Amy.