Six GoodGymers set out to clear up Kings Road and Queens Road on Monday evening.

Armed with our new litter pickers and bags from Reading Council RAYS (Reading adopt your street), and joined for the first time by Narah and Daniel who is going to be leading GoodGym Basingstoke, we set off!

After another day of rain showers, we were lucky with a dry evening, however, the wind seemed to have blown quite a bit of the rubbish away... or so we thought!

Even on our 2km loop, we still managed to collect 6 bags of rubbish between us! As luck would have it, as we were finishing up, we met the leader of Keep Reading Tidy, who thanked us for our work. Maybe there will be a future collaboration for us!?

We were back at the Weller Centre for probably our last outdoor task of the year without needing headtorches before we'd finished!

There was hedge trimming to be done and shredding of the already cut bags of branches to get through. We started by dragging the deceptively heavy bags around the building, where Shirley donned safety gear and got to work on the shredder. Jenni and Chris, joined by taskowner Katie, worked on the hedge. With the extra long loppers we were able to get some of the high bits, and make the hedge neater.

With the light fading, we piled our trimmings, put the tools back in the well organised shed, and admired Shirley's work reducing a whole bag of cuttings to a small pile of fine shreds.

Next week, we're back over in Reading town centre for some litter picking, sign up to join us here

On Monday, four GoodGymers went to help out at the Food4Families allotment. Armed with enthusiasm, gloves and a few garden tools, we got straight to the root of the problem.

We weeded the beds so the tomatoes and beans can grow without competition, gave the plants a good drink to keep them from feeling wilted, and even pumped up the water supply.

The local insects also decided to join in, leaving us with more than a few itchy “souvenirs” to remember the session by. You could say they really bit into the task with us.

By the end, the plot was looking fresher, without all the marestail and other weeds the plants were happier. So despite the bug buffet, we left feeling like we’d really sown some seeds of goodness.

With news coming in that there had been damage to the community garden at the Weller Centre over the weekend, we were prepared for the worst... but thankfully, while there had been some of the fruit and veg damaged, overall the garden was OK!

There was still plenty for us to do, and we all set to work. Holly went on the hunt for litter, Chris got to work shredding the branches that had been cut down by other volunteers, Jenni started to move the compost piles and Shirley emptied the shed to get it reorganised, which turned out to be a big job!

With all the litter gathered, and the muscles aching from soil turning, Holly and Jenni helped Shirley (along with Katie and Penny!) get everything sorted to go back into the shed. Organised, stacked and much easier to get to!

Chris' shredding job had been complete too and there was then even space in the shed for the tool - borrowed from the excellent 'Library of Things' - to be tucked away too. Job done!

We'll be back at the Community Garden again in a few weeks for more!