In preparation for Remembrance Day, we met at the listed war memorial monument at St Mary Magdelene Church in Richmond town centre. Jobs included weeding around the flower bed, clearing any rubbish that had blown in, scraping up grass and moss between the paving slabs and making sure the area is appropriately ready to pay respects to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

A warm and sunny morning greeted us for today’s task at the Vine Road Community Growing Project in Barnes. We met at the polytunnels and shifted a bit of garden furniture before dividing to conquer separate jobs involving compost and mulch. Classic.

The mulchers set about coating the raised beds in some rich organic material to nourish the soil and remaining crops over winter. Meanwhile, the others were busy shovelling and sieving matter from the compost heap to remove larger bits of wood, roots, worms, and more than a few coffee pods, to leave a most pleasing fine and light compost. Lovely.

Most of the group also stopped a little longer to enjoy well-earned coffees and baked treats in the sun from the community café.

Welcome to all those who joined us for the first time, whether from other areas or new to GoodGym. We hope to see you and the friendly bunch at Vine Road again soon.

I learned so much about bats and their habitat along the Thames. Thank you for a really interesting evening with a friendly bunch of fellow bat-recorders.

The London marathon is happening today and while some of the team were out running it, some of us found some more training to complete!

Arriving at St. Margaret's Station we received the briefing from Friends of St Margaret's for the two new planters that needed to be built, lined and filled with compost.

The task started with carrying the necessary wood from the storage room to the working areas, then cracking on with the somewhat IKEA-like instructions. As with all flat pack, the expected errors occured: bits the wrong way up, pegs in the wrong hole, unclear instructions and tools that weren't quite up to the job!

With some fast learning on the job we did manage to get back on track, just like the trains that brought happy Sunday commuters in and out of London. Many stopped to say hello and thank us as the planters progressed.

Once all of the wood was firmly in place and pegged in, we lined them with a damp-proof membrane and capped them off with the finishing layer. Time for a group shot and some well-earned pride before heading off to track Marathon runners and enjoy a Sunday lunch!

A massive hello and thank you to Andrea who joined for her first GoodGym task.

Keep an eye out for more tasks at the station as we have been asked to help with weeding the banks and looking after the new beds once they are planted up.

A late change in the schedule saw the group meet at Petersham Common today where we have been helping task owner Ken to work on the traditional hedgerow this year. This is an amazing way to create a natural living habitat for the area, and it looks amazing too.

Ken has been working hard doing the bleaching and post placement so today we could just focus on the binding for the top using slim branches that can bend and flex around the posts. Split into three groups we managed to cover a large area in one sunny session before stepping back to admire our roadside handiwork with chocolates provided by Ken!