5 GoodGymers gathered to help clear litter from some streets which Claire had noticed as a bit of a hotspot. We armed ourselves with bin bags, hoops and litter-pickers and set off in 2 groups to see what we could find. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the litter problem wasn't as bad as we had feared, but still managed to find quite a bit. Ed and Claire definitely came back with the fullest bags, but Carol, Tessa and Sheila weren't far behind. Down one alleyway it was obvious that someone had a thing about beef jerky, when we found half a dozen empty packets. We managed to stuff our bags into some handy litter bins, leaving the area cleaner than we found it. Thanks to Claire for suggesting the task and encouraging us out into the sunshine on a lovely autumn day

This GoodGym session was part of the annual Maidenhead United FC MacMillan coffee morning, a super community event involving a lot more than just coffee. As well as our litter pick there was walking football, a track session, and heaps of cake.

I was joined by Lisa, Tessa, Mark, Stephan and Helen. The 6 of us filled up 6 big bags of litter and could have filled many more. It can be a bit rubbish seeing how much litter is out there hiding in hedges and getting grimy in gutters but at least we made a small difference and our biceps got a good workout too!

We had a lovely sociable time, soaked up plenty of sunshine and enjoyed yummy cake. I also heard later that nearly £2000 was raised for MacMillan Cancer Support. Quite the opposite of ‘rubbish’!

10 Goodgymers gave an out-sanding effort tonight helping Norden Farm prepare their beach for the Summer.

12 x 1 ton bags of sand had been delivered earlier in the day, caught on camera by Amy.

Many hands definitely did make light work tonight, leaving time for us to celebrate lovely Tessa's fantastic 100th good deed.

As usual we presented a medal, ate cake baked by the wonderful Amy who also recited another one of her awesome poems:

Lots of us met Tessa on a GoodGym good deed, But I first got to know her whilst planning the Big Read.

She’s brainy with words and knows an adverb from a noun. She’s looked forward to this poem, so I mustn’t let her down.

‘Where would she go for inspo?’ I thought to myself And headed to the library, and books upon the shelf

I found heroines and superstars from cover to cover But none as brilliant as Tessa, the GoodGym Bingo lover…

When Tessa’s given a Bingo card, it’s like a magic wand It gives her wings to do great things in January and beyond.

Roahl Dahl’s little heroes had chocolate and a peach But 100 GoodGym good deeds were well out of their reach.

Never mind Red Riding Hood, three pigs or bears Tessa Allanson carried bicycles up stairs!

Forget Ingalls Wilder, forget about Heidi! Tessa helped us make the nature garden tidy!

Potter, Grainger, Weasley move aside! Tessa Allanson helped make the path more wide

Hal Beck never solved a cemetery mystery But Tessa battled ivy to reveal Spital’s history

Whilst the Famous Five drank ginger beer in Kirrin Island fort Tessa did a litter pick and wrote the run report!

Austen’s protaganists had sense and sensibility but Tessa marshals parkrun with energy and agility!

Frodo and Samwise might be legends now But I bet they’ve never been to GoodGym in Slough!

So what if Mary Poppins made the medicine go down? Tessa teaches kids to read all over town!

It may sounds like fiction, but this is a fact Tessa Allanson is a proper class act.

So put your hands together for the star of our story Tessa, deserving of all the cake and glory!

8 GGers met at the riverside hub to help out with a number of tasks

We all stared work on the weeding, and a huge difference was seen in a short space of time

Weeding out of the way, we moved over to the over side, where decking was swept, brambles were pulled and the sad pond was dismantled ready for a new happy water feature to take its place

Tasks completed, we made our way to the bench where task owner Heather had kindly left a platter of fruit and squash

Hats off to another successfully completed task!

Margaret, Tessa and Sheila met on a warm but blustery day to help tidy up Spital Cemetery alongside other volunteers. And it turned out to be a prickly business. First we tackled the brambles running along the wall, cutting them down to ground level. Then we moved on to cutting back a holly bush which was was making access along the path a potentially painful business. Finally we tacked a bramble and elder combo which were obscuring a grave. Well done to Maggie for providing the two Hippo bags from her secret stash in which we could put all the prickly clippings. A job well done