10 GoodGymmers "came together" outside the Braywick Nature Centre on a much warmer evening that we've been having of late to attempt to build stag beetle habitats. Unfortunately, upon trying to locate the equipment we realised that our task owner may have accidentally forgotten we were coming and hence had to think of a plan B(eetle). Perhaps "Yesterday" I should have sent a reminder to say "Don't let me down". Amy and I even tried calling for "Help!", but alas, in the end we just had to "Let it be".

Thankfully our glorious leader Amy had a colony of litter pickers in the boot of her car (sadly, not a VW Beetle!) so we set to work with the intention of having a social walk around the parkrun loop, a very "long and winding road", whilst clearing up any litter we saw en route.

We stag-gered around together, chatted and cleaned up a few bags of rubbish. Great job team! Hopefully we can return another evening to give the beetles a "little help from their friends" so they can "twist and shout" in their new home!

We also congratulated Tony on his 50th good deed this evening! Well done Tony!

7 Goodgymers attended the Maidenhead Community centre to help mend chairs. A satisfying but fiddly task with a production line quickly set up.

Tony with the drill to widen the holes of the previously ineffective plastic attachments. Sol, Jen, Angela and Sheila on the delicate task of inserting the receiving bolt into the top of the seat and hiding it beneath the fabric.

Matt was in control of screwing the seat to the frames before the final quality control station manned by Jack.

The experienced among us brought crotchet hooks and made quick work of getting stuck in and keeping the production line going.

We lost a screwdriver and searched high and low to find it back safely in the toolbox. The joys of searching in the sofas brought out all sorts of delights from their former owners. But this time a domino and Scrabble piece for our efforts.

All tidied and hoovered before time was up.

What a wonderful morning! Sunlight glinting through the trees, fun playing with the ice on the pond, waders on, which make you feel invincible, lots of laughter, wrestling with roots, and of course buckets and buckets of mud, glorious, stinky, splattery mud!

Thanks to Ranger Tom and the parks team for welcoming me, Sheila and Tony to their work party this morning. We had a brilliant work out and helped with the final push to clear out the pond (for the first time in 40 years!) ready for it to be re-filled.

7 Goodgymmers met at the Mencap Society hub in Highview House.

Colin, our task owner, and hardworking volunteer at Mencap showed us the front garden which needed tidying up. There were trees to trim, shrubs to shear, weeds to wrangle and leaves to sweep, plenty to keep us busy!

Tony set to work tackling the bigger trees and brambles, while Ben took charge of sweeping the leaves from the paths. Viv took aim at the front of the garden cutting back the overhanging plants. Didem, Anna and Anne-Laure and Jess set to work on the weeds, all not entirely sure what should be pulled out!

In just 30 minutes the team had made a huge difference to the area and the change was clear to see. The rest of the time was then spent tidying up the clippings and getting more of the pesky weeds out! Two full green bins later the team had done a superb job.

Colin invited us in for tea and cake and to see the members who were their for their Wednesday night club. It is such a lifeline to many people in the community and it was great to be able to help them.