Today’s adventure with the Friends of Ray Mill Island was less “gym” and more “DIY Olympics.”

• 🚗 Cardboard chauffeur duties: We liberated a car stuffed with cardboard and wood, proving that sometimes the toughest workout is just unloading.
  
• 🛖 Shelter building (spectator sport): A collapsible shelter sprang up thanks to others’ handiwork—my role was more “cheer squad” than “construction crew.”
  
• 🌱 Groundwork genius: We laid cardboard across the nursery ground, giving weeds their eviction notice and future plants a fighting chance.
  
• 🪵 Wood whispering: Sanding timber for tree signs—because even trees deserve a bit of spa treatment before getting their nameplates.
  
• 🎨 Painting (artistic abstention): Brushes were wielded, but not by me. I left the creative flair to the painters.
  
• 🔨 De‑nailing duty: Nails and screws were prised out of old wood, recycling it into two shiny new workbenches for the nursery. Who knew carpentry could feel like treasure hunting?
  

Sue and Jen in Windsor town,
GoodGym stars who never frown.
Five mini buses lined in a row,
Waiting for sparkle, a gleaming glow.

With hoses spraying arcs of light,
Brushes scrubbing with all their might,
Sponges dancing, cloths that shine,
Each bus transformed, one at a time.

Laughter bubbles with suds that gleam,
A duo powered by purpose and team.
For People to Places, their care runs deep,
Promises polished, commitments they keep.

By dusk the buses proudly stand,
Clean and bright from loving hands.
Sue and Jen, with spirits high,
Washed the wheels as kindness passed by.

An early foggy dog walk turned into a bottle litter pick up along the pyg track. Searching through the newly planted crops to pick up broken bottles too!

Was nice to see the amazing work this team are doing, hopefully helped a little too 🙂 Lovely to see Carol back from her travels and to welcome Shelley to her first Baby Bank mission. We certainly helped clear the decks ready for the next clothes-sorting session. A never-ending task!

Great to see a big turn out of GoodGymers tonight. 12 happy volunteers met on the roof of Nicolsons Centre, a part of Maidenhead most of us had never been before. Task owner Donna led us from the back entrance to what used to be a nightclub, Smokeys. No disco lights or bars anymore, just a stripped out large space housing all kinds of materials from fabric to paints, from stationery to sewing machines! 

Our task was to organise things as best as we could. We made good progress and grouped the material lying in two rooms of Smokeys into categories such as Paints, Arts & crafts, Stationery, Fabric, Leather, Sewing, Gardening, Jars and more. From here, they will slowly be taken down to the Green Skills library to be upcycled. 

We were so efficient that there was even time for some fun with a block of stone, a chisel and hammer! Another productive, social evening and a thankful task owner. 

Jen and Sheila went to help Mrs M with her garden, as due to Asthma she is unable to do much herself We raked up all the fallen leaves from the lawn and patio and any dead leaves from the pots We weeded the front garden and then with the remaining time weeded the beds on the top patio. The garden looked much tidier once we had finished, and Mrs M was very grateful for our efforts