Eight GGers were tasked with providing a litter bit of help on Petersham Common on a somewhat chilly summer evening.
Both Jade and Sam were led by Adam from the Taps Tavern and ran to the task with Chris cycling on ahead.
We met the the task owner Ken who supplied us with the trusty litter pickers and bags and were soon joined by Monika, Lucy and Sam.
Finds included a hammer, which we were able to nail, while the usual suspects wrappers, cans and bottles were litter-ally very predicable.
Overall we were all very satisfied that we could offer a litter bit of help!

Six GoodGymers turned up to tackle the litter along the roads across Petersham Common with help from Sky (child) and Julia (friend of Petersham Common). We set about to tackle the mostly car thrown litter and soon found lots from pillows, bedside table, hubcaps, bottles and crisp packs galore. In less than an hour we had numerous bags full of litter (sadly there is lots more!). Well done to Sky for finding the hubcap and her enthusiasm was infections as she handed out the chocolate chip cookies at the end to all the GoodGymers! Thanks to all for coming out and making a difference!

A trip out of Richmond centre to Petersham Common to pick up the litter that is sadly discarded along the roadside.

One GoodGymer turned up to help Petersham Common Conservators bash in sweet chestnut fence posts to reinforce those for the aging surrounding fence. Twenty done in 2 hours. A good upper body workout.

The first properly cold day of the season had arrived, but GoodGym perseveres come rain come shine, and come dark cold wintery evenings.

We met Ken on the corner of Petersham Common, where our task for the night was to plant 200 tulip bulbs, to bring in a burst of colour come springtime. We donned our high-viz, and we set to work, digging up six inches of soil. Question: is this a man’s six inches or a woman’s six inches. Ken smiled, ‘a man’s’ and Liz grinned back ‘so four then’. Once we had ourselves down to a satisfactory depth, it was time to plant the bulbs, arranging them in the ground, and wondering which colours would bloom come March.

Susannah had arrived at this point, fresh from her NEW place (which has been a discussion point of GoodGym Richmond for probably 2 years now!). Better late than never, and got stuck right in. It was time to shovel the soil back over, with a poo-tifal addition of some freshly laid horse poop from the roadside. Resourceful? I think so. Man-ure smart for making use of what we have around us!

What’s better than one late arrival to a task? Two! Jp showed his face at this point, after a tough day at the office. Perfect timing, as we were ready to stamp down the laid soil, and could take some of our stresses out on the ground. Topics of conversation at this point also involved burying difficult clients at work, and whether the best strategy for disposing of a body would be in plain site wearing high-viz next to the Petersham Road.

Adam gave us a final stamp of soil and a sprinkling of leaves, and job was a good one. Ken rewarded us with mince pies for our efforts. Alex was so keen to get hers home she forgot she was in her bright orange high visibility vest and was halfway back to Richmond before we realised!

Alex was clearly keen to brighten up the dark cold evenings, and have something to look forward to. In her case, a treat from Ken, and for the rest of us, a long winter ahead hopefully filled with fun, friends and food, and some beautifully coloured flowers on the roadside in four or so months time.

Fun task this morning as a bunch of goodgymer's and other volunteer groups combined to do a mass litter pick across Petersham common. Led by our unfortunately injured, but local resident outdoors man Ken - we set about combing the area clean of garbage. There was a lot but we smashed through it, and felt good for having done our bit! Coffee and a stroll past the 3 pigeons plot (another goodgym managed site) to admire the lovely flowers and we were done!

On to the next one... Monday ... "we go again! We do not let this slip!" :-)