Anna, Georgeta, Sara and Sheila all signed up to help at the annual Sunflower Walk in aid of Thames Hospice. The weather was looking changeable so we went prepared for anything..There were 3 routes for walkers of differing lengths, and Georgeta was assigned to a spot where the 10km and half marathon walkers crossed over the Thames on the way out as well as the way back. So she saw plenty of action. Sara and Sheila cycled to the end of the Long Walk, with stunning views of Windsor Castle (once the morning mist had cleared) and were able to tell the 100 or so intrepid walkers tackling the half marathon that they were now half way. It was lovely to see everyone dressed up with all their sunflower-related costumes, including an enterprising group with flower pot skirts. Everyone was safely sent on their way, and it only rained twice, and once the tail-walker came round, we were able to leave our posts. Sara and Sheila cycled back via the scenic route to meet up with Georgeta who was basking in lovely sunshine, enjoying her scenic spot, and directing the walkers back for their final couple of km. Back at base we found Anna, who had initially been serving refreshments but then promoted to welcoming the walkers home and handing out finishers' medals. It was great to help out with this event again, for such a worthwhile cause

3 GoodGymmers volunteered to help out at the annual Sunflower Walk, which raises money for the Thames Hospice. About 700 walkers took part, and could choose to walk 2.5, 10 or 21 km. Ruth, Alex and Sheila had all been allocated marshal positions on the half marathon route, which had about 150 people registered to take part. We collected our High-viz jackets from the Hospice first thing, and then made our way to our designated places, Sheila and Alex cycling along the river in very pleasant conditions, hampered only by groups of walkers doing a memory walk along the Thames Path in the opposite direction, in support of Alzheimers. Ruth helped carry water to the water station before positioning herself to wait for the first walkers to come through. The participants were easily identifiable by their bright green T-shirts with a sunflower motif and some were also had sunflowers painted on their cheeks or sunflower-themed deely boppers. Some walked serenely alone, others joyfully in groups, and everything inbetween. Highlights were a walker in a kilt, a walker being pulled along by his determined dog, and a group of 12 walkers walking in memory of a good friend who had recently spent her last days at the Hospice.
Ruth had the good fortune to be marshalling in a much-envied position outside a pub, seeing walkers both on the way out and the way back. There was no drinking on the job, though, just a soft drink and a good old bowl of chips! She gave out sweets to walkers and came to the rescue of a lady doing the memory walk, with plasters for her painful feet. Alex was stationed half way up the hill to the castle in Windsor, together with a lady who volunteered regularly for Thames Hospice as her husband had sadly died there, but had been very well looked after. They gave the walkers lots of encouragement as they toiled up the hill, and the Macdonalds across the road became the unofficial pit stop for toilets, coffee and ice cream. They were a lot happier on the way back as they were on then on the way home so it was "all downhill’’ from there! Sheila had the most scenic spot, at the end of the long walk, so watched the walkers come down from the castle, and was able to tell them that they were now halfway through the walk, which made them very happy. I think we all developed other roles on the day too, directing tourists, taking pictures, and giving out bottles of water. It was very hot and humid, and although our marshal points were relatively close together, our paths did not cross. Nonetheless it was a good day out, and we were pleased to be able to help out for a fantastic cause.

Thanks to everyone's contributions to this report

What a fabulous evening! Running, walking, weeding, chatting, new faces, old friends, beautiful light as the sun went down, a lovely lake-side setting, weeds that were satisfyingly easy to yank up, and the icing on the carrot cake was the opportunity to celebrate Juli's 50th good deed - hurrah!

Juli has not just ticked off 50 GoodGym good deeds in the past year, she has also worked really hard at every session she has attended. She is often the person we have to drag away at the end because she wants to pick up just one more piece of litter or pull up just one more weed. She has taught lots of us a thing or two about gardening, welcomed lots of new members, and led and photographed community missions and social runs as a Taskforce member.

She has also thrown herself enthusiastically into all the Lockdown running challenges and games, and inspires us all by running and walking A LOT and even winning various races. Not to mention she brings us home-grown beans!

Juli is a superstar GoodGymer so it was only fitting that a great big group would come out this evening to celebrate her milestone. Many hands made light work of the weeding, which was just as well, because we had a medal to present and cake to eat! A huge thank you to Georgeta for making the stunning and utterly delicious carrot cake, and for presenting it so beautifully with all the plates and forks we would need to dive in straight away. Thank you also to Sophie and fotodrop creations, who crafted the fabulous cake topper.

As well as celebrating Juli's achievements and welcoming lots of people back from holidays, it was also great to meet new members Karen and Nicola, and to see Carina returning for her second good deed. Hope to see you all again soon!

And finally, wowzers did you see that Hawk Moth caterpillar!? Thanks to Karen for identifying it. What an amazing little (but mind-bogglingly gigantic) creature!

Do keep an eye on the listings for a return to the Thames Hospice. We hope to be back for more weeding soon. We might even go for more cake too, having learned that there is a lovely cafe on site open 8am-7pm every day. Yum!

7 Goodgymmers met at the Thames Hospice to help weed the planted areas at the front of the building

The aim of the Thames Hospice is to provide world-class palliative and end-of-life care to people in the East Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire areas. This brand new facility was built in 2019 and welcomed its first patients in October 2020.

Hannah, Nicola, Georgeta, Jen, Laura, Juli and Jess met with Sam McCay, Head of Facilities, and she expained the task tonight was to help clear the weeds from the planted areas at the front of the facility. These amazing beds were full or all sorts of grasses, small bushes and some trees! It was a challenge to distinguish between the weeds and the plants but luckily we had our resident gardener Juli with us to point us in the right direction!

Oops, weed did it again,

We dodged all the rain, got lost in the task,

Oh Goodgym, Goodgym,

Oops we cleared all the weeds,

Seven bags we did need,

We're just that good at it!

Over the next hour shouts of 'Is this one?' and 'Well it didn't look like it should be there!' rang out across the car park as weeds were removed from the beds and bundled into black bags. The team had a final count of seven bags of weeds!

We hope to be able to return to the Thames Hospice to help out again soon, keep your eyes peeled for the listings!

We were welcomed back to the Thames Hospice Shop with open arms.

It was great to welcome Sarah to the GoodGym and she did an excellent job completing her first mission.

Adele and Sarah were very busy hanging, tagging and steaming all newly donated clothing items. Adele, promptly took charge of the steamer and she was off- not a crease in site-( amazing job).

My task was to help out in the vintage department unpacking boxes and sorting through all bric a brac items.

Monday’s are always ultra busy, as all donation deliveries are received.

It is always a pleasure to help out at this much needed charity.

I parked up in the great park and enjoyed a scenic run down into the town, arriving a little early so took the opportunity to jog up and see the castle in its splendor. I then met up with the lovely ladies at the Thames Hospice shop and to my delight I was working in the vintage and retro shop-being from Brighton I do love all things vintage! having decided that once lockdown is over I will return to the shop and buy all the furniture they have available we got down to work. Trudie and Sally had just received a big delivery and were in the process of getting the shop prepared for a new look display and, sadly, another lockdown and I was asked to help move all the beautiful glass from the front of the shop to the rear wall, move the jewellery from the rear wall down to the front, and create 3 new displays. A perfect job for someone as clumsy as me! so I very carefully removed all the glasses, decanters and other lovely items from their display, and gave the glass shelves and mirrored walls a good clean. I then helped move the larger items of display furniture into their new spots, and started to place all the precious items back on to the displays. this was when I discovered I have zero creativity and was secretly thankful that my time was up and I could leave it down to the professionals to make my mess look pretty!! a lovely jog back up to the great park in the wind.