Nine Goodgymers set to work tidying and sweeping the back garden at Mencap. Sheila, Viv, Jess Mike and Georgetta weeded, trimned and swept the planter area with lightning speed! Roberta, Ben and Sol dug out weeds and tidied the area near the shed. After yet more sweeping and moss removal the garden is ready for the mencap community and the warmer weather! The evening was rounded off by celebrating Angela's 100 th good deed with a wonderful poem and cake from Amy and Sheila.

....and here is Amy hijacking Angela's report to share the poem:

Angela Shaw: A grade A GoodGymer, to be sure!

Active and athletic!

Altruistic and able!

Agile and adaptable!

So amazing, that even without one of her ‘A’s

She’s an angel.

The only problem with Angela

Is that finding rhymes is a challenge, er…

And the word angel

Is also hard for a poet to wrangle.

Her amazing achievements we cannot ignore,

So thank goodness for her last name, Shaw,

Which rhymes easily with words galore!

Angela’s good deeds now number twenty and fourscore

(Which means 100 in the language of yore)

If she has a spare moment, she doesn’t snore.

She’ll go to Nature’s Haven and sand a door!

She’ll shovel sludge to work her core,

And clear away brambles til her hands are sore.

She’ll give foodshare donations to the store,

But on Balsam and Ragwort she’s waging war!

She picks up litter, she sweeps the floor

And she tidies up plastic from the sea shore!

She put the lantern parade leaflet through your door

And doesn’t even mind a pothole chore!

On paddleboard or bike she loves to explore.

And her cycle abilities are really top drawer:

She teaches bike safety to kids in year 4

And even support rides with Peggy the tri-shaw!

So let’s hear it for this legend of local folklore,

Our faith in humanity she does restore,

Hip hip hooray for Angela Shaw!

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.

Olympic effort by team Goodgym. Goodgymers made their way to the mencap society to sand and paint the garden benches, so everyone can sit and enjoy the sunshine. The task was followed by tea and delicious Olympic themed cake😁

This evening we took our Wednesday club (aka the Maidenhead GoodGym group run) to the Mencap Society's Wednesday club to help with some gardening.

We met up at our home from home, the Maidenhead Community Centre, which is only a short walk from Highview Centre, the home of not only Mencap, but also the Alzheimer's Society and other community organisations.

Sheila led the majority of the group, who were walking, and I was joined by runners Adam and Jess. We did a warm up and a lap of Kidwells before chasing after the walkers. With tired legs following Endure 24 I'm sorry to say we didn't catch them!

When we arrived at Highview Centre the walkers had already been greeted by task owner Colin and members of the Wednesday Club and they were getting stuck into the task - cutting back overgrown shrubs, pulling up weeds and battling brambles in the back garden.

I nipped out to find Ben, who had opted to meet us at the task, and even in the short time I was out the gardeners made great progress.

Ben joined Adam working in the front garden and they did an amazing job cutting things back and clearing weeds, including loads of bindweed.

This was the first time we've helped at Highview during a Mencap Wednesday club session and it was lovely to see the venue in use and to meet some of the members. There was a real buzz in the room as the members played games, did crafts and enjoyed a disco.

It was a lovely sociable evening, catching up with old friends and welcoming back newer members Caroline and Viv. While we worked we were treated to delicious home made Victoria sponge and cups of tea. We will be sure to return soon, as we have been invited to help paint 6 benches. Can't wait!

Thankfully we weren't singing in the rain on Wednesday night as we had a lucky break in the weather. The group met just by Kidwells Park and were delighted to welcome Ann for her second GoodGym session. Ann found out about us after meeting Amy at one of the new community drop in sessions - welcome Ann!

Kanika, Diya, Roberta and Ann set off walking whilst Amanda led a warm up session for Jenni, Gillian, and local councillor Jack in the park. Tony joined us for the safety briefing then made his own way to the venue.

Our task was to clear the garden at the Mencap Society, just uptown of Maidenhead centre but for some extra steps Amanda took them uptown and then downtown before their arrived at their location on North Road, Maidenhead. The garden was a haven of bio-diversity and Kanika managed to capture some of it on camera.

Anthony got straight to work power-ing up the high-class toys and quickly cleared the tall trees and stubborn brambles. Ann's presents came at once when she was assigned to clear the side of the shed and Jenni

Diya helped Amanda clear the watering hose before tidying up the floor around the planting boxes which are hard for the residents and gardeners to reach. Kanika and Roberta made up their mind to clear the side garden manging to clear a half metre of weeds and overgrown bushes - well done ladies.

Gillian knows what she want(ed) from her time and got straight to work pulling up the weeds in the overgrown flowerbed. Jack was definitely oh so tough when he jumped into the garden waste bin to squash it all down. After a bit more trimming, cutting and tidying the garden was looking fine, fine, fine and we set off back downtown to Kidwells park.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? This evening was more a tale of Hugh from Highview and the Seven GoodGymers. Although we did realise during the evening that we are not a tall bunch! Hmmm, I wonder which one of us would be Grumpy?

Anyway, cold, wet weather didn't deter these seven super GoodGymers from heading out this evening. We started with a quick and much needed warm up and a sociable 2km run/walk to the task (alternating one minute of each).

We then powered through lots of jobs in the garden at Highview House, the home of Mencap in Maidenhead. Thanks to task owner Hugh, who met us and showed us what needed doing - a mix of cutting back, levelling up, clearing leaves and weeding. In 45 minutes we ticked off everything on the list and filled two green bins to the brim. Great work!

It was then time for warm up squats, a brisk walk back, farewells, and homewards to comforts like hot baths, tea, crumpets and lasagne. At this point none of us Grumpy, but feeling Happy and Sleepy!