Sophie, Jess, Amy and Sol met at All Saints church and set off on the 1km journey to Desborough Park. Sophie and Amy walked whilst Jess and Sol ran back and forth between lamposts and us, with high fives and Dad jokes to motivate them! Well done both on extending your distance by nearly double!

When we arrived at the park we met Viv and Helen (our task owner from Wild Maidenhead) who set us to work on digging up grass and weeds from a large wildflower bed ready for them to plant new items and create a bee habitat. Many hands made light work and there was a noticeable difference as shown in our before and after photos courtesy of Jess.

We were careful not to step in any dog muck and avoid tics, though the weather turned about 15 minutes before we finished so we set off back to the meeting location on the 1km (very wet and rainy) walk. Great effort everyone and hope you've all dried off now!

Tonight’s GoodGym mission in Maidenhead was a sandy one! While beach cleans aren’t exactly common around here, this one came with a twist—we weren’t cleaning the beach, we were removing it.

A couple of months ago, we helped create the pop-up beach for Norden Farm’s summer festivities. But with autumn creeping in and flip-flops firmly back in storage, it was time to bid farewell to the sandpit!

Shifting 13 tonnes of sand is no small feat—and definitely tougher than laying it out in the first place! But the GoodGym crew rose to the challenge. With teamwork, grit, and sandy socks, we helped the Norden Farm staff make a serious dent in the dunes. There’s still a bit left to tackle, but the bulk of the beach has officially been packed away.

Report title credit to Jen S, who was our super leader for the session. It might make you imagine we ditched the task and went to the pub, but the awesome GoodGymers of W&M wouldn't dream of missing an opportunity for good deeds!

Jen is actually referring to the excellent work she, Viv and Juli did taking the legs off display screens and the feet off the legs. Maybe next year's title can be Footloose!? They also shifted lots of tables and chairs, hooks, bolts and plinths.

Meanwhile Ed, Suhas and I had the fun job of packing things away under the stage. Thanks to Ed, who wrote the below report:

*I arrived early at 3.30pm and was set to task in Pinder Hall, so that prints and paints were in order (those not on screens). At 5pm All of us; good gym and the exhibition organisers we went 'down under' to store the panels. Amy and John and another chap put away screens and supports were stacked professionally guided by Amy. We adhered to health and safety by being watchful and chatter giving confidence. I was crawling with hands and legs like a child to avoid bumping my head. Great satisfaction was finalised by walking with Julie, black shirted goodgym.org back to Maidenhead.

*I made enquiries into painting clubs locally, and spoke to Julie about ParkRun and Zoe Nutrition. One question, slightly out of sync: Does anyone have a space to store some boxes. whatever space that is available would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks to everyone who got involved. We'll have another chance for fun with the Cookham Arts Club in the Spring. Hope to see you there!

Twelve goodgymers delved through nettles and thistles to reach the pesky balsam and remove it before it self seeded. Will and Victoria joined in the work like seasoned pros plucking, snapping and making piles of the unwanted plant. Everyone worked hard together to explore the undergrowth and weed those hard to reach areas. A satisfying task and great teamwork! Flora the dog created some much needed entertainment and distraction!