How many GoodGymers does it take to put a ladder up? We're still not sure...but we had a very enthusiastic turnout for a Wednesday night of chair-fixing, painting, and plenty of cake at Maidenhead Community Centre.

As well as our tasks for the evening, we held a belated celebration for our amazing friend Kanika, who recently marked an incredible 500 good deeds! We were reminded of the poem written when she reached 100 (repeated here with an extra 400 added for good measure):

500 good deeds by Kanika!

This GoodGymer is one awesome chica.

Skilled with a paintbrush, a spade or rake,

And she doesn’t fuss when she can’t have the cake.

She’s always smiling, thoughtful and calm

An animal lover, who would do no harm.

Her capacity for good knows no limits,

She even bought us all baby Guinness.

She cycles here and there on her Carrera

Even the Brighton 50km didn’t scare her!

She walks a lot too and even parkruns

She inspires others to get off their bums.

As a Taskforce member she goes beyond and above

She helps me share the GoodGym love.

She has lead on over 30 a session

And she fits this all in around her other obsession...

You think I mean Diya, but that’s not it!

I’m talking about a team with a red and white kit

Thank you Arsenal for bringing Kanika to the UK!

And now there’s only one thing left to say…

We love you Kanika, we do

We love you Kanika, we do

We love you Kanika, we do

Oh Kanika, we love you!

Thank you to everyone for coming, to Rachel and Sheila for the yummy baked goods, Amy for a medal complete with a tiny high-vis jacket, and to Georgeta for being brave enough to scale the ladder!

6 Goodgymmers met in the rain at Wessex Primary School.

We have previously visited and helped remove old planters, but today's task was shifting the rubber woodchip from the car park to the playarea.

In true Goodgym style we rose to the task and with only one wheelbarrow employed the use of a wheelie bin and a smaller bin!! Verdict....great alternatives!!

We smashed out the task in 45mins which left time for a photo op and a play on the adventure trail!

Caretaker Andrew is looking for more tasks so we can return to help out again!!

Eleven crafty Goodgymers gathered at the Community centre to create colourful bunting. First they carefully drew around the templates to make six triangles on each felt sheet. Next they cut out the triangles and arranged them into a coloured sequence. Finally they were stuck on string in a repeating pattern. The bunting looked amazing and will help decorate the library for Maidenhead's Big Read on 7th and 8th of March.

An amazing 10 GoodGymers joined other volunteers to continue hedge-laying on the edge of Battlemead Common. Many had returned after really enjoying the task a fortnight ago. We all got to grips with learning some new skills - pleaching, laying, weaving, facing off, and whittling stakes. Welcome to Emma, who joined Goodgym after coinciding with us for the 3rd time! Well done to everyone for getting stuck in and helping to create a habitat that will be there for decades to come. Kudos to Jen, Mick and Jane for fitting in Park Run first, and double kudos to Mick and Jane for staying all day

Thames Hospice is running a fund-raising campaign in the summer called 'Trunks Across the Thames' and they put out a call for people to make elephant-themed items which can be sold in pop-up shops. Not a typical GoodGym task, but 8 GoodGymers took on the challenge to release their creative side. And boy, did they surpass all expectations! Give them a wide brief, and it's amazing what people came up with! Jess was first out of of the blocks with some beautifully cross-stitched cards, and Hannah crafted some fantastic resin keyrings. Angela had a crafting evening making some fun felt elephants and even found some elephant bunting. Viv re-purposed some old football-themed pillowcases to make our largest contributions. Sheila tackled a variety of techniques, producing knitted and sewn soft toys, badges, and some zippered pouches made from elephant fabric scavenged from a Googym task for the Green Skills Library. Georgeta produced some beautifully mounted photographic prints of elephants she had made friends with in Indonesia. Carys brought out her artistic side with drawings of elephants and Amy made some cute origami elephants from which she made some beautifully crafted and original cards. I was so impressed with the time, enthusiasm and creativity which everyone put into the task. Jess from Thames Hospice says a huge big THANK YOU!