On Saturday afternoon, four GoodGymmers went to help out at the Hope Church in Hounslow. We had been asked to help clear the garden, a lovely outdoor area that was in need of some TLC, following the winter.

The spring sunshine was beaming down on us as we met Claire the Vicar, who set us up for the afternoon. Firstly, we moved the basketball net so we could get to the raised beds, as we had been asked to help clear the overgrown weeds that were creeping up around the planters. Gloves on, Augustin, Harrison, Lucy and Michelle filled wheelbarrows with weeds and moved them to an ever-growing compost area.

Once we had tackled the raised beds, there was another section of the garden overgrown with nettles and sticky weed and thistles. These were no match for us, as we got acquainted with the choppers and rakes and cleared as much as we could in the time we had. We chatted about football and marathons, and a bit like poor Leicester City will be this season, the weeds were soon relegated to the compost heap.

Claire had hoped we could go a great job, and we showed mettle with those nettles, and the difference was clear to see. She was very impressed and thanked us for our hard work, before we went our separate ways back to enjoy the rest of the day.

After a few days of sunshine during the week it was cooler and overcast on the Ham Lands Saturday morning as 4 of GG Richmond's finest gathered for our monthly habitat preservation work.

This month, we were tasked with tackling an area of brambles. We did this with loppers and rakes, occasionally yelping when attacked by one of the thorny tendrils.

The job was going well and we built up a few large piles of the brambles we had removed, before realising that we did not have the large canvas sacks with us to transport the brambles away from the clearing to the undergrowth.

We overcame the issue with a series of trips carrying brambles by garden fork, rake or in armfuls and soon got the job done.

Time for a quick cup of tea and group photo and we were off to enjoy our weekends!

What looked like it might turn out to be a pleasant morning surprised the 5 GoodGymers who met at Richmond station to go leafleting - the temperature stayed unpleasantly low and it was quite gusty. But the weather didn't dampen our spirits as we set out armed with a pack each of leaflets from the Richmond Good Neighbours charity. We headed to the streets off the Kew Road, one of Richmond GG's happy hunting grounds for leafleting, and split into teams.

Adam and Luis started off going to the southerly roads while Cathy, Harry and JP tackled those further up the main road. Around half-way through we met up again, crossed the Kew Road and weaved our way through the residential areas on the other side.

We finished up after around an hour having delivered the vast majority of our leaflets, with Cathy offering to take the surplus back to ETNA. Then we headed on our way to enjoy the rest of Saturday and the weekend!

Six GGers turned out for our first visit this year to Richmond Furniture scheme.

Saturday's job, assigned by RFS CEO Simon, was to strip down a stash of pallets so that they could then reuse the wood.

Provided with claw hammers, crow bars and other bits and pieces from the workshop, we set about our work.

JP and Luis proved adept at hammer time, Suze, meanwhile was tasked with the challenging removing the nails from the wood once It was broken up, while Harry, Chris and Adam attempted to take it in turns with a particularly stubborn pallet that was too well constructed.

Overall,however, this mission proved a smashing success!

On a bright but cold day at Ham Lands, our GoodGym crew - welcoming first-timers Clare and Nadya - gathered for a satisfying task: liberating a cherry tree that had all but disappeared beneath a thicket of suckers.

These vigorous new growths had sprung up from the tree’s roots and were crowding out the space around it, competing for nutrients. Fuelled by enthusiasm (and a need to keep warm!), we set to work.

Using a combination of loppers for the thinner and handsaws for the thicker suckers we spread around the tree and attacked the task with gusto. The cut-down suckers soon started to form a large pile near the tree, which Friends of Ham Lands leader Sharon began moving to the undergrowth nearby.

As the cherry tree was revealed and the pile grew larger, several of the GoodGym team switched to removal duties. All the while we had been careful not to cut two of the suckers on which rare butterfly eggs had been found, so these remained standing close to the tree.

As usual for a Ham Lands task, on finishing we gathered at the Swiss Bakery for well deserved hot drinks and treats, happy with our morning’s efforts.