As the Stereophonics said, 'It only takes one tree, to make a thousand matches...' ...but it only takes one Goodgym Windsor and Maidenhead to plant a thousand trees!

Today was our 8th tree planting session of the season, helping RBWM and Groundwork South with a big project to connect pockets of ancient woodland at Ockwells Park. A few weeks ago we set ourselves a s-tree-tching target to get to 1000 trees planted this Winter, and oh my GoodGymness, wood you be-leaf we've actually done it!?

Today was more than just A-Oak-ay. Not only because of the numbers, but also for lots of other reasons. Hazel(l) of them:

• It was tree-mendous to welcome newcomers Anne Laure, Rachael, Sarah, Sabrina and Sue. Really hope to see you all again soon.

• Today our focus was planting oak and hazel in clusters. These saplings had bigger root balls than the little whips we have previously slot planted, meaning we had to dig bigger holes. Daunting at first perhaps, but it meant we got a better workout, we got to practice the 'balance on the spade and wiggle about' manouvre more energetically, and we had the opportunity to admire each other's holes....basically we got into a great root-ine and had a hole lotta fun!

• There is something incredibly satisfying about bashing a stake into the ground with a mallet.

• The weather was tree-rific. In fact it was so warm in the sunshine that lots of us whip(ped) off our jackets and sea of GoodGym red t-shirts emerged. Always a beautiful sight!

• The Windsor and Maidenhead Conservation volunteers and Wild Maidenhead were also out working today and it was lovely to meet some of that group.

• About midway through the session a volunteer from the other group came over, gestured at the area where we were planting and asked, 'Is this the oak and hazel sausage?' Why, yes it was! This really made me chuckle.

• After today Kevin will get a new spade.....OK, let's call a spade a spade. Kevin bent his wife's spade and this was not a good thing. He says she's put a death warrant on him. Kevin, we hope you can dig yourself out of that one!

Well done to everyone who con-tree-buted to the 132 trees planted today and the circa 1050 so far this season. Great work! If you're hungry for more, then come and plant some more trees with us on Tuesday 8th of Feb. Find out more and sign up by clicking here. You can also find loads of other upcoming sessions by browsing our listings.

Today's event was all about generations... the generation of a new generation of trees, planted by generations, for the benefit of future generations!

As we all know, GoodGym is for over 18s only, and you'll only find adults listed on this run report. However today's session at Ockwells Park was part of a public event hosted by RBWM and they explicitly invited families along. Lots of GoodGymers took the opportunity to drop in with (and take full responsiblity for) their children, and it was really nice to see them, to see them...nice!

And didn't they do (Ock)well?

There was a brilliant turn out at the event. I stopped by in the morning with my family and there were around 30-40 people on site, including GoodGymers Anita, Paul, Kevin, and Emily and Nivi with their families. Everyone was busy digging holes, shimmying saplings into their protective casings, burying their roots, and securing everything with stakes.

We had a lovely sociable and muddy time. It felt refreshing to be outside in a frosty green setting, helping a project that aims to boost biodiversity and fight climate change. It also felt great to be teaching the next generation about all this good stuff while we were at it. As we worked the sun came out, and one of my 4 year olds hummed a happy tune all the way back to the car park.

As we headed home for lunch, Vicky, Charlotte, Jess, Kelley and Michelle were heading to the planting site. It was great to see their smiling faces popping up in photos in our group WhatsApp during the afternoon.

And if we were to have a look at the old score board..?

Well this wasn't a competition, but there are certainly some impressive numbers to report. Rosie from the RBWM Countryside team estimates that around 600 trees will have been planted today, making a really decent dent in the 7000 trees they hope to plant this season. Before today GoodGym had planted around 735 trees, and we think we managed well over 100 today.

A special mention to Anita, who stayed at the site for 3 hours and planted an impressive 26 trees!

We have set ourselves the goal of planting 1000 trees this season and we expect to smash this at our next Ockwells tree-planting session on the 30th. Click here to join us!. Please note that the next session is for GoodGym only, so we regret under 18s are not permitted.

Congratulations to the tree-mendous group of GoodGymers who came to Ockwells to plant trees this morning. The weather forecast was grim, but that didn't deter us. In fact, we even had a few newcomers sign up at the last minute: tree cheers and a wet and muddy welcome for Jo, Peter and Clara!

This was our 5th tree-planting session at Ockwells this season, so many of the group already knew the drill - gather up the spades, mallets and tree guards, squelch squerch through the mud to the planting site (the 'motorway gap' today rather than New Thrift Wood site inside the deer fence), locate the heeled in whips and supportive stakes, and get planting!

Thanks to Georgeta for her expert demonstration of how to give these little tree babies the best possible start without things getting too thorny.

As always we settled into a happy rhythm, digging, chatting, planting and staking. Today's species included hawthorn, field maple, hazel, alder, and buckthorn, a native mix selected to provide a 'soft but prickly' woodland edge, extending the existing woodland towards the path.

As I called 5 minutes to go, Kevin raised the stakes - he noticed we didn't have many left and challenged us to use them all up before heading back. Game on! 10 pairs of hands made light work of another 25 trees, and we even had time for a group photo. At this moment the heavens really opened. We tried our best to look miserable in the photo, but the truth is we had a tree-rific time.

160 trees planted today takes GoodGym to a grand total of 735 so far this year. I wonder if we can make it to 1000!? You can sign up to join us on another session by clicking here. As well as tree planting we have fence painting, fridge cleaning, waterways weeding, donation sorting and parkrun marshalling all planned for this month, and more listings still to come. Happy New Year!

11 excitable foresters met at Ockwells Park for the first tree-mendous task of 2022.

Jess had collected spades and shelters from the Braywick Nature Centre and with Sheila's pre-scout of the location the gang were good to go, so they shove-l-ed off for the 1km walk to the planting site.

Although it was not raining it was muddy and squelchy underfoot, however, this did not deter the intrepid explorers for the first task of the year.

The first task was to locate the 'straggly lonely' willow where the whips to be planted had been healed into the ground to keep their roots moist. The stakes were then found just inside the forest edge.

Once all the tools had been located the team collected whips, shelters, stakes, spades and mallets and set about 'whipping' the area into shape!

A hole was made by pushing the spade into the ground and wiggling it a bit to make a slot. The whip was then placed into the hole and then the soil pushed back into place to seal it in the ground. A shelter was then carefully placed over the top to protect the young tree from predators such as deer and rabbits. Finally a stake was inserted into the ground next to the shelter and secured to it with cable ties, this was to help the shelter stay in place and also help the tree grow straight.

With all the shelters and stakes used, indicating 200 trees planted, the team collected the tools and made their way back to the car park.

More sessions are available to be part of this great opportunity and build a wood for generations to come, check the GoodGym listings to sign up!

9 GoodGymers met in the car park of Ockwells Park to plant a mix of baby Oaks, Beeches and Hornbeams as part of the long term project to create the New Thrift Wood.

We were a mixed bunch too - of experienced do gooders, relative newcomers Kacey & Lisa, commuters Ruth (GoodGym Slough) and Kevin all the way from Fleet with his trusty four-legged friend, Fearne. Together we set out with spades to the New Thrift Wood site. Through wet and boggy 1.5 kms, we reached the site with Amy trying to recruit anyone who was curious about who we were!

Sheila and Georgeta gave the runners a very professional demonstration of how to clear the area, dig with the spade, plant the saplings and add the supporting sticks and protective coils. Everyone got to work and a grand total of 169 little saplings were planted across the group. 

There's plenty more to be done but it was a morning well spent. We have upcoming sessions on the 3rd, 8th and 15th of January. Check out the listings and sign up!