Jess and Sol arrived first and met the working party in the graveyard for a task briefing.

By the time Jen arrived, fresh from Parkrun, at 10.15 they were working hard raking a marked out patch of lawn down to the soil ready for a wildflower meadow to be planted. Jen's pair of hands was a welcome addition.

It was lovely to welcome firstimers, Barbara and Aaran to their first community mission. They didnt hesitate to grab rakes and get stuck in. Aaran even tried his hand at using a spade to skim the top of the grass ...not to dig though, we didnt want to disturb the skeletons even though it is halloween month.

Amazing Amy was able to join us for a short period too and as she joined in the raking action, Jen, Sol and Jess went off to another area to plant English Bluebell bulbs and bud plants.

Meanwhile the rakers turned their hands to sowing the wildflower seeds into the newly prepared area by which time Lisa had arrived and joined in the action too.

A bit more planting, some ivy clearance and cutting back of brambles and it was time to call it a day.

What a satisfying way to spend a sunny Saturday, with great company too.

Thanks to Maidenhead United FC for inviting us to be part of the fun at their annual MacMillan Coffee morning. There was a real buzz as people from the local community came together at the Maidenhead Athletic Club (MAC) clubhouse for a cake feast and lots of activities. We hosted a litter pick and there was also a walking football tournament, a walk round the park, a track session, and did I mention the cake!?

The litter picking group included regular GoodGymers, new GoodGymers, MAC members and walkers. It was great to see such a big turnout and a warm welcome to Lucy and Miranda, who were logging their first GoodGym good deeds.

Extra kudos to Sophie, who ran 10 miles on her way to the session!

We found the usual depressing mix of bottles, cans, plastic wrappers and discarded vapes, plus some bigger items of packaging. The Braywick Road offered particularly rich pickings. We were determined not to let us get it down though - we made a positive difference and that's something to celebrate.

Norden Farm's Kite Festival was on today and GoodGym was on hand to help out all day from start until the end.

Act 1: Sol joined the first shift helping with the set up which included unloading and assembling tables, chairs and wind banners. She did a round of litter pick around the site as well.

Act 2: Diya and Kanika got to escort Nordenia, the queen of Norden Farm, around the park. She has grown much taller in this past year! They then litter picked around the site, enjoying the multitude of kites dotting the sky (and the ground). Another round with Nordenia and some more litter pick ended their shift.

Act 3: Roberta and Sheila took up the mantle of Nordenia escorting and litter picking. They spotted another GoodGymmer Lisa who was around in Norden Farm's yellow rather than GG red helping out on the day as well. Angela got the very tough task (no, seriously) of guarding the separate area for professional kite fliers. She spent her entire shift baking in the sun!

Act 4: Georgeta joined Sheila to help with the end of day take down. It wasn't easy as nobody wanted to leave with the weather being so good and warm. They managed to get some gazebos packed up and litter picked the site one final time. And Georgeta took some beautiful close-ups of a few stunning kites.

An absolutely brilliant event that we love supporting and great to see it be such a success!

Lisa, Angela and Sheila helped out at Nature's Haven, joined a little bit later by Roberta after she had finished her day's work. Today was a very exciting day. After all the shrub cutting, shredding, root extraction and ground digging over the last few weeks by Goodgymmers and other volunteers, we actually got to plant some fruit trees! The ground was raked over, and some very special fertiliser from an exclusive restaurant was applied, and we were ready to go. Angela and Lisa dug three deep holes, and planted three cordon apple trees. After some consultation about the precise positioning, the fourth hole was dug and planted with a step-over apple tree. What an awesome foursome! We then planted some perennials and bluebells as groundcover between the trees. We gave them all a good watering, and stood back to admire our work. It was great to see the transformation of this area, and look forward to some scrumping in the future!

Lisa and Sol joined the friends of Maidenhead Waterways for a Saturday morning session to help to clear river stream.

There was a last minute change of the location due to a high water level in Cookham. We ended up working at the Widbrook Common, which had been our usual location over last two months.

We split into two groups and headed to the furthest edge of Widbrook Common to clear tree branches clogging up the stream.

We worked from the bank with long rakes and pulled branches and weeds out to open up the stream. We worked our way back and tidied up where needed. We had our well earned tea-break in the meadow. Coffee and biscuits tasted so delicious in the countryside setting.

This marked the end of working on the Widbrook Common, as the bird nesting season will start and no more distractions intended to the wildlife.

Next sessions will be working in the town centre to improve the York stream.