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!

🦸‍♀️ Six litter-picking superheroes assembled at the community centre, ready to take on the challenge of tidying up the streets and parks of Maidenhead.

Armed with picks and hoops, we set off towards the station—a gentle stroll to warm up our eyes for the litter lurking ahead. From the station, we swooped into the High Street, scooping up mountains of cigarette butts and rogue takeaway cups.

Tony and Mike veered off down a side-street, while Sheila, Sarah, Jess, and Viv took the more direct route. Everyone found a few treasures, but the general consensus? The town centre was looking far tidier than on previous missions.

We were met with cheerful “Thank you!”s from passers-by, and even roped in a spontaneous participant for a race to a paper cup. He won—and his prize? The honour of binning it himself!

With the town centre sparkling, we ventured into Kidwells Park. Here, the litter was more plentiful, and our bags filled up fast. After an hour of heroic effort, we regrouped at the community centre to compare hauls and swap stories.

A job well done—and a wonderfully chatty, cheerful task to boot!

6 GoodGymers helped out at the Kite Festival run by the wonderful Norden Farm. This is a lovely, free event, and the people of Maidenhead turned up in their droves. Viv helped with the set-up of the event, putting up gazebos and signage to help with the smooth-running of the day. Lisa was stationed at the entrance, encouraging people to make donations to help with costs and fund future events. Rachel and Sheila armed themselves with litter-pickers, although generally not much litter was dropped. It was perfect weather for kite-flying and it was lovely to see so many kites airborne and whoops of delight from the children. It was such a happy atmosphere. Georgeta and Jen joined us for the take-down but not before we had enjoyed some of the music and joined in with the bird rave (you had to be there!) . Jen took down all the signs from around site whilst we did a final litterpick, and then were sent out to remove the big advertising banners from the roadside with some rather inadequate scissors! A fun event that was great to be part of, and Jen can recommend the gelato!

A spa day for the Maiden and pet pampering for her two swans. That was the task that faced Christine, Viv and Sheila. The Maiden and Swans sculpture on Ray Mill Island is now nearly 40 years old and is in need to repair and a touch of paint. A local artist has agreed to give her a make-over but before this can be done she needed a good clean. We set about giving her a scrub with soft brushes and river water, getting into all the folds and crevices. She got the full works - including pedicure, manicure, teeth brushing, hair treatment & skin care. The swans got a good preen. We then gave them all a final rinse. Tara, our taskowner stopped by to say hello and thank us, and also bring us some delicious grapes from her garden. Now all that's needed is a few dry days for the restoration to begin

9 goodgym pupils made their way to St Lukes school to help tidy up the flower beds and areas around the school grounds

In no time at all we had weeded, cleared and swept up the needy areas and rescued numerous sized balls from the undergrowth

Task completed and gold stars all round we made our way back home until next time!

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!