An early foggy dog walk turned into a bottle litter pick up along the pyg track. Searching through the newly planted crops to pick up broken bottles too!

Great to see a big turn out of GoodGymers tonight. 12 happy volunteers met on the roof of Nicolsons Centre, a part of Maidenhead most of us had never been before. Task owner Donna led us from the back entrance to what used to be a nightclub, Smokeys. No disco lights or bars anymore, just a stripped out large space housing all kinds of materials from fabric to paints, from stationery to sewing machines! 

Our task was to organise things as best as we could. We made good progress and grouped the material lying in two rooms of Smokeys into categories such as Paints, Arts & crafts, Stationery, Fabric, Leather, Sewing, Gardening, Jars and more. From here, they will slowly be taken down to the Green Skills library to be upcycled. 

We were so efficient that there was even time for some fun with a block of stone, a chisel and hammer! Another productive, social evening and a thankful task owner. 

Viv, Sheila, Mike and myself met at the Maidenhead Town Hall and welcomed Frances to her first GoodGym deed. We were the first shift out of three GoodGym shifts today at the Norden Farm Lantern Parade. We were tasked with preparing the lanterns, attaching them to wooden sticks with batteries and wiring, ready to be connected and handed out to the children before the parade would start. The theme this year was Animals and each school made their own paper lanterns, each school featuring an animal. Anything from swans, badgers, ladybirds to cats, foxes and some other hard to identify creatures... Along with other voluteers, we made light work of that, and the lanterns were ready in no time. Next we placed some posters on lampposts, as instructed and, finally, we had a moment of respite before the public was due to arrive, and the handover to GoodGym shift 2. Good time for a cuppa and a group chat. We hope Frances has enjoyed her first GoodGym session and looking forward to seeing her on many more to come.

Sophie and Sol met for a gentle 1km jog to the task location and met the rest of the group (plus Flora the dog!) and task owner Helen by the park, after we'd admired the Christmas lights on one particular house that had really made an effort! Helen handed out litter pickers, bags and gloves and we split into small teams. Helen had specific areas in mind that were the hot spots for litter so we set to work after a short health and safety briefing. After an hour we had collected around 8-9 large bags of litter! Great job everyone we definitely made a big difference and lots of passers by were thanking us.

That's the number of letters to residents (99) and letters to local businesses (125) in Maidenhead that Sheila, Viv and myself delivered today. The letters were to advise of road closures for the imminent lanterb parade this weekend.

Luckily the rain stayed away until later in the day.

10 GoodGymers helped clean up local streets and parks in lieu of GivingTuesday which is on 2nd December this year. GivingTuesday is a global movement that unleashes the power of generosity around the world — a day that encourages people to do good. While we are no strangers to doing good, GivingTuesday is always a good excuse to list a litter pick!

Sheila, Tessa, Kay, Kanika and Diya met at the Community Centre on a cold but sunny morning. We fanned out in different directions for maximum coverage. Jess joined in bringing her own litter pick. Georgeta, Angela, Viv (with Flora the dog) and Jen did their bit around their homes. 

There are 10 big bags less of litter on the streets of Maidenhead. Thanks team! 

Angela, flora and I cleared rubbish at furze platt Tesco and senior school areas, as we can’t take part in the big pick on Sunday