Treesy does it

It was Saturday morning, it was raining hard, and it was cold. But that didn't stop nine amazing GoodGymers leaving their warm beds behind and planting a whole orchard of fruit trees for the amazing organisation Trees for Cities to brighten up a public space in Isleworth.

We welcomed a lovely new runner to our group. Hello Clara, great to have you with us! We also had our neighbour Kate run over from Richmond to help us out. Give them a cheer why don't you.

"I'm winning at life when I've got a wheelbarrow" said Michelle

Our job was to plant trees, which will eventually fruit for the benefit of the local community, alongside Thornbury park's main pathway. Sounds easy? It wasn't. First we had to dig a massive hole. Except that only a few inches down we hit bricks, tarmac, metal and an old carpark. Not to be deterred we used a huge metal spear to winch, leverage, cajole and smash out the offending obstacles. Sparks literally flew. We had a quick hot pizza and cake break halfway through (we could get used to this mid-task) and rested our weary arms. Then we had to make sure our tree was straight (very important), bury our water pipes, refill, returf, strap and cage our little trees. All the while making sure the endangered baby stag beetles of the future were safe and sound.

Amazing job team! Let's go back in the summer to see how our babies are doing and sample the literal fruit of our labours.